By Mulengera Reporter
Even when haters belligerently ganged up to demonize and subsequently finish him off, First Lady Janet Museveni, who is also the Minister of Education & Sports, refused to write off the National Council of Sports (NCS)’s very dedicated General Secretary Dr. Patrick Bernard Ogwel.
Exhibiting undiminished confidence in the thick-skinned man from Lango, Janet Museveni has since chosen Dr. Ogwel to chair the Finance Committee that inter-alia will be charged with drawing up the budget and spearhead the raising of all the funding, complementary to what the government will be allocating, that will be required to ensure that the Ugandan aspects of the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) tournament are all hosted successfully.
In her communication to the Confederation of African Football (CAF) Secretariat, channeled through FUFA President Engineer Moses Magogo, Janet disclosed her choice of Ogwel to head all financial planning and allocation of facilitational resources for the entire tournament and has since given her reasons in writing.
Janet makes it clear that, upon approval by CAF Secretariat, Dr. Ogwel has to serve in that capacity effective from May and hold forte up to 2027. Her reasons are that Dr. Ogwel, who for long has been a target of attacks by hateful actors who conspired to even deprive him of the accounting officer role at NCS, is possessed with adequate experience and the relevant competences to deliver a good job.
She writes that she has well founded “confidence” that Dr. Ogwel will do hell of a job and will also generously share his expertise, connections and experience to ensure that all goes well for the 2027 continental tournament which Uganda will be jointly hosting with other sister East African region countries.
She believes that Dr. Ogwel’s experiences and tested competences will be leveraged to support and enable the 19-member Local Organizing Committee (LOC), which she personally chairs with Minister Peter Ogwang serving as co-chair, to effectively and efficiently deliver a tournament that will make all Ugandans proud.
The Senior Minister makes it clear that Dr. Ogwel and his other committee members will be entitled to some duty facilitation allowance to enable him delivered and meet the high expectations the sporting fraternity has in him.
The others to serve on the all-important Finance & Resources Mobilization Committee of the AFCON 2027 tournament, as designated by Janet, include FUFA’s Aggrey Ashaba (as Vice Chairman), MoES’s Bellarmine Okudi, Finance Ministry’s Francis Muhumuza, NPA’s Dr. Joseph Muvawala, finance expert Rebecca Nsamba from FUFA and Rasul Ariga who represents FUFA too.
In a letter copied to all State Ministers at Education (Peter Ogwang, JC Muyingo and Joyce Moriku Kaducu), Janet at length defends her choice of Dr. Ogwel and goes ahead to elaborate on the terms of reference for the Committee and the deliverables she will be expecting from him.
In specific terms, Dr. Ogwel will be expected to manage, oversee and have the last word on all financial aspects of the tournament while ensuring proper budgeting, fundraising and resource allocation. He must also do all he can to contribute to the overall success of the tournament of 2027.
He will also be in charge of all the post-event evaluation to gather feedback and insights to guide future such tournaments which Minister Janet Museveni is certain will be much easier and better organised by Uganda, drawing on the AFCON experience.
Dr. Ogwel’s Committee will also be charged with developing and managing the entire budget for AFCON. And will be required to fully adhere to financial regulations and sustainability to ensure the viability of Uganda hosting such an important sporting and publicity-generating event.
Janet is also counting on the Ogwel Committee to design and implement strategies for financial resources’ mobilization. This comprises of obtaining and securing sponsorships and partnerships besides mooting other fundraising initiatives.
Dr. Ogwel has also been tasked by his line Minister Janet to effectively coordinate with all the other Committees (including the one on Accreditation & ICTs chaired by Dr. Aminah Zawedde the PS ICT Ministry) to establish the financial requirements regarding the facilitation each one of them will require to deliver their respective mandates.
He also has to do budgets for other AFCON relevant Committees besides managing and monitoring the execution of the entire event’s overall budget. The Ogwel Committee is also charged with developing transparent financial reporting mechanisms besides regularly updating the country’s Local Organizing Committee headed by First Lady Janet Museveni herself.
They are also supposed to explore alternative funding channels and opportunities through which additional cash can be raised or generated and accordingly advise Senior Minister Janet. That additional cash is supposed to complement on what the GoU will have provided to enable LOC pull off the entire AFCON event.
The Ogwel Committee has also been asked by Janet Museveni to help come up with financial requirements to facilitate the establishment of legacy projects in host and footballing communities where key AFCON-related events and activities will take place. Janet rightly wants to have the potential long term impact of the AFCON tournament to people in such communities documented and well-articulated to guide subsequent decision-making.
The Committee also has been tasked with ensuring that all the other Committees efficiently utilize the resources allocated to them and in a very cost effective manner.
They are also supposed to advise the Janet Museveni-led LOC on tax implications of all AFCON-related expenditure and fundraising decisions that will have to be made.
Some of the notable LOC members include FUFA President Moses Magogo, Makerere Governing Council Vice Chairman Dr. Dan Kidega, MoES’ Communications Director Dr. Dennis Mugimba and Next Media CEO Dr. Kin Kariisa. There is also veteran corporate leader Aggrey Kagonyera and several others. Mark Ssali equally has been given a role as has been his great pal Mark Namanya. Veteran journalist and broadcaster Angelo Izama also features somewhere. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).
