They ruled for so long that at one time, the average age of the UOC top executive was 70 years. Voting of office bearers used to be a procession of sorts because no one could dare challenge Nyangweso. However, as some of his peers passed on while others got embroiled in scandals, a new breed of leaders emerged and caught Nyangweso off guard when Roger Ddungu risked it all to outsmart him on polling day in 2009.
One of the key players in that manoeuvre was William Blick, who later ousted Ddungu in a coup spearheaded by several young Turks. I heralded a new UOC era in these pages because the body had finally got rid of old unproductive wine. To his credit, Blick introduced term limits and the image of UOC has greatly improved in the last eight years under him.
However, having been part of two coups, Blick perhaps understood the risk associated with having every UOC member eligible for the top seat. Intentional or not, he built around him a team of loyalists who created a succession queue amongst them by enacting prohibitive laws against those seen as outsiders.
For instance, the UOC constitution bars anyone who lacks a diploma in sports management from contesting for position of the president or deputy president. Candidates were also required to be ‘financially stable.’
I just don’t know how financial stability is measured. As a result, only a handful of UOC members were eligible for election as Rukare and most of his new executive won seats unopposed. UOC, being a body of 30 disciplines, should not restrict its members because it creates a sense of existence of the rulers and the ruled.
Nyangweso’s long stay at the UOC was down to such tactics where a cabal of loyal lieutenants had their major role to block anyone that shows interest in UOC leadership. Meanwhile, the fact Rukare is already the chairman of National Council of Sports (NCS); it would be a good gesture to quit the NCS position due to a conflict of interest.
I believe it is in public interest to have the two bodies provide checks and balances on one another; so, having one person occupying the two biggest positions doesn’t bode well with accountability.
At one time in 1991, Nyangweso was UOC president when he got appointed NCS board chairman on top of heading the boxing body as well as being a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
Amanya Mushega, the Education and Sports minister, realized the anomaly and appointed Abbey Kafumbe Mukasa to replace Nyangweso at NCS to provide some checks and balances.
The ball is in Rukare’s court.
bzziwa@observer.ug