Federations decry poor government funding

All Sport. Local bodies are not happy that funds allocated to sports don’t trickle down to them.

National sports federations have once again decried government’s reluctance to come to their rescue in times of need. Sports administrators used last weekend’s Uganda Olympic Committee (UOC) special general assembly at Lugogo to voice their frustrations.
Uganda Volleyball Federation (UVF) offered a case study that they had to borrow Shs12m to pay taxes for 550 balls donated by the Federation of International Volleyball.
“That (Shs12m) is almost 50% of what we use to run the league,” said UVF president Sadik Nasiwu.
According to Uganda Rowing Federation (URF) general secretary Hamza Kahwa, NCS has never availed them any financial assistance despite their continuous pleas.
“We (URF) have written to NCS for assistance over 12 times. But we have never received a single penny,” said Kahwa.
NCS also recently stopped URF from utilising a new rowing center they had secured at Garuga, according to Kahwa. “They (NCS) ordered that we limit ourselves to Miami Beach in Luzira without giving reasons.”
Former UOC general secretary Gabriel Oloka, however, feels federations can do better with a united voice.
“I am sure government releases money for sports development,” Oloka said. “We should stop crying crocodile tears but stand together and put these government agents (NCS and Ministry) to task.”
Omara Apita, the acting sports commissioner in the Ministry of Education and Sports, said Shs1.7t was allocated to the ministry this financial year.
Apparently Shs5.75b of the package is allocated to the sports sector. NCS manages Shs2.05b and Shs1.3b is saved for education and institution sports.
Another Shs2.4b is already budgeted for development and expenditures in different regions of Uganda. But most national teams continue to struggle to raise funds to represent the country with hardly any explanations from
government.