I will not benchmark my performance with Afcon berth - Magogo

Q.) How have you found the first 365 days at the helm of Ugandan Football?
A.) From a personal point of view, It has been hectic and a whole new experience. The difference between being a Vice President and a President of Fufa is huge. Definitely it has affected my routines and timelines. My family and leisure time has been grossly affected. From the institution point of view, managing change has been a challenge but the opportunity to champion change has motivated me. I know I have stepped on people’s toes but the goal is football development for our country.

There was general perception bordering on resistance is that you do not have the financial muscle to lead football. Do you think you overcome that and if yes how?
The said resistance was a reaction to the perception created by a few dissenting persons. I refused to provide certain guarantees of self-interest to a few people and this was the cause of the propaganda. Like I have said before, I did not promise while coming up that I have the personal resources to finance Fufa activities. I have also said that it is not sustainable to utilize personal resources to finance the activities of Fufa that are in billions annually. I promised to raise revenue streams and mitigate resource leakages.

The first approach was to communicate and change the wrong perception. The second was to install systems and internal controls to check leakages. We now have a budget and vote financial plan, with a chartered accountant as a finance director in Decolas Kiiza for finance planning and reporting that helps in decision making. We have also increased sponsorship revenue from about Shs600mto Shs1.2b. We have been able to appeal to Government to provide so far Shs740m from Shs26m the previous year.
Currently we seem to have overcome the perception as we have achieved all our financial obligations inclusive of improved motivation rates for players and staff.

There is a mixed reaction as to whether football has improved in the last 365 days or dropped in standards compared to your mentor and predecessor Lawrence Mulindwa. What is your view?
It was not always going to be an easy job to replace a person like Mr. Mulindwa. Under his leadership, there were a lot achievements and credit goes to him and the team he worked with.

I believe in the last 365 days, there a lot of achievements we have registered using the foundation of his works. Some of the improvements are in line with the Fifa global development strategy like has always been the case while others may not be visible immediately but in the long term.

I struggle to find any areas we have retrogressed out of the failure of my Presidency and definitely the perception of downward spiral is motivated and facilitated by people with a different agenda from football development. I also find it unfair to judge me in one year when some of the seeds we have planted can only start to bear fruits in 4 years.

You are not going to avoid a comparison with Mulindwa as his immediate replacement. You seem to have taken a different approach as many people hitherto considered foes seem to be aboard. Hasn’t this affected your relationship with Mulindwa and caused internal resistance?
For the millionth time, I don’t know of any disagreements with the honorary president. We meet, we talk and I always reach out to him for certain consultations whenever I deem it necessary and he does not in any circumstance interfere with my decisions. I have posed the question to him as to whether he finds any credibility in the presumed differences with me and he has confirmed that there is absolutely nothing and all he deserves is respect and appreciation which we gladly do.

He has told me in his own words that he has nothing to do with the people we appoint in various capacities and decisions we take. If I find ability and expertise with any Ugandan, I will always give them the opportunity to showcase. Not everyone in football has to agree with me or like me. What is important is expertise and ability to deliver.
Internally, I have been absolved as the hitherto perceived foes have actually been brought on board and have performed exceptionally well.

When I became President of Fufa, Caf appointed me on the Caf Club Championship Committee to replace Mr. Mulindwa as is always the case even elsewhere but I decided not to take up the position in respect of him.

Tell us about your meeting with Fifa President Sepp Blatter.
A one on one meeting with Fifa president Sepp Blatter in May 2014 in Zurich is a milestone. We discussed a lot of football development issues and his personal appreciation of my qualities is very inspiring. President Blatter is a pillar of development and since his arrival at Fifa he has sung development. Definitely the meeting has influenced a lot of my direction to be development ahead of politics and many Fifa projects are destined for Uganda.

Let us talk about the innovations at Fufa. What are the new things that have caused value addition at Fufa?
We have professionalized the Fufa Secretariat. We have recruited 7 professionals in the areas of Marketing, Communications, Finance and Competitions and contracted the rest of the staff.

Currently Fufa has 25 contracted fulltime employees from 12 in the previous year and we have raised the payroll from Shs10m to Shs33m per month. Fufa assets are prudently managed with acquisition of new cars and repair of the Cranes Coaster. Furniture, computers and other equipment have been purchased. Fufa House has full time wifi and broadband internet. The environment at Fufa house is more office-like and customer oriented than ever before.

Digital platform
With the arrival of Ahmed Hussein, the Fufa communications department has enjoyed great strides. The social media and entire cyber platform has greatly improved the communication platform. We are now able to get feedback via the digital platform and many media houses have timely and authentic news from Fufa in textual, pictorial, audio and video format. He has also helped in drafting the Communications policy and strategy which we never had before.

Marketing
Fufa has finally been able to register its rebranded trademarks. The replica kit and general Fufa merchandise has become a new source of revenue.
We have achieved both brand building and revenue generation. Signing Airtel as new Uganda Cranes sponsors automatically generated resources to make us achieve the development and operational objectives
We recruited Madam Kirunda Hellen and two other full time expert personnel and there has never been interest in the Fufa commercial properties like now. In addition to the existing three main sponsors, there are currently over 15 potential sponsors in the pipeline.

Cranes na’Mutima
This has been one very successful innovation. Together with our sponsors, Nile Breweries, we have taken the Uganda Cranes to the people. The technical team is also using these trips to spot talent for various age group teams and even future Uganda Cranes players.

Finances
We have been able to meet our financial obligations on time. We have not only increased but also been able to pay the staff salaries and player allowances on time. We have been able to pay the Uganda Cranes Head Coach on time.
We have even been able to reduce on the operation liabilities that we inherited. We have only managed this because of very frugal and prudent finance management systems we have introduced Competitions
Considering the gap between USLL and Fufa at the beginning of my Presidency, I am proud of the situation as it stands. I had to risk stepping on toes, egos and sentiments within and outside Fufa but all we have done is explaining ourselves and believing in our objective.
The Clubs Pro Agenda is the new programme that Fufa has already rolled out to help re-engineer club football in Uganda and the training for the facilitators in on-going.
The arrival of Mwebe Ali has ensured successful organization of football competitions but notably the Ceremonies for the Award of winners of various competitions like the Super League, Fufa Big League, Uganda Cup and Super Cup are now very colourful

Technical
With 28 coaches holding the CAF ‘C’ license as the elite coaching qualification in Uganda, there was always going to be a problem. We have since completed our own coaching manuals for the preliminary coaching courses that will handle the masses at the grassroots. The arrival of Mr. Jackson Nyima as the Education Officer has turned around our approach to capacity building in the areas of administration, refereeing and sports medicine. The U-17 team has also impressed..

That sounds really great but what do you think is the major holdback of Uganda not to achieve the desired objectives...
There are problems that football or rather sports can solve and those that cannot be answered by sport. For example, there is lack of expertise, interest and understanding of the immense value of a fully-fledged professional sports industry in Uganda by the government, those in sports and the general public.
There is even no deliberate effort to address this. Investment by government of the countries we compete with in sports is incomparable. Nigeria has an annual budget of $34m for sports and $8m for football alone while Uganda has $36,800 for 50 sports federations and yet African economies do not have a private sector that can finance for example sports infrastructure.

What do you consider as the challenges you have encountered and areas you think you have not performed well?
There are six major changes that have happened in a very short time. There was a change in the head coach of the Uganda Cranes, the Fufa President and executive committee, the Fufa statutes, the staff at Fufa, the colour of the Uganda Cranes home jersey and the logo. May be I had only the last three to take care of but the rest were before me and statutory.
Also the comparison with the success that Mr. Mulindwa had brought to football with me as a replacement caused a lot anxiety and uncertainty. Do not forget how abrupt Mr. Mulindwa left. I believe in such circumstances I have performed well to be where we are at the moment. I do not seem to read any area we have dropped in standards yet we have registered success and development in many areas as already mentioned.
The rest of the football challenges have existed over years.

What do you consider as your achievements so far? And the reasons for them?
The reconciliatory tone we have sung, accommodating dissent view holders, going into the face of considered foes, listening to all, keeping focused to the set goals and beliefs, our continuous professional communication strategy, being open and fair to all in agreement and disagreement, considering expertise ahead of self-interest and dedicating a lot of time to the cause has been the trick.

What message do you have for Ugandans in the remaining three years of your administration?
I will not benchmark my performance with qualification to the Africa Cup of Nations and World Cup in the next three years but structures and programmes that will create a strong foundation for those to come after me to ensure not only qualification but competition at those events. All I am asking for is to Support my administration, innovations and programmes
Let us look at football ahead of self-interests, development ahead of politics, and institutions ahead of individuals. Let all of us advocate for more nationalistic approach to sports instead of bickering.

Give me a chance during the mandate I hold. Judging my performance in months is unscientific and unjustifiable.
As an 80-year old man at my country home (In Sha Allah), I want to look back and say, I started that.

what Magogo said on...
Sepp Blatter:
The meeting (with him) has influenced a lot of my direction to be development ahead of politics and many Fifa projects are destined for Uganda

Lawrence Mulindwa:
When I became President of Fufa, Caf appointed me on the Caf Club Championship Committee to replace Mulindwa as is always the case even elsewhere but I decided not to take up the position in respect of Lawrence.

Fufa Secretariat:
Currently Fufa has 25 contracted fulltime employees from 12 in the previous year and we have raised the payroll from Shs10m to Shs33m per month.