By Silvano Kibuuka
It is difficult to know why the sports
budget has gone through cuts and
rises in the last 12 months by the
parliamentary finance committee.
In the financial budget of the
financial year 2022/23 the national
sports budget was increased from
sh17b to 47.9b but at the fourth quota
of the year it was announced the
sports sector had again lost after the
budget was cut back to the initial
amount.
It was announced that the budget
cuts that had affected all the ministries
due to the Covid 19 shortfall had
forced the ministry of finance to also
slash the sports budget.
But in the financial year budget of
2023/24 the sports subsector had to
clap again when they regained back
its budget to 47.9b.
The re-approved budget was
announced to the national sports
federations in the fourth quota that is
always called by the minister of state
for sports.
The current minister of sports, Peter
Ogwang called the meeting at Lugogo
NCS Copper Chimney restaurant on
July 3 2023.
The minister has told the federation
officials that the Parliament has
reinstated the increment of 47.9b in
the new financial year.
He emphasized that FUFA has still
taken the lion’s share amounting
to sh10b and an additional sh7b
specifically for the women ‘s football
development.
“Football still has sh17b. But this is
the time the government has started
asking for results from FUFA. People
complain that you get too much
money but the results are declining,”
Minister Ogwang said at the forum.
But to calm down the people’s
emotions, FUFA CEO Watson Edgar
told the congregation that while the
federation looks to be getting the
lion’s share, it is still not enough.
“It’s true that FUFA is getting a
lot of money from the sports sector
budget. But I stand here to tell you
that it’s not enough because we have
a lot more expenditure than all the
other federations. We are like a person
who walks on foot and progresses
to a bicycle. That means that he will
expand the budget to buy spare and
services. The trend progresses when
such a person acquires a car and so
on. The demands keep on increasing.
So, I tell you that even sh17b is not
enough for FUFA,” Edgar noted.
At the forum, the minister also
re-emphasized the government’s
new move over the officials that
misuse the funds and failure to
account for the money given.
He gave tips to the federation
officials on the ethics of spending the
government funds.
“Once you request for money, it
must not be diverted for any other
project even when the intended issue
overlaps. Don’t use such money for
any other project but to bring it back.
Also, the money requested and not
used must always be refunded,”
minister Ogwang added.
He also passed on to the federations
more do and don’t over the
government money.
This includes the sports federations
to declare whatever they generate from the sponsors and never to use
government money for renting office
premises.
He added that in addition
to compliance to the statutory
instrument of 2014, sports federations
will now have to sign a memorandum
of understanding with the ministry of
education and sports together with
the government through NCS.
“The memorandum statute is still
in the office of the attorney general
for review and once it’s out, every
federation must have to apply,” he
emphasized.
The minister also advised the
federations to keep their internal
matters out of the press.
In the other notes, the minister said
the government still has in force the
standing order not to allow schools
boxing and that the government
will start funding Uganda Olympic
Committee (UOC) the organization
also in charge of supervising the
Commonwealth Games Association.
For the developmental issues,
Minister Ogwang said that the
government is ready to invest in
development of sports infrastructure
in Uganda.
USPA members painting a Zebra crossing to mark road safety week
“Mandela National Sports Complex
Namboole will become a sports city
hosting sporting disciplines including
rugby, athletics, football, volleyball,
squash, basketball, netball and many
others. Lugogo will become a state-ofthe-art sports arena for Africa and the
world. The government has already
acquired 12 acres of land at Nakasero
for sports development,” the minister
told the federation heads.
NCS Chairman:
The chairman for NCS, Ambrose
Tashobya told the federation officials
that the government measures sports
impact on the development of the
people, the economy, health and
education a particular sport brings to
the country.
He called on the federations to
endeavor to host International
competitions and conferences that
bring in people from outside the
country because they expand the
national income through daily
spending and tourism.
He also warned that the federations
must have 75 percent activities in
districts and also advised them to
work with the district sports officers.
THE SUPPORT TO NATIONAL
FEDERATIONS DURING THE
QUOTA 3 OF 2022/23.
- FUFA – 5,000,000,000/=
- UAF –
54,173,657/= - UNF –
31,939,758/= - FUBA –
142,292,894/= - URU –
19,660,805/= - AUUS –
84,231,368/= - UPC –
115,505,162/= - FMCU –
65,024, 969/= - UCA –
84,231,368/= - UWF –
84,231,368/= - UVF –
43,178,912/= - UBA –
171,402,500/= - UTA –
42,000,000/= - USA –
60,000,000/= - UAF –
50,910,000/= - SAOU –
18,000,000/= - URA –
56,302,170/= - UCF –
40,000,000/= - UDF –
45,000,000/= - UCA –
15,120,000/= - ULA –
13,125,000/= - UDA –
29,404,660/= - GUA –
21,047,880/= - UDBF –
45,000,000/= - UCKF –
21,785,000/= - UFA –
30,000,000/= - KFU –
38,971,648/= - AFFU –
53,000,000/= - UBBF –
26,260,000/= - UGU –
50,000,000/= - UDFS –
37,213,000/=
TOTAL
6,587,412,119.
The figures have been derived from
the NCS magazine issue of
January – March 2023■
