THE quotation, “…the only thing New in the World is the history you do not know…”, attributed to Harry S. Truman, the 33rd president of the United States of America fits well with Moses Omara Anyii,one of the newly appointed board members of the National Council of Sports(NCS).
As can be recalled, Education State Minister Peter Ogwang announced the appointment of the Board of the National Council of Sports on Wednesday in which he retained Ambrose Tashobya as the chairperson.
Others who were also retained include Cecilia Anyakoit, William Galiwango, Everlyn Piloya, Olympic Marathon gold medalist Stephen Kiprotich and Zubair Galiwango.
Lira’s prominent former banker Moses Omara Anyii and Jacqueline Basemera are the two new faces to join the seven member team appointed by Ogwang who based his authority on Section 32(ii) of the National Council of Sports Act, 2023
The NCS is a statutory body whose establishment, status and powers is enshrined under the NCS Act of 1964, among others, is charged with the duty to develop, promote and control sports activities in the country on behalf of the government.
During a football match between rival secondary schools Lango College and Lira Town College in 1984, Moses Omara Anyii caused instant diarrhea when he kicked back the ball that had already crossed outside back to the pitch where one of he scored leading to a 2-1 in favour of Lango College.
He was among the noisy students who had crowded the opponents’ goal post whose keeper also believed it was a genuine score because they all stormed the pitch to celebrate the killer goal.
Unlike today when goal posts have nets, in those days the posts were empty and heavily infested with noisy rival fans, let alone the now common VAR that would have countered.
Although he was not on the bench of substitute, the very stubborn Moses Omara Anyii, whom many described as a ‘lousy’ football player claimed he was the Man of the Match, something he is still proud of up to date saying he did it in the spirit of Lango College.
A proud traditionalist happily married to two wives including a fellow banker now serving as DFCU Regional Manager Northern Region, Anyii’s appointment has been welcomed widely among the Lango Community whose hope of benefitting from the planned joint AFCON tournament evaporated when Akii Bua stadium’s name was slashed under unclear circumstances from the list of stadia to host some matches.
Who Is Moses Omara Anyii?
Born in 1969, in the dusty rural Okwang sub county in then Otuke County, now a district, Moses Omara Anyii grew up as a village boy fishing small fish in swamps while also hunting using catapult (abatida which the Uganda Police Spokesperson Fred Enanga one day categorized it under dangerous weapons) for small birds in the shrubs.
This is the man the people of Lango are waiting and hoping that he will ‘score another miracle goal’ by ensuring that Akii Bua Stadium is built whether the ball has already crossed outside the ‘playground’ of parliament.
Those who know him say Anyii, an ardent fan of London based Arsenal FC was a very playful and stubborn boy who used to like playing ‘opeke’ball made out of rags and banana fibres, then so common in villages among children and teenage boys.
Away from the hunting antics, Anyii who now plays golf and darts was a long jump player and also liked triple jump. He is the immediate past treasurer of Lira Golf Club and a senior player and advisor of Lira Town view Darts Club.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in Public Administration and Management obtained from Kampala International University (KIU) besides Uganda Diploma in Business Studies (UDBS) from Makerere Business School (MUBs).
He served in senior management positions at Bank of Africa, DFCU, Centenary Bank, Tropical Bank and Beatro Links Ltd, among others before retiring with accolades from Housing Finance Bank in 2021.
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