A four man committee has been appointed to steer the re-organization of the Uganda Judo Association (UJA) for a period of three months (April 15th to 15th July 2021).
Former National Council of Sports (NCS) general secretary Jasper Aligawesa Muwonge, Mike Ojok (former national team captain), AIP Peter Malavu (Uganda Police Judo team) and Hannington Musoke from Makerere University have been appointed to oversee the sanity of this association.
This is intended to have the association well structured, managed and aligned with the statures of both the continental and international affiliate organizations.
Captain Herbert Mulasa Musiitwa, founder and current president of the Uganda Judo Association disclosed to the media at their Lungujja based head offices that at the moment, all the activities of the association will run on the interim.
The development followed the recently concluded elections of the Africa Judo Union held on 17th May 2021 in Dakar, Senegal.
The continental leadership emphasized that there is need to implement proper governance and management structures; and to organize membership from the grassroot.
“Following advise from the Africa Judo Union, we are undertaking an organizational audit and realign to conform with their procedures and structures. The Africa Judo Union also noted with concern suspicious and unethical acts by officials claiming to represent the president of Uganda Judo Association which they brought to my attention” Captain Herbert Mulasa Musiitwa, founder and president of Uganda Judo Association.
Musiitwa noted that the four man committee institution is in respect of the presidential powers under Article C (a) of the Uganda Judo Association constitution.
This four man committee will therefore run all the association activities (on interim) for the three month tenure, review the constitution in alignment with both International Judo Federation ( IJF) and Union Africaine De Judo (AJU), audit as well as structure and register members of the association, develop all relevant policy frameworks and by -laws of the association with the target to organize the association’s general assembly and elections.
Aligawesa calls upon all stakeholders in the Judo sport to come out and actively be involved in this rebuilding process.
“We humbly call for all stakeholders and those interested in the sport of Judo to come out, engage and support this process of rebuilding the sport in Uganda” Aligawesa appealed.
The immediate task for this four man committee, according to Musoke is to audit the existing clubs and prove their existance.
There are a number of Judo clubs in Uganda as Abedi, Entebbe, Black Moster (Jinja), Divine Martial Arts, Agahakan, Uganda Police, Uganda Peoples Defence Forces (UPDF), Smart Kigwo Martial Arts, Nakivubo, Makerere and Lukwago Fitness club.
The committee already commenced their investigations and other work tasks on April 15th which will run until the 15th July 2021.
Among the relevant persons this committee might need in the execution of their work is David Katana, a long serving general secretary of the Uganda Judo Association.
Katana and the current president Musiitwa might be at cross-roads thus far with reconciliation envisaged as the lee-way.
On a positive note, Uganda’s rebuilding process comes at a time when the world’s body reelected Marius Vizer as the President of the International Judo Federation during the IJF Ordinary Congress in the Hungary capital city of Budapest on Thursday, 3rd June 2021.
This year, Uganda Judo Association has lined up events as the first Uganda Judo Heroes championship, grading, seminar (inter-forces and schools integration), national and grand judo championships, among others.
About Judo:
Judo is system of unarmed combat, now primarily a sport. The rules of the sport of judo are complex.
The objective is to cleanly throw, to pin, or to master the opponent, the latter being done by applying pressure to arm joints or to the neck to cause the opponent to yield.
Techniques are generally intended to turn an opponent’s force to one’s own advantage rather than to oppose it directly.
A ritual of courtesy in practice is intended to promote an attitude of calm readiness and confidence.
The usual costume, known as jūdōgi, is a loose jacket and trousers of strong white cloth.
White belts are worn by novices and black by masters, with intermediate grades denoted by other colours. Jūdōka (students of judo) perform the sport with bare feet.
Kanō Jigorō (1860–1938) collected the knowledge of the old jujitsu schools of the Japanese samurai and in 1882 founded his Kōdōkan School of judo (from the Chinese jou-tao, or roudao, meaning “gentle way”), the beginning of the sport in its modern form.
Kanō eliminated the most dangerous techniques and stressed the practice of randori (free practice), although he also preserved the classical techniques of jujitsu (jūjutsu) in the kata (forms) of judo.
By the 1960s judo associations had been established in most countries and affiliated to the International Judo Federation, which is headquartered in Budapest, Hungary.
