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The new bill, passed after two days of debate and deliberations on various articles on the floor of parliament, will replace the 1964 National Council of Sports Act when signed into law by President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni.
Uganda’s Sports sector is set for its biggest shake-up in 50 years after the Parliament passed the National Physical Activity and Sports bill on Thursday.
The new bill, passed after two days of debate and deliberations on various articles on the floor of parliament, will replace the 1964 National Council of Sports Act when signed into law by President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni.
The new law aims to regulate the country's sports sector, streamline the operations of sports federations, and improve transparency and accountability in sports administration.
Initially introduced as a private members bill by Budiope East MP and FUFA President Moses Magogo, on November 10, 2022, the bill has been in development for several months and includes contributions from various sports stakeholders.
Most of the articles therein were proposed by the Committee on Education and Sports which was tasked with harmonizing Magogo’s National Sports Bill 2021, and the Physical Activity and Sports Bill 2022 which was tabled by the Ministry of Education and Sports.
One of the main issues debated during the two-day session was the incorporation of national sports federations.
While Moses Magogo, MP for Budiope East and Fufa president, argued that federations be recognized by NCS as opposed to incorporation under the Companies Act, Attorney General Hon. Kiryowa Kiwanuka favoured incorporation under NCS.
Kiwanuka argued that incorporating under NCS defeats the implementation of recommendations 24 and 25 of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).
The FATF is an independent inter-government body, that promotes policies to protect the global financial system against money laundering and terrorist financing among others.
Another key highlight of the new law is the criminalization of unauthorized access to, participation in, or production of sports events.
This provision was not without controversy, with the Leader of Opposition Mathias Mpuuga arguing to the contrary stating that it could stifle the media's ability to cover sports events.
However, both Magogo and Kiwanuka could not be swayed, arguing that the provision was necessary to protect intellectual property rights and curb illegal activities in the sports sector.
The new bill allows for Uganda Olympic Committee and the anti-doping agency to continue operating in line with the Olympic Charter and as allowed by the World Anti-doping Agency respectively.
The House also passed that public sports infrastructure and land for public sports facilities be vested in the National Council of Sports, which is not allowed to sell or mortgage them unless they have permission from the Minister.
The parliament also passed a provision that requires federations to declare their sources of funds to avoid duplication of funding of activities and to ensure that there are no ill motives behind such funding.
However, concerns were raised by the Committee on Education about the funding of the sports sub-sector, which has been previously under-funded and will see its budget cut from Shs47.81bn in 2022/23 to Shs17.39bn in the next financial year.
The Committee also wondered how the government plans to follow through with the bill when the National Recognition and Reward Scheme for sports personalities has not been provided for under the planned expenditure over the medium-term Expenditure Framework.
But the Speaker of Parliament Hon. Anita Among assured the house and the public that the new law "is not cast in stone" and can be revisited in the future if it causes any issues.
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