Will the Sports Act address the issue of facilities?

The mandela national stadium under renovation. (Peter Ogwang Twiiter).

NATIONAL SPORT ACT 2023 Will the Sports Act address the issue of facilities?

Peter Tabu 09:36 - 25.08.2023

On Monday, the President of Uganda, HE Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, assented to the National Sports Bill 2023, which replaces the 1964 National Council of Sports Act.

According to the National Sports Act, all sports facilities will henceforth be under the management of the National Council of Sports.

On Monday, the President of Uganda, HE Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, assented to the National Sports Bill 2023, which replaces the 1964 National Council of Sports Act.

Section 75 (1) and (2) of the Sports Act stipulate that land on which public sports facilities are situated there on shall vest in council (NCS).

“The land on which public sports facilities are situated, and public sports facilities there on shall vest in council,” the act.

“The council shall not sell, lease, mortgage, dispose of or otherwise deal with land on which public sports facilities are situated, and public sports facilities and the land on which the public sports facilities are situated shall not be a subject of execution.”

Is it viable?

Previously, the sports facilities were managed by the respective town councils across the country, and even if the facilities remained dilapidated, they were still being used for sports and other activities like political rallies and private functions.

Sports lawyer Harold Atukwatse argues that the new sports act will need help to address the facilities issue, revealing that with NCS already grappling with government funding, overseeing and maintaining the facilities nationwide would be more challenging.

“The law has simply put NCS in charge of all sports facilities in Uganda, with most of them on government land, but I think it will be hard for NCS to execute because they’re already grappling with funding, so how will it work?" Atukwatse queried.

“Regulating the various city councils on how to manage and use the various sports facilities would have been more viable than NCS being in charge," he added.

Over the years, Uganda’s existing sports facilities have dilapidated due to a lack of funding to renovate or construct new ones, leading to a massive nationwide shortage.

The National Sports Act will become law after the Uganda printers and publishing cooperation gazette.

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