We left off last time by pointing out that the diminishing levels of governance in the Netball Federation went to the doldrums and forced the hands of external bodies.
But then again, that’s not enough. We believe you deserve to know the Genesis of this pandemonium in this federation. It has been a rollercoaster of appointments, suspensions, threats, and interventions.
The Uganda Netball Federation (UNF) held an Elective AGM in June 2021 and a new executive was elected. To everyone’s surprise, the old guard refused to hand over the office until an intervention of the National Council of Sports, through the technical committee.
This was the start of unfortunate activities in the Federation with this new executive.
Wrangles in management
In October 2021, Mr Yahaya Ssengabi, the Public Secretary of the Federation was suspended. In January 2022, the President of the UNF elongated the list by adding Mr Muhumuza Richard (VP Technical) and Ms Mande Amina (General Secretary) on allegations of misuse of office.
In copies of these suspensions that the NCS got access to, the President conveniently left out minutes of meetings where decisions to suspend these members were arrived at.
Furthermore, there’s no evidence that the suspended members were given a fair hearing as stipulated in Article 28 of the 1995 Uganda Constitution. Just like Mr Yahaya, Mr Muhumuza and Ms Mande appealed the decisions to suspend them.
The petitions and complaints kept coming. And at this point, even the players had started to be dragged into the administrative chaos.
Netball players get sucked in
At a meeting with the technical committee in February 2022, players revealed that the President was forcing them to sign for an additional UGX 1,000,000 which they had not received.
The players said that these demands to sign were accompanied by threats to those who would refuse to sign.
While in South Africa, the male Netball team said they had not received any allowances and that the USD 1000 from NCS to facilitate a congratulatory dinner was never actualized.
The players’ involvement is what puts a dampener on the actions and threats of President Babirye Kityo Sarah. The only facilitation that the male Netball team got was from netball superstar Peace Proscovia (USD 1000).
By the accounts of these players, Madam President was threatening to have them cut from the team if they didn’t heed her demands, pointing out how she had the authority over the selection criteria should they refuse to give the Federation part of their allowance. It gets worse.
The male team suffered segregation and discrimination, being referred to as homosexuals. In today’s Uganda, being associated with homosexuality is punishable by life in prison, one of the toughest anti-gay laws in the world.
The other side of President Babirye Kityo’s story
The suspended members then petitioned the NCS citing gross mismanagement of funds, misuse and neglect of office, and the creation of a marketing department headed by Mr Ntale Daniel (President Kityo Sarah’s husband) – a department whose establishment is not catered for in the UNF constitution.
At the height of this pandemonium, the Minister of State for Sports directed the NCS to intervene in the disputes within the UNF and find ways forward.
In the NCS hearing, President Kityo maintained that excomm meetings were being held but still failed to provide any minutes of such gatherings.
She’d also later acknowledge that she didn’t have the authority to suspend executive members or establish committees not provided for in the constitution and pledged to disband the marketing commission and remove her husband from the role of head of the marketing commission and her other relatives she had given employment.
To the dismay of the NCS, the body learned that President Sarah had taken to social media and accused the NCS of being the hindrance to sports development in Uganda. President Sarah would then go ahead to appoint a mediator for these disputes.
Court orders and curious case of the male Netball team
Ahead of the AGM in February 2022, the UNF received a court order barring them from convening in such a manner but President Sarah Kityo went ahead with the meeting where the constitution was amended, excomm members banned, regional leaders elected and auditors appointed.
The NCS intervened here with President Sarah Kityo on the hot seat for gross misuse of power and manipulation of the constitution to serve her needs.
The International Male Netball Team put her on the spot for vetoing their participation in the East African Netball Championship games in May 2022, suspended their club, renaming their club, and then collecting subscription fees from them.
The President would be summoned for a meeting on 17th May 2022, for which she would not turn up, saying she didn’t receive the summons.
NCS Technical committee intervention
In their findings, the NCS Technical committee found that the Court injunction barring Hon Sarah Kityo, her husband Ntale Daniel, and the Regional Trustees of UNF from conducting any activities on behalf of the UNF was genuine and therefore all actions undertaken during that time were illegal.
The committee recommended that all activities and resolutions reached in the February AGM be considered null and void since it was an illegal assembly.
The committee further stated that the UNF constitution was unlawfully amended, and would still recognize the one drawn in 2012, that was registered with NCS.
In a nutshell, the NCS Technical Committee advised that if the UNF didn’t resolve the governance issues, NCS would withdraw their certificate of registration.
From the writing above, we have all seen the certificate withdrawal which was done by NCS was long overdue. President Sarah Kityo Babirye had turned the UNF into her little plaything and manipulated its operations to serve her needs.
These Federations are supposed to mainly cater to the athletes but if the leaders are looking to hoodwink and embezzle from every corner, where does that leave the athletes? The plight of the athletes is something we now need to look at critically.
Courtesy Photos
