Here is the remedy for the ailing Ugandan sports
INSPIRED by the article by Mr Bakama (<i>The New Vision February</i>, 14), where he also mentions my own sport, I can only agree with him that National Council of Sports (NCS) must tighten the screws on faltering sports.
Niels Lauristen
INSPIRED by the article by Mr Bakama (The New Vision February, 14), where he also mentions my own sport, I can only agree with him that National Council of Sports (NCS) must tighten the screws on faltering sports. I hereby present some advice that will keep the entire sports sector in better shape and improved funding prospect.
All sports should be required to keep a list of their assets and their obligations. This is a simple task, which should only take a few minutes to comply with. Such a list would show what values and what debts your association has, and tell you what unaccounted funds or arrears there are. This is very useful for members of the association, and for donors. This remedy would long ago have caught the Federation of Uganda Football Association (FUFA) house scandal. And it may likely protect the assets against grabbing.
I recommend that sponsors routinely get a copy of the latest audited financial report, before they venture into sponsoring an event or a sports association. This will quickly improve the accountability of the sports sector tremendously.
Where the treasurer is required to present an audited report to the Annual General Meeting, the meeting must among itself elect or appoint an independent member, to serve as an auditor to audit the next year or period, so that it is not the treasurer or executive itself who identify the auditor.
The accounts should be done in a simple format so that professional book-keeping or audit assistance will not normally be required. After all, most sports associations’ accounts are not rocket science. If the person elected as treasurer has common sense and a straightforward approach, accounting at the small sport association level is manageable by most.
Mr Bakama is further right to hold the sports associations responsible for carrying out activities and plans and everything else in accordance with their own constitution.
The executive of the sports associations was elected precisely to uphold the constitution for their sport. If the constitution is not respected, then the sport itself cannot be respected, and you got the wrong people to manage your sport.
In my own sport, there is no programme and budget for 2005 as yet. Although those are constitutional requirements. It denotes a lack of direction and that the affairs are being run in a day to day makeshift manner. Not the way forward.
So, Mr Bakama is right to ask for a more active role by the NCS to uphold the quality of Ugandan sports and to protect clubs and members against potential abuse.
INSPIRED by the article by Mr Bakama (The New Vision February, 14), where he also mentions my own sport, I can only agree with him that National Council of Sports (NCS) must tighten the screws on faltering sports. I hereby present some advice that will keep the entire sports sector in better shape and improved funding prospect.
All sports should be required to keep a list of their assets and their obligations. This is a simple task, which should only take a few minutes to comply with. Such a list would show what values and what debts your association has, and tell you what unaccounted funds or arrears there are. This is very useful for members of the association, and for donors. This remedy would long ago have caught the Federation of Uganda Football Association (FUFA) house scandal. And it may likely protect the assets against grabbing.
I recommend that sponsors routinely get a copy of the latest audited financial report, before they venture into sponsoring an event or a sports association. This will quickly improve the accountability of the sports sector tremendously.
Where the treasurer is required to present an audited report to the Annual General Meeting, the meeting must among itself elect or appoint an independent member, to serve as an auditor to audit the next year or period, so that it is not the treasurer or executive itself who identify the auditor.
The accounts should be done in a simple format so that professional book-keeping or audit assistance will not normally be required. After all, most sports associations’ accounts are not rocket science. If the person elected as treasurer has common sense and a straightforward approach, accounting at the small sport association level is manageable by most.
Mr Bakama is further right to hold the sports associations responsible for carrying out activities and plans and everything else in accordance with their own constitution.
The executive of the sports associations was elected precisely to uphold the constitution for their sport. If the constitution is not respected, then the sport itself cannot be respected, and you got the wrong people to manage your sport.
In my own sport, there is no programme and budget for 2005 as yet. Although those are constitutional requirements. It denotes a lack of direction and that the affairs are being run in a day to day makeshift manner. Not the way forward.
So, Mr Bakama is right to ask for a more active role by the NCS to uphold the quality of Ugandan sports and to protect clubs and members against potential abuse.