UNF to spend Shs142m on ‘government officials’ at WC

Kampala. Uganda Netball Federation (UNF) will pay unnamed government officials Shs142, 500, 000 during the World Cup set for July 12-21 in Liverpool, England.

The figure is numbered ‘item 11’ in the expenditure summary report presented during the body’s controversial assembly held at Kati Kati Restaurant on Saturday.

However, the 18-page document which includes a financial report for the year ended December, 31, 2018 and the preparations for the global showpiece doesn’t detail how the Shs142m will be spent on those officials.

According to the budget presented by UNF treasurer Hajji Yusuf Kamulegeya, they will spend in excess of Shs3.3bn on the She Cranes preparations for the global showpiece.

This entire sum is expected to be realized from government/National Council of Sports (NCS) with UNF not expecting any further support from the corporate world or well-wishers.

Of that, UNF will fly five ministry officials to the World Cup with tickets costing US$1, 500 (about Shs5.5m) which brings a total Shs28.5m. The rest is for accommodation, visa fees and allowances.
It costs around US$1, 200 to travel from Entebbe to London, Daily Monitor found.

Ordinarily, the cost of sending government/ministry officials to such events lies in the hands of the respective department or ministry and not the federation concerned.
Over the past few years, She Cranes have captured the attention of many Ugandans with successive World Cup appearances and participation in the Commonwealth Games.

This compelled NCS to fund priority sports with quarterly budget support. Of this netball received Shs375m from government every three months. The other beneficiaries are football, rugby, basketball, athletics, boxing, disability and university sports with varying sums.

This has not been matched by growth locally with netball still heavily reliant on the goodwill of institutional clubs and individuals like Lawrence Mulindwa of St. Mary’s SS, Kitende.
In the budget proposal, the Susan Anek-led UNF will spend the same amounts of money to fly the She Cranes to Malawi, Jamaica and Australia for a buildup game in each of them. That identical sum of Shs547, 200, 000 is surprisingly split into equal costs on air tickets, accommodation, allowances and visa fees.
This implies that hotels in Malawi cost the same as those in Jamaica and Australia at Ssh760, 000 per person per day for 10 days.

A Daily Monitor online survey found that the visa fees to travel to Jamaica stand at US$20 (about Shs74, 000) and not the not the US$200 (Shs740, 000) quoted by UNF.
The same fees are tagged to Malawi whose visa costs US$100 (Shs370, 000). Similar quotations are used for the trip to Liverpool though the total cost for the ‘main course meal’ is less than the ‘starters’ that the buildup games are meant to serve.

Look at this; 10 days in Malawi will cost more than Shs547m. The entire WC campaign lasting nine days in a first world country (England) with definitely a higher standard of living is expected to cost Shs470m. Of the sum Shs3.3bn sum, UNF want to spend Shs600m on a bus and Shs39m on staffing among other items.

2019 world cup netball expenditure

Build up game in Malawi (April 2019)
Air ticket 15 players, 10 officials Shs304m
Accommodation for 25 people Shs109m
Allowance for 25 people Shs34.2m
Visa and Insurance Shs19m
TOTAL - Shs547.2M

Build up game in Jamaica (May 2019)
Air ticket 15 players, 10 officials Shs304m
Accommodation for 25 people Shs109m
Allowance for 25 people Shs34.2m
Visa and Insurance Shs19m
TOTAL - Shs547.2M

Build up game in Australia (June 2019)
Air ticket 15 players, 10 officials Shs304m
Accommodation for 25 people Shs109m
Allowance for 25 people Shs34.2m
Visa and Insurance Shs19m
TOTAL - Shs547.2M

World Cup in Liverpool, England
Air ticket 12 players, 10 officials Shs125.4m
Accommodation for 22 people Shs234.08m
Allowance for 22 people Shs83.6m
Participants and officials Shs10.56m
Visa and Insurance Shs16.72m
TOTAL - Shs470.36M

Gov't officials

Air ticket 5 officials Shs28.5m
Accommodation Shs53.2m
Allowance for 5 people Shs57m
Visa and Insurance Shs3.8m
TOTAL - Shs142.5M

[email protected]