UBF boss Muhangi remanded to Luzira

The Nakawa Magistrates Court has remanded to Luzira Prison the president of the Uganda Boxing Federation (UBF), Moses Muhangi on charges of forgery and uttering a false document.

Mr Muhangi, a businessman and a resident of Kololo in Kampala District was arraigned before Chief Magistrate Ritah Neumbe Kidasa on Thursday afternoon.

The court heard that Mr Muhangi together with Lydia Namutebi who is the former accountant of the Federation, between the months of March and April 2022 at the head offices in Kampala, forged a company receipt to wit Tents 4 U purporting to have been issued by the company owners whereas not. 

The court further heard that; Mr Muhangi, on April 19, 2022, at the National Council of Sports offices at Lugogo knowingly and fraudulently uttered false document to wit the company receipt, purporting to have been issued by the owners of the Tents 4 U whereas not. 

He, however, denied the charges before he was remanded to Luzira prison until May 31 after being denied bail.

The remand comes just a day after his colleague, the President of the Uganda Netball Federation Ms Sarah Babirye Kityo was granted bail by Grade One Magistrate Siena Owomugisha after spending two nights at Luzira over obtaining money by false pretence.

For the last few months, the two Federations leaders have been vocal critics of the Secretary General of the National Council of Sports (NCS), Dr Bernard Ogwel, accusing the organization of unfair funding practices towards sports federations. 

Earlier, while appearing before the Adhoc Committee that was constituted to investigate the activities of the NCS, Mr Muhangi boldly accused his boss of abusing his authority by exerting pressure on federations to provide an account of funds that had not been allocated to them. 

Mr Muhangi alleged that in 2019 while taking a team to participate in the 2020 Olympic qualifiers, the Federation was given Shs45 million, but was asked to account for Shs600 million.

The prolonged verbal confrontation between the NCS and several sports federations has been ongoing, with the former consistently levelling accusations against certain federations for their alleged inability to provide a proper financial account of the funds they receive from the council. 

Speaking to journalists shortly after the court hearing, Mr Muhangi said that he is a victim of a deliberate witch-hunt as a direct consequence of his outspoken criticism of those who are supposed to bring justice to the boxers he represents. 

He further asked President Museveni, and the Minister of Education and Sports Janet Museveni to take a keen interest in the matter, emphasizing that their involvement is crucial for resolving the issues at hand.