Muhangi: I’m trading punches for boxing’

You are the president of boxing in Uganda, by the time you were elected boxing was full of dilemmas. It has kind of stabilised. What accounts for this seeming stability?

When we came in there were a lot of unnecessary governance issues and the federation was always in wrangles. This was attributed to many things and one of them is education. When you are dealing with people who are less educated then there is a problem. Most of the boxers are less educated.  This is partly because boxing is no longer in schools. For 30 years, we have not had boxing in schools because of a ban. So most of the people who are in boxing are ghetto people. That affects the way they understand and that translates into governance problems.  Then also the lack of adequate information in as far as the government funds the sector. Because some thought there was a lot of money from the government and someone was eating it. That uncertainty created issues. Remember at the time they were funding the federation based on activities. Then also lack of vision on the side of leaders to be able to guide the sector. So, when we came into office in 2018, that is what we started addressing. The issue of governance was addressed by amending the constitution to make it water tight.

But some people claim you are using the constitution to keep yourself in power.

For as long as there are elections, how can you say I am keeping myself in power? There will always be elections, you just have to have the qualifications. Someone who keeps themselves in power are those that abolish elections. The elections happen every four years. So it cannot be about me. Also, the federation is bigger than individuals because we have so many leadership positions on the executive and committees.

So what else have you done?

When you have people who are less educated, you have to spend time into civic education to try and teach them how things are done. That we have done very well. We have also tried so much about the uncertainty of funding so that people get to know how much money comes from the government. We’ve been so transparent on that. So, everyone in the sector knows the amount of money we receive and how we utilise it. Back then it was the president and a few people who could make financial decisions but now we have the General Assembly and the executive and the committees. We develop the budgets and calendar of activities together.

How much were you receiving before 2018?

If a team was going to the World Championships, you would go to Council (NCS) and they would give you money depending on your budget. Now we’re striving to have some kind of subvention. Because before you take the teams out, you must have identified them, selected them, trained them, nurtured them. The other thing we have done is to deliver on what we promised. We promised to improve the image and now boxing is no longer associated with thugs and criminals. The reason why people used to fight was because there were no activities. But now we have quite a number of games and people don’t have so much time to spend on politics. We have also tried soliciting for funding from the corporate world.

On a scale of one to 10, how much do you rate yourself so far?

I can only come to the rank if I compare my administration with the previous leaders and also compare my performance with what we promised. If you look at my manifesto of 2018, we have out-performed it. Everything we have promised, we have done. Now we are into new phases. The rank has to be like 15 out of 10. We have done more than we promised. We never promised that we were going to acquire land, now we have 21 acres; 10 acres from Buganda Kingdom and 11 acres from the president. We never promised to build a modern boxing complex and now we have gotten funding worth $5m.

For the time you have been in office, what is the highlight of your presidency?

The idea of commercialisation of the sport is key. Boxing was never commercialised. It has always been a sport that doesn’t make any sort of money. Back then the sponsors were well-wishers who could bring food to the camp. Now we are on a journey of securing private sponsorships. The moment we have our own sponsors then we won’t need to rely on the government and the fights will reduce. We have also been able to re-sell the sport to the public. We have been able to pick it from zero to become a reference sport. We have also been able to streamline with the International Boxing Association (IBA) and we are starting to benefit from it. That is where the $5m came from and they are also giving us equipment, referee/judges and coaches courses. The other key issue is streamlining funding from the government because boxing is an NDP III sport. (Note: The third National Development Plan highlights football, netball, athletics, rugby, golf and boxing among niche sports in Uganda.) Now we are fighting so that it can get its due funding. Parliament has at least passed a Shs3b budget. The money has not come yet because of bureaucracy at the NCS and the Ministry of Sport because of those who are resisting the change.

Talking about the Champions League, a section of stakeholders thinks you emphasise the commercial side while suffocating where the sport comes from.

That is false because first of all the introduction of the Champions League kills many birds with one stone. One, because it happens almost every two weeks. The boxers have reason to keep training. The more they train, the more they improve their competitiveness. Secondly, if you are in the Champions League, it is easy to be identified for the national team. We have also been increasing our fan-base because they have something to watch. In the past, we could have events and wait for another year, which was not sustainable. We have also been able to attract sponsors because we now have a value. But of course like any competition, it won’t take up everybody. Those who are not participating can’t be happy. We were not supposed to make everybody happy.  There is no league that has everyone playing in it but those who are in are very happy.

Talking about schools, they were the bedrock of boxing, how much does it affect you that school boxing is still banned?

It has affected us so much. Boxing has been out of schools for almost 30 years now. We are forced to recruit people who are less educated and that becomes hard in terms of meetings, reasoning and fending for the sport. We also get a challenge in securing sponsorships because all the middle managers in organisations have been in school in the last 30 years but have not seen boxing in schools. So when we come to look for sponsorships, we are telling them what they don’t know. It also affects our governance because all people in boxing that later become leaders are not educated. We cannot have the courses unless you translate them. In the assembly you struggle unless you have a translator.

What are you doing about it then?

First of all, we’re talking about it. Unfortunately, with the system in the country, when you talk about something they say you’re fighting someone. We talk about it, show the need, then engage people formally and informally. We have written letters to the Ministry asking them to reconsider their decision because even the reasons to disband schools boxing are not known to us. They are all just assumptions. Now there is an example of Hamson Obua [former sports minister], he warned us when we tried to re-introduce boxing as per our mandate as a federation. He ordered the Permanent Secretary to stop schools from participating. What are they saying? Is it safe so that we can address it? Boxing is an Olympic sport which means all issues you might want to raise in terms of safety have already been addressed. There is no way it can be practiced in all other schools of the world and you argue that you are not sure about its safety when you subscribe to the Olympic charter. Boxing has already been examined and tested. They are not responding but you keep talking about it wherever you have a platform.

You have had conflicts with the professional boxing commission, what is happening?

It is just a question of failure to understand the law on the side of those people who are in the professional business which is also because of failure to go to school. Even the old law was clear that in Uganda there will always be one particular body running a particular sport. That is why all other sports, apart from boxing, have one body. In boxing, these people want to create a second body. We are the only body recognised by the NCS. UPBC does not have a certificate. So they don’t exist legally. There is also a law on improper usage of the word Uganda. You cannot use it unless you are recognised by the NCS. There is no way you can say Uganda Professional Boxing Commission. That is an illegality. But the old law has challenges with enforcing legal issues such as that one. Structurally, they are illegally existing even though they were hiding in the ambiguity of the previous law.

Is there any way such disagreements have affected how you operate?

Yes, 100%. First of all, they organise competitions and we also organise competitions. Their competitions are unsanctioned by us and what happens is that when they are poorly organised in terms of judging or in case of injuries or boxers are not paid, the negative publicity affects the image of boxing. They organise games that go until the morning because no one is regulating. It also creates confusion because there are boxers that turn pro when in our opinion we think they are not ready. We have hope in the new law because we will be running the three arms of the sport; amateur, semi and professional, we shall be able to determine which boxer moves from one level to another. We want to have professional boxers who make sense such that we are able to inspire young people into boxing. Right now you cannot convince someone to join boxing yet those who are into it don’t even have food to eat.

In 2022, you had ambitions to contest for the Africa Boxing Confederation presidency as well as a position on the Board of Directors for the International Boxing Association (IBA).

The boxing model in Uganda right now, is the best in Africa because we are able to have regular boxing. This model is not yet applicable in any other country in Africa. That means that the vibe in Uganda at the moment could be in Kenya, Tanzania and elsewhere such that by the time we announce the African Championship, it would be as big as Afcon in football. All other countries in Africa are doing boxing like we were doing it in 2018 – have a national championship and wait until next year. So you find that by the time you have an African championship, you will not have enough sponsors. Why I was trying to compete at the IBA level and the ABC level was to recreate this model. For as long as the bottom is wanting, then the top cannot stand firm.

Did you give up on the dream?

We didn’t give up but as you know politics, some things can be believed when someone has seen them. The IBA contestant [Umar Kremlev] was from Russia and the opponent was from the Netherlands [Boris van der Vorst]. It was Europe against Russia, so we needed to have an undivided African vote and yet I was contesting against a Cameroonian [Bertrand Mendouga], my stay in the race would have divided the African vote in favour of the Dutch candidate. I can always come back later.

What needs to change with boxing?

The model of boxing needs to change. We’re still running on a tournament basis. Countries incur a lot of resources to be there. For instance, for Uganda to participate in a world championship, we spend about Shs600m. When you go to such a competition and maybe one boxer wins a medal, imagine bringing one medal in exchange for Shs600m! When Kremlev introduced the prize money, there was some relief but not everybody wins it. If you have a balance sheet, it is not making sense. Even then a medal is won by an individual, if one wins $200,000 for a gold medal, it goes to the boxer. But remember it’s the federation that spent money to bring the boxer to the competition. We need to have a mindset change and have vibrant leagues across the world.

Recently you have been in the spotlight with accusations against the NCS? What is it about?

Funding. Our idea of developing sport is in a way conflicting with some people in NCS. For them they believe that they should receive money and distribute it with no purpose. For NCS their target seems to be to get medals at the international stage. But where the confusion comes is that the sports that give you medals are not funded. When you look at the history of Uganda, boxing has been giving us medals. But you spend a whole year without funding it, which means you are defeating your own target of getting medals. In sports, we seem to have leadership, but actually there is no leadership. Because why should we even have a conflict with NCS if the Ministry was able to give proper leadership? Boxing has been up in arms with NCS over lack of a training centre. There is a gym in Lugogo which could serve boxers for better performance. But the gym is privatised for someone doing physical fitness. We were ready to double the money the fitness guys were offering to make it available for boxers but they said no. The minister and the board could not address it. Because they have failed to address it, we keep talking about it. Secondly, they give us money late. In the records they will say we gave boxing Shs600m but if you give it to me three weeks before the competition, how do we make magic? We were forced to go to Parliament and that’s how they ring-fenced funds. The issue of ring-fencing is that there is hope that the money will come in time and we are able to identify the team and prepare with buildup games such that by the time we go to the actual competition, we are ready.

Music and business made you, how did it influence the leader you are?

We are not coming into sport to earn a living. We come with open minds. It can only get better because of the kind of people we are and the confidence we have. Our minds have been emancipated. I didn’t come to sport to have a chance to travel because I have travelled before. I only came to add value and our value is being felt. We have to create a better sports sector that can support the lives of our children against our selfish interests.

You are into business, enjoy a high life and run boxing among other things. How do you balance it all?

You do that because of the pressures of life. Life is not a joke. It’s also about people's character. I am forever exploring things in life trying to impact people's lives. Even in these boxing fights, I am doing it for the boxers.

Anything important we could have skipped?

The direction of the sports sector is very important. We have many young people who can’t be employed. The future of any country depends on its ability to mind the issue of talent. Now the President thinks he is going to use agriculture and that is why he is pushing a lot of money into the Parish Development Model (PDM). But most youths are in urban centres. Agriculture should be for the bigtime farmers with enough factors of production. The youths can be tapped in talent-- either music or sports. We need leaders in the sports sector that can help give proper direction to the president. For a boxer, all he needs is a pair of gloves and punching gloves to excel in life.

Who is Muhangi?

Place: Mulago

Parents: John Patrick Kapere & Florence Nakawuka.

Education: Uganda Martyrs Mbarara, Kibuli SS, Kitante Hill, Makerere University (BA. Statistics) and Law Development Centre.

Boxing history: Kololo High for schools’ competitions.

Work: President Uganda Boxing Federation, director and music producer Gong Records, director Black Excellence and director Street Finance.