The General Assembly of FUFA is slated for 26th September 2015 at Soroti Hotel.
During the General Assembly, the delegates will get hold of the Financial report and peruse through for any feedback.
However any figures that would have have been captured in the financial report are as result of proper management of funds received or released by the federation.
FUFA President Eng. Moses Magogo and his Executive have made strides in the area of finances. Here is the President’s take;
In my manifesto, I expressed that it is not sustainable to finance the modern game using private resources. I also promised that I will approach the inadequate finance resources in 2 ways thus by;
• Opening more revenue channels
• Introducing systems and controls to achieve efficient utilisation of the meagre resources
I further promised to institute means to account for every shilling received
Before;
Although some revenue was being generated from Sponsorships, it was very small. There was no substantial funding from the government. Merchandise did not generate any revenue and the cost sharing schemes were unpopular and not attempted.
The FUFA Finance Department was composed of only an Accountant and a volunteer part-time Vice President in Charge of Finance. It was impractical for the department to produce final accounts and report in accordance with the FUFA Statutes. The inadequacy of staffing did not allow the quarterly financial reports to the FUFA Executive Committee
The duo reporting requirement to FIFA and the FUFA General Assembly over different financial periods was cumbersome. FUFA normally spent unconstitutionally as the financial period would end on 30th June with the Assembly in August meaning the period in between expenditures were made had not been approved by the FUFA General Assembly
There was a lot of cash payments inclusive of salaries for staff and allowances for referees.
The Question of Accountability
There has been a lot of hullabaloo about FUFA and more particularly the person of the President failing to show accountability.
The fact is that the people asking are either ignorant of how accountability of institutions is done or have deliberately used this scheme to cause ridicule of the FUFA President and the entire institution with intention to cause lack of trust from the funders.
This is further intended to cause general system failure as a political tool. The easily visible form of accountability is that FUFA has been a going concern with increased expenditure and engaging in multiple projects.
Accountability should not be seen to be done but should actually be done. All institutions account in accordance with their respective Statutes and the reporting mechanism is in compliance with International Accounting Standards.
FUFA accounts in accordance with the FUFA Statutes. It must then be noted that the FUFA President is not the accounting Officer at FUFA but the Chief Executive Officer. The FUFA President equally demands for accountability from the implementing officers.
The FUFA Statutes provide that the Finance Department prepares final Accounts at the end of the Financial Period/ Year. The end of Financial Period is stipulated in the Statutes and for the case of FUFA it is now 31st December.
The FUFA General Assembly appoints External Certified Public Accountants (Auditors) who have the expertise to cross check right from each shilling received and spent. The Auditors thereafter provide their opinion to the FUFA General Assembly.
After the Audit is completed, a management letter and the Audited Final Accounts are presented to the Finance Committee and eventually to the FUFA Executive Committee. This is the first time the President comes in contact with the final accounts.
The major role of the President is to supervise and ensure the statutory provisions are followed particularly that Auditors are facilitated, provided with the information they require from the department, that the finance committee indeed sits to discuss the accounts, then to chair the Executive Committee and General Assembly which discuss the Final Accounts
It is not only improper but also not practical to declare gate takings and associated expenditures and interpret that as accountability. Besides even games that do not generate income (like away fixtures) have similar expenditures.
I am glad to report that the audited final accounts for the period ending 31st December 2014 have been presented to and passed by the Finance Committee and will be discussed at the Executive Committee and eventually sent to the delegates of the FUFA General Assembly.
For the very first time, FUFA will after the FUFA General Assembly share the Audited Final Accounts with the various stakeholders inclusive of FIFA, CAF.
Government and the General Public through the Print and electronic Media
Our intervention and Achievements;
1) Through marketing, we have increased on revenue from sponsorship. Merchandising is now a source of revenue whereas Cost Sharing has now been embraced particularly in the education programmes. We have also received unprecedented over 1 billion UGX from the Government
2) FUFA recruited a full time and CPA holder as the Finance Director. It is now a 4-man department with the Financial Accountant, Management Accountant and Cashier.
3) We have since instituted internal control mechanism with heads of department as vote controllers and a proper requisition system in accordance with budgets has been instituted
4) Staff Salaries and Referees allowances are now paid by direct bank transfer
5) We have since instituted internal control mechanism to a reporting mechanism where there is an item on the agenda in the quarterly FUFA Executive Committee Meeting
6) We changed the end of financial Period from 30th June to 31st December. This now enables single audit process for FIFA and FUFA. It further provides enough time between the End of Period (31st December) and the FUFA General Assembly (Before 31st October) for thorough Audit and be able to send documents to the delegates at least 30 days before the General Assembly as required in the FUFA Statutes.
Tangible Results;
1) FUFA has been able to increase its expenditure on Salaries for Staff, National Team Coaches and Players Allowances, FUFA Bodies sitting Allowances.
2) FUFA has remained a going concern with the many multiple development projects that have been successfully completed or are in progress
3) The approved budget that starts in January is now approved in September and consequently no unauthorised expenditures will be done
There is still a lot to be done but considering the 2-years so far, we believe this has been a great job done. The impact of the current intervention so far the finance area has kept FUFA a going concern yet with more initiatives and investments we shall achieve more
It is Our Game, It is Our Country
