Lutaya On The Brink

By Ronnie Kintu
THE general secretary National Council of Sports(NCS) Abbey Lutaya has denied accusations of abuse of office that emerged after a council board meeting early this month.
He has threatened to quit since a section of the board has openly gone against him.
“The boardroom coup attempt has now affected my reflections, and I cannot continue to serve when three out of 11 members have declared war on me. They have found fertile ground and I shall not stand in their way,” Lutaya concluded.
He said boardroom pressure has affected him in many ways and he has no option but to phase out.
“After 11 years fighting anarchy, I have trodden on so many people’s toes that it is about time to quit,” he said. He is the longest serving general secretary.
He was reacting to press reports that emerged after the May 9 NCS board meeting that said a probe into financial mismanagement at NCS was being mooted and that there were calls to have him sidelined.
Lutaya was said to have been grilled on several issues, amongst these a case of alleged double payment for his official Pajero which was paid in three installments, and about his salary amounting to sh25m that was not reflected on the payroll. It was also alleged NCS pays Lutaya’s business telephone bills and that balls worth sh25m have disappeared.
“Only one issue was discussed about payment of sh3.6m to a consultant without advertising. It was an urgent Staff Appraisal Report required within three weeks. At $70 per day it was found astronomical, but I first compared with Makerere, UMI, and others,” he said.
He quoted the sports ministry, which paid sh50m for the National Sports Policy three years ago which has not been tabled. He said it was not tendered.
Lutaya disclosed that the other accusations were audit queries of 1999, which were answered in 2000 to the Auditor General. Balls worth sh25m arrived after the financial year closed, and were sold three years ago.
On the Pajero, Lutaya said, “Do you believe the story, that I bought a road worthy five-year 4WD at only sh4m?”
He stated that NCS bought a good body and chassis from Owen Falls Dam Project, which was later fitted with a new engine, gear-box and other parts. Adriko valued it first
“I am entitled to a chauffeur driven car, but I spent nine years without one.”
On the sh25m salary, Lutaya asked, “which of you would be glad to be paid wages after two years work? But I did.
“To date, my salary is only sh500,000 monthly, but I received my first pay after three years of employment! This was declared in my Income Tax returns as receivable. I lost sh10m in bank interest on this salary, but now I am accused of impropriety.”
“Without funding I had to borrow sh15m to run NCS for a whole year, while my chairman (Kafumbe Mukasa) was deputy minister of finance.”
Lutaya explained that twice in 1984 and 1992, he rejected calls to manage NCS.
Kafumbe Mukasa insisted to sports minister Amanya Mushega that without Lutaya to streamline anarchy and implement schools development programmes like he had done in cricket, he would not accept the chairmanship of NCS.
Lutaya only accepted the offer after he was allowed to operate from his town office and relocate to Lugogo later, which he does daily up to 11pm. “For the telephone line I employed on official duties, whom did you expect to pick the bill?”
“It was my precondition for accepting the job. Other business lines are not paid by NCS.”
Lutaya adds: “Before the recent sh500m FIFA annual grant, I pledged my Land title in 1992 to Sembule Bank to enable FUFA honour CAF fixtures. Otherwise, Uganda faced a $ 90,000 CAF fine of sh200m like Villa’s debt to Asec Mimosa. FUFA never paid the Bank which sold my half acre in Bukoto to recover only sh15m.”
Accused of neglecting football, Lutaya illustrated that FUFA collects over sh1bn a year, but other associations receive nothing, and need more attention from NCS.
“In 1982, I personally brought the football World Cup to UTV at my own expense.This was 10 years before I joined NCS. And I repeated the same in 1986 when government and other tycoons couldn’t,” Lutaya said to illustrate his interest in soccer.
“I am against double standards. FUFA received sh73m from government to cross into Rwanda for one match, but during the same month of April, NCS received only sh6m for running all sports in the whole country for all associations, all schools and all districts. Can you imagine the disparity?
“Another sh50m has been availed to FUFA for the return match, and more will be released for Ghana. But none to NCS for Rural and Schools Development Programmes.”
Lutaya said that in 1992, he forced the Cranes onto a Ferry to Mwanza, but despite condemnation - they came back with the CECAFA trophy.
“You don’t need to fly to Nairobi first, when you are going West to Rwanda. Luxury coaches will get you there in half the time and quarter the cost,” he said.
“The Namboole match should gross sh100m if properly managed. Where does all this money go?”
Will Lutaya quit?
There does not seem to be a way out and the board could decide that sooner than sports fans expected.
Ends