Defiant Netball Federation Boss Babirye Sues Govt For Revoking Certificate 

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Sarah Kityo Babirye, the president of the Uganda Netball Federation (UNF), has taken legal action against the government following the revocation of the federation’s certificate of recognition by the National Council of Sports (NCS).

According to the NCS, the revocation follows the persistent governance and leadership challenges within the UNF, as well as their failure to adhere to Ugandan laws and their own statutes.

“We would like the sports fraternity and the general public to know that these governance issues and leadership challenges were brought to the attention of the National Council of Sports and the Ministry of Education and Sports two and a half years ago for an amicable resolution, but all the official processes followed that have time have failed,” reads the press statement.

The challenges cited by the NCS include; unresolved governance and leadership issues, failure to follow constitutional provisions for executive committee elections, incorrect procedures to amend the constitution, and lack of transparency regarding funding sources. However, the NCS emphasized that the UNF has the opportunity to reapply for recognition once these issues have been addressed.

This development comes amid a long-standing dispute between Kityo, the UNF president, and Dr Patrick Ogwel, the NCS general secretary.

Kityo had sued the NCS, challenging alleged interference in UNF activities and accusations of misappropriation of funds orchestrated by Ogwel. Through her lawyers Luzige, Lubega Kavuma, and Co. Advocates, Kityo questioned Ogwel’s continued raising of false accountability claims and misappropriation of the UNF funds, which claims she alleges have been found by the Inspector General of Government (IGG) to be orchestrated by Ogwel.

On Tuesday, Kityo said that they decided to go legal to defend what she described as the truth and also to inform Brigadier General Flavia Byekwaso to stop ‘masquerading’ as the UNF president. Byekwaso was recently appointed by First Lady Janet Museveni as acting UNF president after ordering Kityo to vacate office.

“Instead of them coming and cancelling our certificate we’ll just end up like kickboxing. Let’s go legal, at least Ugandans will know that we have tried to defend the sport that we love so much and defend so much. And as the executive, we’re here to inform Brigadier General Byekwaso that she is not the president of the Uganda Netball Federation because as Babirye, I have never received any letter – not even one – either from the first lady or from the attorney general or from the IGG or from any other government institution informing me either to step down or leave office or telling me that they have removed me from office,” said Kityo.

“I have not even received any written document through the delegates over the same. Where does she get the mandate to claim and call herself the president? She should stop masquerading. She should stop. As Uganda Netball Federation, we have been patient enough, we have been disciplined enough. I was requested to take leave such that I allow investigations to take place. I did it willingly without any written document. That time ended,” she added.

The lawsuit was in response to an October 19, 2023 letter that NCS wrote to Byekwaso as the acting UNF president summoning her for a meeting that took place on October 24, 2023, to discuss NCS’s intentions to withdraw the certificate of recognition from UNF.

In that letter, NCS said that the federation had violated many laws including an order that sent Kityo on a sabbatical to allow investigations into her alleged mistreatment of players during the 2021 Pent Series, serious accusations of player harassment, misappropriation of government funds, among others, but Kityo returned to office before investigations were concluded.

While Byekwaso attended the meeting at the NCS’s premises, the proceedings were not open to journalists, and no official representatives from either the NCS or the federation spoke to the media about the meeting’s outcomes.

And about this very meeting, Kityo said that seven out of the eleven executive committee members decided not to attend the meeting physically and opted to send a representative to the meeting but were denied entry.

It should also be recalled that, earlier this year, minister of Sports and Education, Ms Museveni in a letter dated October 4 addressed to the chairperson of NCS ordered Kityo, to remain out of her office following her return from a three-month suspension. The purpose of this decision she said was to allow the auditor general and other government bodies to investigate allegations against Kityo.

The letter which also maintained Byekwaso as the acting president also gave the National Council of Sports an order to immediately withdraw the certificate of recognition from the Uganda Netball Federation, should Kityo fail to leave office.

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