As a constitutional mandate, the Uganda Hockey Association (UHA) successfully held their 2022 Annual General Meeting (AGM) at the head offices of the Uganda Olympic Committee (UOC) in Lugogo, Kampala city on Saturday, 9th April.
A swift change of venue at the 11th hour from the adjacent Route 256 Restaurant, a two-hour delay (to raise quorum) and failure to approve the Shs. 799,550,060 annual budget were some of the glitches that grey-patched this members’ congress.
This AGM was chaired by the UHA president Phillip Wafula who was flanked by the general secretary Stanley Tamale, Bridget Bayine (Executive committee member) as well as a representative from the National Council of Sports (NCS), James Kasumba, among others.
Kasumba appreciated the executive for the developments within the body especially organizing the league and the national team amidst sponsorship hitches.
I want to thank the executive committee of Uganda Hockey Association for the national league existence even without a significant sponsor. The executive also managed to prepare the national team (women) for an African meet for the first time in 25 years amid all the challenges.
James Kasumba, National Council of Sports (NCS) Representative
This was the first AGM for the new executive committee led by Wafula after taking over leadership from Lydia Dhamuzungu.
The assembly failed to pass the proposed annual budget of Shs. 799,550,060 after members queried and cited a number of anomalies with a promise to put the situation right within three weeks when an Extra Ordinary Assembly will be convened.
In his address, Wafula lauded the different clubs, sponsors and the national council of sports for the effort to grow the sport.
He thus called upon unity, focus and growth as key pillars to take Hockey to the next desired step forward with emphasis on the countryside development of the game, facilities development, office acquisition, capacity building, domestic and foreign competitions.
We are looking forward unity, focus and growth. We want to move as a team with same goals and objectives with periodic meetings other than the AGM. We need to streamline our goals and develop a strategic plan, increase the number of people engaged in Hockey, rejuvenate Hockey in primary schools, resume the mini-league and masters Hockey (40 years plus category).
Phillip Wafula, President Uganda Hockey Association
Wafula intends to consolidate upon the Development of National Structures and System (DNSS) programe established in 2019 as a basis to develop Hockey beyond Kampala.
The Easter and Christmas cup tournaments will be deliberately moved to venues outside Kampala. We shall still engage the members in capacity building programmes for coaches and administrators, we need a permanent home of hockey other than Lugogo, further protection of the surface at Lugogo, an office in place to avoid the brief case arrangement, resource mobilization as well as an urgent constitutional amendment.
Phillip Wafula, Uganda Hockey Association President
Besides the domestic league and tournaments, the Uganda Hockey Association looks forward the qualifiers for the All Africa Games Ghana 2023 (January).
These qualifiers will be played in Nairobi city, Kenya come May 2022 and Uganda will send in two national teams for men and women.
Besides the pending budget for the year 2022, the rest of the items on the agenda progressed smoothly.
The annual budget of Shs. 799,550,060 will need a special extra ordinary assembly to be passed.
A lion’s share of this budget is allocated to the national team engagements at 716,380, 060. Others are administration costs (33,860,000), national league and tournaments (23,080,000), marketing (16,600,000) and capacity building (9,630,000).
With the association treasurer and external auditors absent from the AGM, the general secretary Stanley Tamale presented the books of accounts that left most members unsatisfied.
It was resolved that the extra ordinary assembly will be urgently convened within three weeks to put the house in order via the financial report.
