Minister of State for Sports, Hon. Peter Ogwang, has been directed to present a statement to Parliament by Wednesday on the She Cranes participating in the 2023 national championship .
The National Council of Sports recently canceled the netball federation’s certificate, leading to reports that the She Cranes, the national netball team, will not participate in the 2023 national championship in Botswana.
Speaker Among emphasized the significance of netball as a successful sport, particularly for women, and urged the Vice President, Jessica Alupo, to address the situation.
“Over the weekend, it emerged that the Uganda Netball team, the She Cranes haven’t been able to participate in the upcoming 2023 championship in Botswana. Considering the fact that netball is one of our successful sporting discipline and especially being played by ladies. The Vice President of this country is a woman, Prime Minister is a woman, Speaker is a woman. I don’t think the Vice President is going to allow that, you need to see what happens with our girls, they haven’t been able to participate on the sporting,” said Among
The Vice President Alupo clarified that the certificate cancellation was due to accountability gaps, and while the She Cranes won’t participate in Botswana due to other teams’ withdrawals, they are scheduled to play international matches in London and Wales in January. Alupo assured that the She Cranes’ operations haven’t been hindered.
“The She Cranes according to National Council of Sports will not participate in Botswana not because of the certificate and teams pulled out and the World Netball Federation together with the body managing netball federation called the normalisation body deemed it unfit for a few teams which had remained to go to Botswana. But the She Cranes will go to Rwanda and also Wales,” said Alupo.
Adding that: “The operations of the She Cranes haven’t been hampered, the She Cranes will continue playing but the Uganda Netball Federation is being discussed with the World Netball Association and the team from National Council of Sports and the Ministry of Sports so that the certificate of Uganda Netball Association will be revived because as it is now, it has been cancelled,”
Speaker Among emphasized that the issue is more about corporate governance than finances and instructed the Minister of Sports to investigate the certificate cancellation.
Vice President Alupo stated ongoing discussions with relevant authorities to reinstate the netball federation’s certificate.
The Speaker further tasked the State Minister for Sports to provide a comprehensive report on the matter, guiding Parliament’s decision. Additionally, the Parliamentary Accounts Committee is set to present a report on its investigation into the Uganda National Netball Federation.