KAMPALA: The proposal by the Uganda Boxing Federation-UBF to return boxing to schools has suffered a setback. It follows the decision by the Education and Sports State Minister, Hamson Obua, to suspend the planned national school boxing competition that was scheduled to run between June 18th and 28th, 2022.
The local Amateur Boxing Federation had planned to return boxing to secondary schools in a bid to re-develop the sport from the grassroots. Sometime back, the former Education and Sports Commissioner, Dan Tamwesigire, raised concern about the safety of amateur boxers in schools on the grounds that the boxers are too young to withstand punches on their heads.
The efforts by the former Uganda Boxing Federation-UBF President, Roger Ddungu, to explain that the global amateur boxing body AIBA had made boxing safer with modern protection gear landed on deaf ears. Insisted on receiving expert approval that boxing is medically safe, causing the sport to lose momentum even in schools where it was once popular, such as Kololo high school.
This year, UBF President, Moses Muhangi, started a campaign to return the sport to secondary schools, saying that it is illogical to sideline boxing at the grass-root spotting development structures like schools where athletes across all sporting disciplines are nurtured. He later revived the national secondary schools’ championship. Speaking to URN, Muhangi revealed that the championship was scheduled to run between June 18th and 28th, 2022, and six secondary schools had confirmed participation.
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However, things turned around when Obua wrote to the permanent secretary of the ministry of education and sports, suspending the planned championship. In his June 10th, 2022 letter copied to Muhangi, he said that he had a consultative meeting with the First Lady and Minister of Education and Sports (FL/MoES) at State House Nakasero on June 8th, 2022, on the plan by the Uganda Boxing Federation (UBF) to organise a National Secondary Schools Boxing Championship.
He noted that “The FL/MoES guided that the plan to organise the above championship be suspended pending a decision from a meeting with top management of the Ministry of Education and sports to be held soon.” The purpose of this communication, therefore, is to inform you as above and to request you to ensure compliance by all educational institutions as guided.
Obua declined to comment further on the letter and directed URN to his letter. “Refer to my letter, thanks,” the minister told our reporter. While the minister said a meeting with the top management of the education and sports ministries would be held to make a final decision, Muhangi was not convinced by the minister’s decision to suspend the championship.
“It is clear from his letter that there is no reason why he suspended that competition. When you are going to suspend an activity like that, you quote a law from which you are deriving the power to suspend. Even the minister should have indicated that. “We as UBF, the organizers, were not invited or a part of this meeting, and thus were not given a fair hearing,” he added.
He noted that the Federation only contacted schools that expressed an interest in participating in the championship, and he finds it troubling that the minister suspended the championship without receiving any complaints.”The National Schools Boxing competition is for willing participants and the mandated legal organizer-UBF,” he said.
Edward Kanoonya, the head teacher of Kololo Senior Secondary School, one of the schools that was known for producing pugilists, said he would entertain any other sport but not boxing. He argued that boxing, unlike other sports, inflicts direct harm on the player while targeting the head.
Although Kanoonya admitted that he had some students who fancied the sport at Kololo SSS, he has made several efforts to discourage them from the sport by highlighting its risks.
When asked if he is convinced by the protective gear used in amateur boxing, Kanoonya stated that he cannot guarantee the player’s safety even when they are wearing headgear and punching gloves.
Hajji Mpungu : Musoke Musa, the head teacher of Masaka SS, did not differ from Kanoonya’s opinion. He says that Masaka, being a sports powerhouse, would be interested in any other sport but not boxing.
Asked whether he had been approached by any students who fancy boxing, Mpungu said he could not confirm because the administration does not prioritise boxing. “I want to think they could be there but we have not tapped the talent because we have not been very positive about boxing, so I will not tell you that they are not there. They could be there but we have not exposed them to the sport,” he said.
