By Otim Nape
Parliament this Tuesday morning convened and the session began at exactly 10am with Speaker Anita Among at hand to preside over the day’s proceedings. One of the issues that caused much debate related to her findings on Monday when she drove to Mandela national stadium Namboole to inspect their renovation and reconstruction works into which the Ugandan taxpayer is investing more than Shs100bn. Being the country’s biggest, Namboole is responsible for 128 acres of prime land in Kira Municipality.
There had been concerns that even when a lot of money had been invested, work wasn’t progressing as quickly as would be desirable to the extent that CAF inspectors recently authored a report highlighting the facility’s unsuitability to host international footballing events. The report highlighted some of the things that had been breached as the UPDF Engineering Brigade goes about doing the work. This prompted Speaker Anita Among to rush there with a large entourage of MPs who included Mathias Mpuuga, Geoffrey Ekanya and others on Monday.
In her communication from the Chair, Among shared her findings and suggested that the embattled Parliament Commissioner Mathias Mpuuga would subsequently read a more detailed observatory report whose contents would inform and enrich the subsequent debate as MPs responded to communication from the chair.
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It was during this session that tempers flared with UPDF MP Charity Bainababo describing Kira MP Semujju Nganda as ignorant after he dismissed UPDF MPs in Parliament as useless because of UPDF Engineering Brigade’s alleged failure to do and deliver a good Namboole job on time. Gen Bainababo spoke on point of procedure and was subsequently saved by the Speaker who restrained Semujju Nganda from fighting and pushing back against her characterization.
MAGOGO, OGWANG IMPLODE:
But the ugliest part of the session came from a huge clash that happened between FUFA President Moses Magogo (who is also the man who bonks Speaker Anita Among) one hand and Sports Minister Peter Ogwang on the other. Magogo, whose spousal relationship Among proudly referred to, asserted that many of the mistakes, breaches and defects that CAF inspectors unearthed would have been avoided if the Sports Ministry and generally the government hadn’t sidelined his Federation from the Namboole renovation works. It’s his view that FUFA would have done very well serving as the supervision consultants on the Namboole renovation projects works as opposed to giving the same to the Works Ministry.
He explained that stadium-related works are unique and the Works Ministry doesn’t have the technical know-how to be able to provide effective supervision to the contractor who is the UPDF Engineering Brigade. Magogo asserted that FUFA would be best suited to serve as the project supervising consultants because its them who know what is required to be done to enable Namboole qualify for CAF certification as a facility that meets international standards.
Saying all this costly exclusion of FUFA was deliberate and curious, Eng Magogo predicted similar setbacks would be faced on all subsequent CAF inspections as long as the Ministry of Education continues sidelining other Federations in the renovation and reconstruction of the different sports facilities in preparation for AFCON 2027.
He said that even when there is no law in place compelling government to do so, it would be ideal that FUFA gets to be officially selected and designated to serve as the supervising consultant on all the upcoming stadia construction projects including Buhinga in Fort Portal and Aki Bua in Lango sub region. This submission of alleged exclusion by Moses Magogo put Peter Ogwang (who represented the entire education & sports Ministry at the Tuesday session) on the spot.
Ogwang furiously pushed back implying that Magogo (who he admitted being related to as an in-law) wasn’t being truthful. He claimed that, for the case of Namboole, even when the official supervision consultant is the Ministry of Works & Transport, his Ministry had deliberately been consulting and closely working with FUFA to get its advisory input and wondered why Magogo was making contrary statements ostensibly to embarrass the education and sports sector to which he too, as FUFA President, belongs.
Ogwang said he had a heap of correspondences which he has been exchanging with the top FUFA leadership. He said many of his letters have been replied to and vice versa. Speaker Among challenged him to produce that evidence to prove that Magogo wasn’t being truthful, which he promised to do during the Wednesday session so that everything is captured on the record of Parliament.
Among implored him to learn to deal with Magogo less informally and more formally whenever matters at hand are official. The Speaker said: “I know he is your in-law but please be official and more formal going forward.”
To illustrate his point that Magogo wasn’t being truthful about FUFA being excluded from Namboole works, Ogwang also made reference to a breakfast meeting that was convened during which it was agreed what the roles of the Ministry of Sports would be in relation to what FUFA would be inputting into sporting infrastructure preparations between now and AFCON. Ogwang said as far as he is concerned everything has been moving well and wondered why Magogo was all of a sudden turning round to make the sports and education sector leadership to look bad.
The exchange between the two prompted Speaker Among to caution Ogwang and Magogo not to wash dirty linen in public as the same would embarrass the very government in which they both serve. Semujju Nganda jumped on this too to say there is growing evidence that Uganda under the veteran leader from Rwakitura is increasingly becoming a failed state.
MAGOGO BELITTLES NAKIVUBO:
In his long explanation, Magogo (who got two opportunities to speak) responded to the question asked by one of the MPs (Patrick Nsamba of NUP from Kasanda) about the suitability of Ham Kigundu-developed Nakivubo stadium to serve as an alternative since Namboole had been found wanting by CAF inspectors. Nsamba demanded to know why Uganda or FUFA is considering playing their June matches in Morocco yet he recently read on social media that Kigundu’s Nakivubo was good enough to meet international standards.
In response to that question, which was also buttressed by Erute South MP Jonathan Odur of UPC who registered his reservations, Magogo said the CAF inspectors’ report on Nakivubo had portrayed the facility as unfit to host any international sporting events. Saying he has a copy of the report, Magogo revealed that the facility had been found wanting in a multiplicity of ways when it comes to hosting international sports events.
“And just like in the case of Namboole, all those loopholes and gaps would have been avoided if the developer for Nakivubo had adequately involved FUFA to benefit from the technical expertise we have as he constructed the facility,” Magogo said making it clear that there are plenty of things that CAF inspectors listed which must be redone for Nakivubo to fit international stadia standards to be able to host international footballing events.
It was a stormy session during which legislators from Lango sub region demanded for assurances that the NRM government would finally deliver on the construction of the Aki Bua Olympic stadium now that Parliament has allocated money and put the same in the FY2024/2025 budget. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [whatsapp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).