By Mulengera Reporters
In a Friday interview, David Okello who is the Executive Director for Uganda’s National Bureau for NGOs corroborated that his organization, mandated to regulate operations of all Non-Government Organizations under the laws of Uganda, is investigating the operations and conduct of business at the El Cambio Academy/Football Academy Denmark Uganda Foundation Ltd which is based in Masaka City’s Kimanya-Kabonera Division.
He explained that the inquiry was commenced at the instigation of the Internal Affairs Minister Gen Kahinda Otafiire who recently wrote to him highlighting a range of governance-related concerns that must be inquired into after one of the NGO founding officials petitioned his office. In the 6-page petition, the whistle blower who claims to have co-founded El Cambio Academy with Danish Missionary Thomas Thor Madsen, explained to Otafiire how the original objective was to emancipate and empower Ugandan children from financially deprived backgrounds through character formation, education and sporting talent nurturing.
The whistle blower enumerated to Otafiire the different things the Danish co-founder has done over the years to divert from the original ideals for which El Cambio Academy (Masaka City’s equivalent of Onduparak) was incorporated and founded as an NGO in 2018. That these objectives included football training, education and character development among the children and youths of Uganda.
In a bid to illustrate governance-related breaches, the whistle blower also reported to Otafiire how the Danish co-founder was hostile to the idea of having a strong governing board in place besides resenting him (whistle blower) for repeatedly raising a red flag on all those breaches.
That time came and the Danish national sidelined his co-founder, altered the organization’s founding documents and brought in other people to replace fellow founders who he considered to curious, uncooperative and big-headed. That having sidelined the Board, the Danish co-founder, who also serves as the CEO, has been making El Cambio Academy-related decisions single-handedly to the exclusion of fellow top management members.
Otafiire was also told about existence of other SMCs like Visionary Pathways (SMC) Ltd and Masaka Sunshine Football Club Ltd. The Minister was also asked to inquire into the billions that continue to be fundraised from wealthy organizations in Denmark in the names of the Ugandan children who are supposed to be benefiting from the same under the El Cambio Academy. He was also informed about the 15-year partnership collaboration agreement that was signed and executed between El Cambio in Masaka and the AGF Football Club based in Denmark.
It’s a multi-million-dollar secretive transaction the whistle blower asked Otafiire to inquire into. The whistle blower revealed to Otafiire that El Cambio has a lot of funders in Denmark including Craft Leico, Ventures, Match Winners, Fuge Kompagi, Dear Football Nordish Fundering A/SF & YSIO Denmark. That information relating to all these is only known to the CEO and not the Board or anyone else at El Cambio.
The whistle blower says that those who ask governance-related questions while demanding to be included in all manner of decision making are chased from the employment of El Cambio contrary to the provisions of Uganda’s Employment Act. Besides imploring the Minister to interest himself with Police investigations that were previously conducted at the instigation of the Masaka City RCC under CRB277/2024, the whistle blower also demands that the matter of inquiring into what has gone wrong at El Cambio be treated as urgent so that the interests of Ugandans children at new Kumbu are adequately shielded.
Having perused the petition and found some merit in the issues raised thereunder, Gen Otafiire wrote to the NGO Bureau Executive Director David Okello directing him to quickly investigate and write a report guiding him on which mitigation steps to take. He ordered Okello to investigate and verify the claims the whistle blower made in the petition “and urgently advise on the next course of action.”
In the Friday afternoon interview, David Okello clarified that “the Minister forwarded the complaint to us and we have met the parties involved and the investigations is still ongoing.” He said the best way would be the complainant who petitioned the Minister reconciling and making peace with the Danish philanthropist. “It’s what we have asked them to do, besides asking for more documents, as we investigate and review all the documentation that has been tendered. If that fails, we at the Bureau shall take a decision based on facts that will have been established and our decision will be final.”
He explained that the Bureau leverages several options when resolving disputes of that nature including remedial actions which could comprise the Bureau cautioning and guiding the disputants on what the right thing is and how to do it to rectify and put the raised governance deficiencies right within a stipulated time frame. “The sanctioning can be warning, suspension and revocation of the NGO’s permit or even blacklisting the organization,” Okello explained in a bid to signal the fate that awaits El Cambio Academy whose disclosed founders and promoters originally included Thomas Thor Madsen, Joyce Bukenya, the CEO’s sister Susan Thor Bernsten, Samuel Waliggo and Nelson Kasadha.
David Okello explained that much as this is the first time for El Cambio Academy NGO to face such investigations, all options are on table depending on what investigators will establish. “If the governance issues at the organization are established to be gross [as the whistle blower alleges them to be], matters can be escalated even to permit revocation but it will all depend on facts that we get to establish at the end of the ongoing investigations,” clarified the ED.
At the NGO Bureau fact-finding meetings, the complainant or petitioner has always been escorted by a team of lawyers from POACE Advocates led by George Musisi as ABC Mall-based SIMA Advocates represents El Cambio Academy with Counsel Ian Mulindwa having personal conduct of the matter. So far three meetings have been held at the NGO Bureau’s headquarters at Kingdom Kampala with a view of helping parties to find middle ground.(For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).
