Sports Sector Budget Allocation to Increase to UGX25Billion

The State Minister for Education and Sports Hamson Obua has said that Cabinet has agreed to increase the budget of the sports sub-sector from 10 Billion to 25 Billion Shillings.

Obua revealed this on Wednesday during a virtual meeting with heads of sports federations and the National Council of Sports.

According to Obua, the increment will take effective in the next financial year 2022/23.

Previously, the sports sub-sector was receiving 18 billion shillings of which 10 Billion was ring-fenced to the Federation of Uganda Football Association-FUFA, and the balance shared among other federations.

However, due to the outbreak of COVID-19, the budget was further reduced to 10 billion in the 2021/22 financial year.

Several sports federations decried the limited funding and many canceled their programs due to inadequate funds. The Basketball Federation was hit hard due to inadequate funding.

While preparing for the Afro Basket Qualifiers, the Silverbacks were hindered by lack of funds. It took the intervention of the first son, Lt. General Muhoozi Kainerugaba to clear the bills.

Obua revealed that the cabinet was appreciating the resilience of the sports subsector after registering several achievements in 2021.

He cited Uganda’s fine performance in the 2020 Tokyo Olympic games where Uganda scooped four medals.

Moses Muhangi, President Uganda Boxing Federation appreciated the minister for the continued efforts to ensure the increment of sports funding, however he said the minister should revise the funding guidelines to ensure equity of all federations.

Moses Magogo, the FUFA President asked leaders of several sports federations to work hard to persuade the government for more funding. URN