As the process to replace Justine Ligyalingi goes on, he is his usual self smiling during press conferences as he waits for the board to make their choice on who replaces him.
Ligyalingi has been the helm of Uganda Cricket for the last 8 years since he was handed the job in 2010. Before joining Uganda Cricket he was the Assistant Secretary General National Council of Sports and most saw it as a sacrifice leaving a more secure job with government to lead an uncertain association.
When he took over Uganda Cricket the association didn’t even have a requisition book, the hiring of a CEO by the association was geared towards having someone run the affair of the association on a day to to basis relieving the board of such duties.
Ligyalingi was the perfect fit for the role CEO at its creation as his calm nature was key in cooling and calming down different egos. He properly understood his role and never took credit for what was due to him, the let the board run the show as they wished but viciously defended his secretariat from the politics.
Uganda Cricket then using the containers in Lugogo as offices was an association very loosely founded and run by a board, a very powerful board. Justine took on this challenge with all the years of administration he got both from being a teacher in Mwiri and as a senior administrator at NCS.
The operations of Uganda Cricket cannot be completely separated from the board and herein lies the problem for any CEO who takes over. Ligyalingi spent most of his 8 years fire fighting to make sure the interests of the board are served to be able to get anything done. He went through 3 board chairmen during his time at the association and each of these had their own agenda. While the board gives direction for the association they also control how money should be spent. The latter creates a lot of friction as the interests of the board sometime clash with those of the association.
Despite all the hardships, Justine has seen UCA grow from container offices to a full fledged secretariat, from employing only 2 to having over 10 full time employees. The scorecard performance of Uganda Cricket improved due to the organisation of the association meaning we were able to get more money from the ICC for development.
One of his greatest achievement will be the overseeing of the growth of the ladies game from 3 league team to over 14 currently. The ladies have been able to qualify the global World Cup Qualifiers during his time and only the senior men’s team performance will leave him with a bad taste in his mouth.
There have been shortfalls like a lack of sponsorship for the game especially for the local competitions but herein lies the opportunity for next CEO. Justine leaves an association that is on rock solid foundation, there are structures in place to move the association to the next stage.
Cricket as a sport competes with lots of other sports for the limited sponsors in the market and its time to position itself as a brand worth partnering with.
Ligyalingi moves on from the office but not from the game, the strict disciplinarian has been a manager of the national team in the recent past and it wont be surprising if he makes a comeback.
So long Justine!
