Obua attempts to open ‘blocked’ nozzles

Hon. Obua (R) on a guided tour of Lugogo Sports Complex with NCS officials. PHOTO BY ISMAIL KEZAALA

KAMPALA- In the words of one journalist; ‘Obua is a talker.’ There couldn’t have been a better person to describe Hon Hamson Denis Obua as the newly appointed Sports State Minister held his first official interaction with the sector players.

Obua, an avid sports fan and captain of the parliamentary football team, was chosen as minister last month to replace Hon. Charles Bakkabulindi who has served in the same docket for 14 years.

To be honest, in many sections, Bakkabulindi was seen as part of the bottlenecks that normally come with overs tay. A new face, new ideas, fresh blood is part of what sport needs.

In the words of one delegate at the National Sports Associations’ Forum held on Wednesday; “it’s good we are seeing someone who will not see you from a distance and say, ‘I know what you want to tell me.”

Then Obua, 39, embarked on his charm offensive. First, he met the National Council of Sports (NCS) chairman Bosco Onyik and General Secretary Dr Benard Patrick Ogwel.

He took his ‘gospel’ to council and staff who he wanted to ‘give hope’. In the latter case, media were allowed to attend to Obua re-emphasise “staff’s tasks as stated in your contracts.”

NCS
Knowing that NCS is the epicenter of Ugandan sports, the Ajuri county Member of Parliament spoke of the need to grant the organisation autonomy as a primary step to have it function better.

“We shall lobby to have NCS given autonomy and its vote with the ministry of finance,” Obua told the NCS top management and later repeated the statement at the forum.

NCS is a semi-autonomous body under the Ministry of Education and Sports, whose budget and funds are controlled by the latter.
So often, NCS has claimed to suffer budget cuts and clash with the department of physical education and sports headed by Commissioner Omara Apita.
In the same vein, from one speaker to the other, the 1964 NCS Act was declared archaic and obsolete, which words the sports minister borrowed in describing it too.

“I direct that the department of sports to fast track the review of the national sports policy that has since expired since its passing in 2004 then thereafter we can move to repealing the law,” Obua said.

Lawyers at the forum, spearheaded by Innocent Kihika of Uganda Golf Union (UGU) offered to help with the two processes on a pro-bono basis.

Infrastructure
If the law is archaic, there aren’t fitting words to describe the state of sports facilities. Presently, the challenges stretch from dilapidation to encroachment to destruction for other ventures.

On his tour of the Lugogo Sports Complex, the minister came face to face with the falling roof of the indoor arena, algae growing on the hockey buildings and a hard-on-the-eye hostel.

And this should only be the tip of the iceberg. “Yes, I am aware of the poor state of our facilities here plus Namboole and others,” Obua confessed. “What of Nakivubo?”

“My next step is to take a countrywide tour on all regional stadia and the high altitude centre and then make a report that will inform our next decisions.

“The president has a commitment to build a stadium in Lira (John Akii Bua Olympic Stadium) and Fort Portal (Buhinga Grounds) with a grant from the Chinese government but we have to do more.”

Obua advised that as the sports subsector wait for this to change, administrators must come with innovative ways like seen in the northern Uganda district of Gulu.

The district chairperson John Mapenduzi led an effort that mobilized resources from the local economy to revamp Pece Stadium a few years back with contributing businesses gaining advertising space.

Funding
None of that infrastructural changes can be undertaken without increased funding. Currently, the sports budget is Shs26b, way below the Shs194bn that NCS submitted in the 2019/20 budget framework paper. As a back bencher, Obua has led debate in the August House on sports funding which has seen this grow from Shs440m five years ago to the present figures.

He vowed to continue the crusade but… “There are three sources of funding. The first being government, then the private sector and finally grants you receive from international bodies,” Obua stated.

“If you need government backing, I will be available to walk with you to any corporate company to back your request and pledge to be your back-up.

“The reason all these companies are here and not in Somalia is because the NRM government has created a conducive environment for business so they should back sports as part of their CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility).

“I will ensure that we have corporate sector and the sports sector including the senior minister and the president meet to find a way of increasing funding,” he added.

There was a multitude of items in his unscripted speeches and perhaps for many, it was hard to separate the grain from the chaff. In all, there was so much grain. Time will be the best judge.