Local sport’s ‘new breed’ of leaders have work cut out after tough week

It is hard to tell whether shame shot through either Sarah Babirye Kityo or Moses Muhangi in hot streaks following their travails this week. The former, who is on gardening leave as head of Uganda Netball Federation (UNF), seemed oblivious to the gallery whilst being paraded in court as others stared with bald attention.

While Babirye Kityo was a picture of childish simplicity as the charge of obtaining money by false pretenses was read, Muhangi managed a chuckle on learning his predicament. A House committee had ordered that the Uganda Boxing Federation (UBF) president give a statement to the police after poring over UBF's ledger. He has since been sent to the coolers until May 31.

Muhangi had months back furnished the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) with the ledger as he told its members—with, it must be added, ferocious vigour and unsparing brutality—about UBF getting a raw deal. Whining about boxing getting the short end of the stick has come to be one of Muhangi's pet subjects. 

The UBF supremo often speaks about Uganda's second most successful Olympic sport with a passion that lends his pursuits antic humour. In so doing, Muhangi makes success for the sweet science seem so bizarre as to be unlikely. He has also made—to put it mildly—a few enemies and frenemies along the way. They doubtless took particular delight in the forgery allegations that PAC slapped on Muhangi.

In a sense, Muhangi and Babirye Kityo share much more than the fact that they have spent the past few days wrapped up in knots, under relentless siege. Their purported strong connection to the First Family notwithstanding, the beleaguered sports administrators' current travails fall neatly in a hunter becomes the hunted subplot.

Put another way, both sports administrators went to the House hoping to convey not just meaning but relevance with what some have described as demagogic delirium. Although the mood of the pair—at first exultant—has been darkened by a new sense of threat, their travails should not be used as a red herring.

If anything, recent developments offer a measure of the distance that Ugandan sport has not travelled insofar as ridding itself of the unpleasant is concerned.

The recent developments also strike a jarring note to the point of making the House look sanctimonious. Lest we forget, lawmakers rolled out the red carpet for Moses Magogo in December of 2019 after Fifa had ruled that the Fufa president dipped his hands in a cookie jar; albeit not too deep.

Magogo was suspended for illegally selling Fifa World Cup tickets, no less. It was, by any measure, a slap on the wrist, but one that should have seen our lawmakers establish an appreciable distance with someone who had entered a face-saving plea bargain.

Without discussing the material facts of Babirye Kityo and Muhangi's cases, there are so many anecdotes that are suggestive of Ugandan sport being ethically bankrupt. A case can certainly be made that an overhaul of the system is due. The likes of Magogo were supposed to headline a new breed of leaders in Ugandan sport; yet here we are dealing with what seems—even feels—like a mere change of the guard.

When Babirye Kityo took over the UNF reins from Susan Anek, no promises were made about change unfolding gracefully, with careful consideration given to the inevitable dissenting voices. Babirye Kityo nevertheless underscored her abiding interest in what might best be described as transparency by speaking forthrightly, if naively, about the dark arts at the National Council of Sports (NCS).

If accusations levied against her are found to be of substance, this will be another sledgehammer blow for Ugandan sport's new breed of leaders. Ditto Muhangi, who was supposed to help steer Ugandan boxing away from the depths that it plumbed under old timers like Roger Ddungu.