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Speaker of Parliament Anita Among has asked sports federations to ensure timely payment of allowances and other remuneration to sportsmen and women, especially those whose successes in international competitions bring glory to Uganda.
According to Ms Among, persistent complaints about poor, late or no payment of sportsmen and women as well as their coaches has cast the country in bad light and discourages others who want to represent the country in various competitions.
“If we don’t take sports as a priority then we are doomed. Minister, much as we are celebrating, what members are saying [that] these federations don’t pay the athletes. Because the money is given to federations, we don’t pay them direct. The federations must pay them and in time,” she said.
She made the remarks while paying special tribute to the national senior athletics team and the national netball team, the She Cranes for their outstanding performance at the recently concluded competitions.
The athletics team bagged two Gold medals at the 19th World Athletics Championship in Budapest, Hungary, and finished in 11th position overall, while the She Cranes recorded their best-ever finish at the Netball World Cup in Cape Town, South Africa, that ended early this month.
“We must have accountability by all the federations and all the sports persons must be paid by their federations; all the promises that have been made to all the athletes including Aki Bua,” Ms Among said.
In the same regard, the Bugiri Municipality MP, Mr Asuman Basalirwa, tasked the Ministry of Finance to ensure that all appropriated funds are released to the sports sector on time. He reasoned that it is through this that the sector will be able to make timely preparations and also participate in international competitions.
“As Parliament, we can only do service to this country by ensuring that we make the necessary appropriations. Once monies are available, the sports sector then we will have done our job as an institution,” Mr Basalirwa said.
He added: “We should ensure that the monies are released in a timely manner, it does not make sense for us to appropriate money here and the minister for Finance releases money as and when he feels like, well knowing that sports has a Calendar.Story and Photos by by Eric Dominic Bukenya/Office Of the Speaker