By Mulengera Reporters
Last Monday for three hours, Gen Museveni held an AFCON-related emergency meeting immediately after concluding the weekly Cabinet session. It went on up towards 7pm. His wife Janet Museveni, who is also Minister of Education & Chairs the AFCON Local Organizing Committee for Uganda, was in attendance. Her junior, Peter Ogwang (specifically for sports), was also present too.
The rest, about five of them, were stakeholders representing FUFA interests. There was also a representative from the Education Ministry’s Sports Department. Pro-FUFA reports had previously reached Gen Museveni indicating that the Football Federation leadership was being alienated and not involved enough in the AFCON 2027 preparatory activities.
The President had been told by pro-FUFA sources that officials at the Ministry’s Sports Department had ganged up with foreign firms or contractors constructing the multi-purpose sporting stadia and facilities in Hoima and Aki Bua in Lango, to exclude stakeholders affiliated to FUFA. That there were lots of supplier and sub-contracting deals from which pro-FUFA suppliers and potential sub-contractors had been excluded.
Gen Museveni asked officials from the Ministry of Education’s Sports Department to explain themselves about all these allegations.
And in response, the big man from Rwakitura was told that the Hoima contractor (Suma from Turkey) gets his own suppliers and sub-contractors and isn’t obligated to get them through the Sports Department at the MoES. Gen Museveni weighed in also making it clear that he trusts the Turkish pre-financing partner, who he personally lured to come to do the Hoima stadium, to always do the right thing.
During the meeting, the President also referred to the list of the more than 190 suppliers and sub-contractors for Hoima as had been furnished to his office by the country’s intelligence services. That’s how pro-FUFA speakers at the meeting, who were led by Edgar Watson and a one Kalema, failed to get the big man believe their case.
It was also alleged during the meeting that bad blood between FUFA and officials at the Sports Department had started earlier on when FUFA’s ideas on Hoima, Aki Bua and other sporting facilities were disregarded.
The Sports Department officials preferred Hoima, Aki Bua etc to be built as multi-purpose stadia yet pro-FUFA stakeholders wanted especially Hoima to be strictly a football stadium. The Monday meeting was told that this made FUFA to feel alienated from the AFCON 2027 preparatory activities. And that it’s why officials at the Mengo-based Federation are resentful and uncomfortable with what is happening.
During the Monday meeting, Gen Museveni wondered why FUFA would prefer Hoima to be strictly a football stadium well knowing that he, as President, doesn’t want any of the AFCON facilities to become a white elephant after the tournament. He sided with those saying that being multi-purpose is the only way to prevent Hoima from becoming a white elephant.
The meeting also addressed claims by one of the Sports Department officials that pro-FUFA stakeholders had wanted to be the ones to chair the AFCON Local Organizing Committee for Uganda.
The President said that this wouldn’t be a good idea and it wasn’t possible anymore now that the Cabinet already sat in February and bestowed LoC with some legal cover and status to be able to legally operate.
Pro-FUFA stakeholders had spent much of last year, during high level meetings, arguing that the LoC had to be chaired by the Football Federation representative because the Mengo-based entity has a known legal existence and identity. The Janet-headed LoC was, as of that time, being challenged by pro-FUFA voices for having a vague legal identity or status.
The President back then involved the Solicitor General, who is a LoC member, to find some way for the Cabinet to get involved and ratify LoC’s legal status to avoid future chaos and scandal in case its existence was to ever be challenged in Court.
In its current state, LoC which has more than 20 members, is co-chaired by Peter Ogwang and his boss Janet Museveni. The FUFA person only serves as Vice Chairperson for LoC. The practice has been for Ogwang to chair meetings in case Janet, who has so far exhibited extreme keenness on the AFCON preparations, is unable to make it. This has caused Ogwang to be hated and resented by some pro-FUFA actors who erroneously see him as shielding them from heading LoC and chairing its meetings, in the absence of Janet Museveni.
LoC is officed in Kololo where its interim Secretariat has been based for the last one year. The Ministry of Education’s Principal Administrative Secretary (PAS) Sophie Besimire is the secretary who takes minutes for all LoC meetings. During the Monday meeting at State House Entebbe, Gen Museveni guided that the status quo remains and refused to give in to pro-FUFA demands regarding the legal status and who should head LoC in the capacity of Chairperson.
There were also claims that Minister Peter Ogwang was politically benefiting a lot by way of having his cronies getting sub contracted with work and by getting several multi-purpose sporting facilities situated in North and Eastern Uganda where he comes from. This was rebutted when it was submitted that for example Aki Bua was a long standing pledge of the President that was first made to the people of Lango as he sought their vote in 2011.
And besides, it was reminisced at that same Monday meeting that all the multi-purpose sporting facilities being erected in different parts of the country were contained in the huge proposal Uganda submitted to CAF when it was bidding to co-host AFCON 2027. This proposal was largely a FUFA document, and no one else’s.
It’s also true that Aki Bua, which is in Greater Northern Uganda where Ogwang was falsely accused of having political interests, was added and became a priority after CAF inspectors registered their reservations and disfavored Nakivubo.
The Monday meeting also reflected on claims that FUFA officials were being obstructed by officials at Ogwang’s Sports Department from being able to interface with senior Minister Janet Museveni as often as they would desire to.
This too was rebutted when Janet made it clear she is equally available to all stakeholders in the broader education sector and there is no way she can refuse to give audience to anyone who has something prudent to discuss with her or bring to the attention of staff at her office.
The role of UPDF Engineering Brigade in constructing several sporting infrastructures and complexes around the country (as was in writing directed by the President) was reflected upon in very complementary terms, during the Monday meeting at the Entebbe State House.
The Monday meeting also made reference to the February Cabinet session during which several Ministers pronounced themselves about the state of affairs at Mengo regarding corporate governance, as they debated LoC’s legal status. The FUFA situation was referenced, discussed and scrutinized by tough-talking Ministers for over 30 minutes during that February session.
During the last Monday meeting, the President also reminded people present as to why all the technical supervision on Hoima and other AFCON facilities had to exclusively be done by teams of engineers from the Works Ministry and not FUFA or anyone else.
It’s easier to enforce accountability from the Works Ministry engineers, in case something goes wrong by way of the contractor being permitted to deliver shoddy work etc, than can be the case with FUFA, which a non-state entity as opposed to being directly under the direct control of the GoU.
The Monday meeting also reflected on the fact that the GoU recognized FUFA as a key stakeholder in AFCON (as opposed to alienating it) which is why 50% of the members of the Local Organizing Committee were recommended by the Football Federation, as the GoU handled the remaining 50%.
All this demonstrated the extent to which the GoU respects and values its partnership with FUFA when it comes to AFCON and other footballing matters in the country. The Monday meeting of Museveni reflected on all this too.
And in the days that followed towards the Easter weekend, there was another AFCON-related meeting at State House Nakasero where the LoC budget was considered, discussed and approved at $14m (which roughly comes to Shs50bn Ugandan money).
It was made clear at that Nakasero meeting that all this money (Shs50bn), meant to fund all operational expenses relating to AFCON preparations for the next three years, will be handled by Dr. Kedrace Turyagyenda who is the Permanent Secretary Ministry of Education and not the Sports Council of Lugogo.
Janet is convinced that Dr. Canon Turyagyenda is incorruptible, experienced and strong-willed enough to be able to stand up to mafias and any self-seekers who might want to dip their hands in the till and selfishly line their tummies off the AFCON money.
Some of this money will be provided by the CAF Secretariat and a fraction of it by the GoU.
It’s what the 15 LoC sub committees will be using to do their work in preparation for the AFCON tournament 2027. Some of the work, on which this Shs50bn is to be spent over the next three years, will be done post the AFCON tournament itself.
All said and done, the President is convinced that with this sort of status quo staying put, all will go well and that the AFCON tournament will do just fine and be scandal-free as was the case with the NAM Summit of January 2024, as opposed to replicating the scandalous experience that the 2007 Chogm was.
Janet’s involvement as LoC Chairperson is sufficiently frightening as to be able to scare off all would-be deal makers and scandal authors. With her on board, no one is going to come around threatening the organizing committee members with falsehoods like “I’m so & so and I have been referred by State House or First family member so & so.”
This is why the veteran leader from Rwakitura is more than certain that all will be well and no money will be eaten. Neither will anyone successfully author any scandal around the AFCON event.
The President also wants Dr. Kedrace, the PS, and her PAS Sophie Besimire to closely liaise with the LoC Chairperson to ensure that all staff to man the AFCON Secretariat in Kololo are professionally recruited based on merit and exposure levels while guarding against any possible breaches to corporate governance rules and requirements.
