Ousted Ddungu remains defiant

James Bakama and Charles Mutebi

UGANDA will be on the agenda at this week's International Olympic Committee Executive board meeting following months of wrangling among the national executive.

The IOC last week asked the wrangling parties not to go to court, and to use internal mechanisms to resolve the local committee disputes, but their pleas have been ignored.

Uganda Olympic Committee could be headed in the same direction as local amateur boxing that for three years had two parallel governing bodies.

The stalemate in local sport’s most powerful body follows the banning of the committee’s head Roger Dungu, a punitive measure, which the UOC president insists is unconstitutional and therefore can’t bar him from his position.

Battles in UOC hit a climax at the weekend where 13 of 19 federations met in an extra-ordinary assembly and voted to ban Ddungu.  They blamed him for taking Olympic matters to court, which is against the rules of the IOC.

Assistant Secretary Nicholas P’Minga was also suspended at the meeting that had vice president William Blick take charge.

The accusations

Ddungu, accused of gross misconduct and abuse of office,fell out with seven of the nine UOC executive members months ago and Saturday’s was the latest twist in the long-running battle for the soul of the Olympic body. An attempt by Ddungu to halt the Saturday meeting was thwarted on Friday, when court ruled the assembly should go ahead.

But Ddungu has scoffed at those who banned him describing the move as illegal. “Whatever they arrived at is not binding because that meeting was wrongly convened, constituted and conducted,” he argued.

Ddungu insists that as far as he is concerned, he is still UOC president. He argues that as per UOC constitution, he should have chaired the meeting that suspended him.

“But they thought they could by pass the constitution and usurp my powers. The only way Blick could proceed with whatever he is doing, would have been in either my absence or if I had delegated him.”

UOC’s constitution also stipulates that meetings are called by the chairman in concert with the secretary. The seven members of the executive also quoted the constitution that states that the vice-president takes charge if the president absconds from duty - an accusation they made against Ddungu.

Ddungu however wonders how Blick could have called the assembly with Peninah Kabenge who is still being queried. Quoting a 1994 High Court case where UOC’s authority was first put to test, Ddungu’s team argues that they are opting for court to stop desecration of the supreme document.

“If they are constitutionally right, why fear court.”

IOC pleads

The IOC had last week urged both parties not to go to court, but to settle matters at an extra-ordinary assembly. This plea has not been heeded as another court case awaits after Friday's was dismissed.

Last Friday, The High dismissed an application from  Ddungu for an interim order seeking to stop Saturday’s Extra-Ordinary Assembly from taking place.

His Worship John Eudesi Keitirima of the High Court Civil Division in Kampala dismissed the application with costs, citing lack of merit and failure on the applicant’s part to prove that he will be injured and suffer non-repairable damages as alleged if the EOA took place as scheduled.

“The applicant doesn’t show how he will suffer un-repairable damages if the assembly took place. The UOC constitution provides mechanism of solving such matters and the assembly is one of them,” Keitirima explained.

“The Olympics is eminent and granting this interim order will injure the national interest and of the athletes and such individual bickering should not take priority. It is therefore on the basis of this that I dismiss the application with costs pending the disposal of the main suit,” the registrar ruled.

New team firm

But equally firm on their decisions, are Blick and his team that until Saturday was headed by Ddungu. “I hope we can work together to promote Olympism,” said Blick as he ended the meeting.

Blick, who will be at the helm on an interim basis until next year’s elections, has set preparations for the forthcoming London Olympics as top of his assignments.

General secretary Peninah Kabenge said a meeting on Monday (today) will kick-start the preparations.

She said the world body IOC, well aware of Uganda’s situation, was eagerly awaiting the outcome of the assembly. IOC has accordingly been informed of the developments.

The world body had asked UOC to use its internal mechanisms to sort out the squabbles.

IOC also meets this week for a pre-Games gathering.