By Julias Abigaba
Uganda Police CID takes interest in investigating circumstances under which Ugandan athlete Julius Ssekitoleko became part of Team Uganda to represent the Country in the Tokyo Olympic games the circus continues to unfurl like a Soap Opera of sorts.
The weightlifter’s troubles started when he disappeared from team Uganda camp in Tokyo with intentions of staying in Japan.
However, his intentions turned botched as he re-surfaced four days later and handed himself to the authorities. He was consequently brought back to Uganda on Friday morning.
Ssekitoleko’s hullabaloo has been a hot topic of discussion both in the international and local media.
While it has emerged that Ssekitoleko was not supposed to travel to Japan, the Criminal Investigation department (CID) at Kibuli, where he is currently held, say they are doing a thorough investigation into the matter.
The interrogation process of the embattled weightlifter may unearth more than what meets the eye.
According to CID Spokesperson, Charles Twine, they want to find out how Ssekitoleko ended up on a flight to Japan yet he had not qualified for the games.
“We want to find out a few things that seem not to connect,” Twine said in a detailed interview on KFM Saturday Sports Show hosted by Patrick Kanyomoozi.
“What we have established is that this man did not qualify to go for Olympics. Under what circumstances do you spend public money to take somebody, you again start training him in Japan, you give him some money, you have prepared him psychologically to compete and all of the sudden you tell him that ‘you do not qualify, you go back’. Whose money are you playing with?
“And if it’s not the case, could there have been a possibility of conniving between a people who took him together with the athlete?
Twine said that Ssekitoleko was not “deported from Japan” but termed his return as “Organised departure”. The Uganda Olympic Committe has not come out with an official statement explaining how Ssekitoleko went to Japan yet he had not qualified.
However, when Ssekitoleko vanished, team Uganda Chef de mission Beatrice Ayikoru, said: “It was anticipated that Mr Ssekitoleko would qualify for the games, however he did not make the quota as informed by the international weightlifting Federation on July 5th 2021.”
The Uganda Olympic Committee has not come out with an official statement explaining how Ssekitoleko went to Japan yet he had not qualified.
However, when Ssekitoleko vanished, team Uganda Chef de mission Beatrice Ayikoru, said: “It was anticipated that Mr Ssekitoleko would qualify for the games, however he did not make the quota as informed by the international weightlifting Federation on July 5th 2021.”
Email:homelandnewspaper@gmail.com
