Federation Of Motorsports Uganda Offices In Shambles

The Federation of Motorsport Clubs Uganda (FMU) office is in shambles due to lack of personnel, gross under-funding and alleged mismanagement.

The understaffed office is operating with only one employee to run the day to day activities of the federation instead of the desired number of at least 10.

This situation has led to the slow but sure decline of the once mighty motorsport federation which at one point almost rivalled local football in the fanbase.

The sole sports association of motorsport in Uganda, FMU was established in 2001 under National Council of Sports Act 1964 where after they opened their office at Lugogo Sports Complex.

A few years later, motorsport in Uganda hit its peak. Kenyan drivers dreaded their sight of Ugandan racers like Riyaz Kurji (RIP) whenever they arrived for ARC Safari rally and also looked forward to beating them at their home turf at the Pearl of Africa Rally.

Fans looked forward to travelling back and forth to watch these rallies and they were never disappointed. The battles were glorious, the wins were folklore worthy and the winners became immortals.

However, in 2012, things started taking a downward trend. Riddled with gross financial mismanagement, death of official structures, poor preparations, corruption, internal fights in the drivers, Uganda’s glory days started to fade.

This slow but sure death was never addressed despite the changes in regimes. Power just kept changing hands between a small clique of ‘behind the door colleagues’ and the spoils kept trickling down to the same people.

This has gotten to a point where the FMU head offices at Lugogo Sports Complex risk eviction. Our sources and National Council of Sports confirm the federation hasn’t paid rent in two years and six months.

The federation is currently facing the risks of eviction from its Kampala offices located at Lugogo Sports Complex after it incurred two and a half years worth of rent arrears.

The rent arrears have accumulated despite the federation president and most of the officials failing to occupy the office. Apart from this, the federation also owes various suppliers millions of Ugandan shillings.

A section of members hinted at instituting an audit of all the federation finances to unearth what they termed questionable expenditures by incumbent Dusman Okee.

Apart from arrears, our sources also confirmed FMU owes one of the top money lenders Sh30 million which has attracted interest and is now more than Sh45 million in unpaid arrears.

“I do not understand how we owe people this much yet it was requisitioned for. I was shocked,” said the source.

The source went on to complain saying “This FMU office is a store, a conference room, a president’s office, a reception, notice board and at the same time a trophy room. How is this acceptable? FMU deserves to grow.”

FMU Offices at Lugogo Sports Complex

With the Annual General Meeting coming up on Saturday 1 February, one can’t help but wonder what the delegates will be discussing. After the annual general meeting, the federation will have an election to vote for the next president.

It will take a miracle and an uncorrupted mentality for the next president to save the Motorsport from this current sorry state back to its glory days. We can only wish the winning contestant all the best and good luck on this challenge.

Disclaimer: The opinions of the writer do not reflect the opinions of ducorsports.com