In the series building up to the FUFA General Assembly on 26th September, 2015 at Soroti Hotel, the FUFA Communications department continues to bring you highlights on a weekly basis for (11 weeks) of FUFA’s achievements under the administration of President Eng. Moses Magogo and his entire Executive.
In the past weeks,we brought you highlights on key departments- Marketing and Communication. This week we switch attention to the area of governance where the FUFA President rolls off the achievements in the last two years.
The President’s assessment;
In my manifesto, I promised that FUFA would ensure proper governance and implementation of the FUFA Statutes. This implied proper functioning of the various bodies of FUFA, the Membership, the Planning and revitalising the Relationship with Government who are key stakeholders for the development of the game.
Without proper functionality of structures, there was always going to be lots of wrangles and lack of trust in the system. Development was always going to be overshadowed by football politics.
Before;
There had been a lot of progress in this area before my ascendance to the FUFA Presidency. We overhauled our statutes where the President had absolute powers to hire and fire. Therein still were underlying issues that needed urgent direction. The individuals took centre instead of the institutions. There was still a mix-up of roles of the bodies and generally there was also lack of trust if the independence and integrity of the decisions of the FUFA Bodies.
The Executive committee meetings were not scheduled by statutes but were always called whenever there was need. Members of the Executive committee did not take their constitutional right to suggest items for the agenda. The executive of 22 people was big to avail each member an opportunity to speak and perform. The secretariat was weak in man power quality and quantity. The executive and standing committees often performed roles of the secretariat (e.g VP-Finance and Secretary Competitions). The General Assembly was also too big for effective deliberations.
Our statutes did not give a clear distinction between FUFA Ltd-the legal arm and FUFA- the Association. The former players (Uganda Football Players Association) and Upcoming players (Uganda Youth Football Association) were not members of the General Assembly.
Our intervention and Achievements;
Statutes and Regulations; Football being dynamic, amending and creating more statutes and regulations is paramount.
The FUFA Statutes have since been amended to remove the ambiguity of whether FUFA is an association or a company. The 6th body called FUFA Ltd has since been created as the legal arm of FUFA. The financial period was re-aligned to ending-31st December. This now allows more than 8 months after end of financial period to undertake thorough audit and also perform financial reporting in accordance with the statutes. FUFA now runs a budget that has been approved by the General Assembly unlike the case before the amendment.
Regulations have been created or amended in the areas of;
The Status and Transfer of Players, Club Ownership and Registration, Club Licensing, FUFA Competitions etc
Bodies of FUFA
We have facilitated and ensured proper running and independence of the 6 bodies of FUFA. The Executive Committee has been convened every 3 months as scheduled in the Statutes and decisions have been taken. Now the Executive Committee discusses what the committees have proposed. The Committees are now involved in budget and policy formulations while the Judicial Bodies have adjudged on matters in their jurisdiction. The secretariat has been improved in terms of the facilities, personnel and systems. The General Assemblies have been conducted as provided for in the statutes. FUFA Ltd that is a 6th FUFA Body continues to represent FUFA Legally.
Membership
The Uganda Football Players Association (UFPA) and Uganda Youth Football Association (UYFA) have been admitted to the Membership of FUFA. The various members are conducting their businesses and building their governance structures. All the 8 Regional Football Associations now have offices and at least 1fulltime staff.
Master Plan
FUFA is currently drawing the long term master Plan that will last 10-years. This will give the grand plan of how football in this country will be strategically developed. This includes Technical, Governance and Commercial Long term plans.
Government
The Government is a key stakeholder in the development of the game of football. There are matters that affect football but when only government can provide solutions. The legislative bottlenecks, Security, the infrastructure and funding of national teams can only be accomplished by Government Support.
We have since reached out to various government functionalities and personalities. FUFA has now engaged the President of the Republic of Uganda, HE Rtd Gen YK Museveni and it is now possible that the President easily calls the National Team Captain, The Head Coach and the FUFA President to discuss football. FUFA has also now gotten good support from the V President, Rt Hon Prime Minister, Ministers, UPDF, Uganda Police, Immigrations and many government agencies. We are also proud members of the Uganda Olympic Committee (UOC).
Tangible Results;
1) A lot of previously unregulated operations are now regulated and guided.
2) The FUFA vs. FUFA Ltd challenge and confusion has been diffused
3) Planning has helped reduce on resource waste
4) The Uganda Football Players Association is now very vibrant and contributing to the development of the game
5) The FUFA Structures are getting more practical in the development of the game
6) FUFA and Government are now discussing long term funding, infrastructure and Legislative bottleneck solutions
There is still a lot to be done but considering the 2-years so far, we believe this has been a great job done. The impact of the current intervention so far in the Governance Agenda is yet to be fully enjoyed yet with more initiatives and investments we shall achieve more
It is Our Game, It is Our Country
