The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Nakawa Magistrates Court has remanded to Luzira Prison the president of the Uganda Boxing Federation (UBF), Moses Muhangi on charges of forgery and uttering a false document.
On Thursday afternoon, Muhangi, a businessman and a resident of Kololo in Kampala District was arraigned before Chief Magistrate Ritah Neumbe Kidasa with counts of forgery of accountability and utterance of a false Document.
The court heard that Muhangi together with Lydia Namutebi who is the former accountant of the Boxing Federation, between the months of March and April 2022 at the Head offices of Uganda Boxing Federation Lugogo in the Kampala District, forged a company receipt to wit tents 4 U purporting to have been issued by the company owners whereas not.
The court further heard that; Muhangi, on the 19th Day of April 2022, at the National Council of Sports offices at Lugogo in the Kampala District knowingly and fraudulently uttered false document to wit the company receipt, purporting to have been issued by the owners of the Tents 4 U whereas not.
He however denied the charges against them and as a result, he has been remanded to Luzira prison until 31st May after being denied bail.
The remand comes just a day after his colleague President Sarah Babirye Kityo of the Uganda Netball Federation who is facing charges of obtaining money by false pretense was granted by Grade One Magistrate Siena Owomugisha after spending two nights in Luzira.
For the last few months, the two Federations leaders have been vocal critics of the Secretary General of the National Council of Sports (NCS), Dr. Bernard Ogwel, accusing the organization of unfair funding practices towards sports federations.
Muhangi was arrested on Tuesday afternoon when he had gone back to CID Headquarters where he had recorded statements a day before after being referred there over the same issues. It is alleged that after recording statements at CID, he was given Police bond which was to last 48 hours, but was called back and detained.
Earlier, while appearing before the Adhoc Committee that was constituted to start investigations into the activities of the National Council of Sports, Muhangi boldly accused the head of NCS of abusing his authority by exerting pressure on federations to provide an account of funds that had not been allocated to them.
Muhangi alleged that in 2019 while taking a team to participate in the 2020 Olympic qualifiers, the Federation was given 45 million shillings by the National Council of Sports, and the Federation was instead requested to account for 600 million shillings.
Muhangi claimed that back in 2019, when his federation was preparing to compete in the Olympic qualifiers for the 2020 Games, they received a mere 45 million shillings from the National Council of Sports. However, he alleged that the federation was subsequently asked to provide an account for a shocking sum of 600 million shillings.
The prolonged verbal confrontation between the National Council of Sports and several sports federations has been ongoing, with the NCS consistently leveling accusations against certain federations for their alleged inability to provide a proper financial account of the funds they receive from the council.
Speaking to journalists shortly after the court hearing, Muhangi said that he is a victim of a deliberate witch-hunt as a direct consequence of his outspoken criticism of those who are supposed to bring justice to the boxers he represents.
He further asked President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, and the Minister of Education and Sports Janet Museveni to take a keen interest in the matter, emphasizing that their involvement is crucial for resolving the issues at hand.
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