More trouble as Museveni suspends netball president Sarah Kityo indefinitely

Uganda Netball Federation President Sarah Babirye Kityo (R) and vice president who has also been serving as interim president Flavia Byekwaso after a siege of UNF offices on Friday morning | Photo Credit: Courtesy

NETBALL More trouble as Museveni suspends netball president Sarah Kityo indefinitely

Fred Mwambu • 15:38 - 10.10.2023

The netball body has been rocked with governance issues that forced the First Lady to intervene and order the auditor general and the Uganda Police to conduct separate investigations into the activities of Sarah Barbra Kityo’s administration.

The Minister of Education and Sports, Janet Museveni, has reinstated Brig. General Flavia Byekwaso as the interim president of the Uganda Netball Federation until further notice.

That means the federation’s president, Sarah Babirye Kityo, is suspended indefinitely.

The netball body has been rocked with governance issues that forced the First Lady to intervene and order the auditor general and the Uganda Police to conduct separate investigations into the activities of Sarah Barbra Kityo’s administration.

UNF and Kityo’s problems started in February this year when the National Council of Sports claimed that the body had failed to account for funds they received to facilitate the She Cranes for the 2021 Pent Series in Namibia.

According to NCS, UNF received funds, yet the Namibian government had funded the team.

NCS also claimed that UNF failed to account for the money but Kityo denied the allegations, claiming that they accounted for every penny of the shs.186 million received.

Intervention

The Inspector General of Government revealed that Kityo’s administration had not accounted for about shs.30 million for the financial year 2021/2022.

The minister intervened and chaired three separate meetings, one of which was attended by the president.

In the third one, which was held on April 21st, Museveni reminded NCS in her recent communication it was resolved that Kityo be suspended for three months to allow for investigations.

However, Kityo forcefully returned to office on July 21 after exactly three months, a situation that has caught the minister’s attention.

“… I have received reports that the President of Uganda Netball Federation forcefully entered the offices of the Federation … before the investigations are concluded,” Janet Museveni wrote to NCS.

Tough measures

The minister has ordered a number of tough measures to handle the situation, including reinstating Brig. Byekwaso as the acting president.

The raft of measures also includes halting any funding to the federation until the governance issues are resolved and, at worst, revoking their certificate

“Therefore, the main purpose of this letter is to formally direct National Council of Sports, who are the regulators of sports in Uganda, to execute and invoke the relevant provisions of the law to ensure STRICT compliance of the same in respect to Uganda Netball Federation,” the minister ordered.

The attorney general, the IGG and the director of the Criminal Investigation Department of the Uganda Police Force have also been informed to ensure compliance.

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