NCS, Ministry Battle

By Wangwe MulakhaIf you want to see Ugandan sports administrators fight for trips and money, wait for the months preceding either Olympics, All Africa or Commonwealth Games.Each institution in charge of running sports will want to lock out others and run the show for their own gain.Education and sports ministry (MOES) locked out National Council of Sports (NCS) during the 1991 All Africa Games in Cairo. Then came the Sydney Olympics and the NCS general secretary Abbey Lutaya was sent on forced leave in order for the ministry to run the show without an accounting officer.Come the forthcoming Manchester Commonwealth Games and already matters seem to be running behind Lutaya’s back again.As soon as Lutaya left for London to attend a cricket conference, sports minister Henry Okello Oryem last Friday wrote to NCS assistant general secretary John Odyek. The minister asked Odyek to ask MOES permanent secretary F. X. Lubanga to lend the contingent about sh157m from the NCS budget “which then will be deducted from your Vote on a monthly basis until the whole total is recovered“Your urgent response by latest Wednesday June 26 is appreciated,” wrote the minister. That implies that the Games had no prior budget, and Lutaya, is not amused. He wrote in an advisory to Lugogo from London on June 24 that it was blasphemous for the minister to wait for him to leave the country then make outrageous directives.“I have warned the minister for over six months on this matter — where Hon. Okello has refused to meet us to discuss the Commonwealth Games and other burning issues.“I forbid you (Odyek) to write any letter to the permanent secretary or to anyone else requesting for any loan/advance. I am doing this as NCS general secretary and accounting officer and as a patriotic Ugandan.”NCS has for April to June received a paltry sh3.4m per month for non-wage subvention.Lutaya believes the team of 19 athletes and 14 officials going for the games are mere tourists and wants the number reduced. He affirms the teams are ill-equipped and ill-prepared for international duty.“We shall be squandering vital scarce resources on mere tourists who bring ridicule to the nation at heavy cost as opposed to local development programmes.The NCS boss is also perturbed that Odyek was appointed general games team manager without his knowledge. “My deputy leading a national team of 43 tourists, instead of a compact 12 for effective representation troubles my conscience.”The position of NCS was for Uganda to field only 12 athletes in Manchester as “agreed 12 months ago.”“How do you (Odyek) and me reconcile this contradiction? How do we avoid a repeat of Harare debacle? or the scandal of Sydney 2000 where more officials than competitors travelled at sh90m which ruined NCS for six months of reparations thereafter.”“Omony Ogaba (then sports minister) sent me on forced leave and coerced you (Odyek) to ask for sh90m squandered for the Sydney trip where Uganda reaped only shame.” But Odyek and Uganda Olympic Committee (UOC) president Maj. Gen. Francis Nyangweso agree that the appointment of the general team manager was approved by the minister.Odyek declined to confirm whether he was writing to MOES for a loan as proposed by Oryem who himself is out of the country.“Wait for Lutaya to return,” was all Odyek said.The NCS boss quarrels that he and the council were excluded from “any knowledge of the international games with collusion of the ministry ..... but I condone wastage of public funds without any retort from the ministry.”In the letter copied to Oryem, education and sports minister Kiddu Makubuya and Lubanga, Lutaya advised that the team’s travel funds be accounted on the sh1b Oryem negotiated with the finance ministry.“I provided for sh60m for squandering on Commonwealth Games. Let the PS squander that booty but not NCS humble funds.”Uganda will field seven track and field athletes, four boxers, two each for swimming, shooting, table tennis and weightlifting.They will be accompanied by six officials among them MOES official Margaret Ojara designated as assistant general team manager.The NCS chief contests Ojara’s role as non-existent for “poverty stricken Uganda”. The team flies out on July 19.Ends