When the 2019/2020 National Budget is read out in June, the sports subsector will be smiling following an increment from Shs17bn to Shs26bn.

This was confirmed by the acting general secretary National Council of Sports (NCS) Dr. Benard Patrick Ogwel during the Capacity Building Workshop for Financial Mangers of National Sports Associations, held at the Copper Chimney Restaurant Conference Hall, Lugogo.

The state minister for sports Hon. Charles Bakkabulindi, Under Secretary Aggrey David Kibenge and Commissioner for Physical Education and Sports Omara Apita corroborated the figure.

Over the past two decades, funding has grown astronomically from shs444m in 2000 to Shs17.4bn this financial year 2018/19.

In that new government package, Sh6bn will go to infrastructure development that is the High Altitude Training Centre.

Another Sh1.5bn will remain in Physical Education and Sports while the remainder will be shared by federations and NCS for its operations.

“Government is set to invest in more money, we expect these federations to access more money from NCS. That money needs to be accounted for properly,” Dr. Ogwel warned.

This warning was re-echoed by Kibenge and the minister who warned that there will be bigger demands for accountabilities.

In the 2018/19 financial year, NCS underwent a forensic audit which Kibenge warned will become the norm with more scrutiny as the sports subsector grows.