While there might be some merit in this negative association, I believe it is time to hit the sports reset button. This would require a radical re-framing of how we manage our sports arena in Uganda.

The legal and policy framework needs to be re-examined and realigned to the modern times. There is no doubt that the 1964 National Council of Sports Act has run its course and needs a major renewed DNA infusion. The same applies to the recently passed National Sports Regulations 2014.

The issue of the legal nature and autonomy of National Federations needs to be carefully recalibrated to ensure that sports organisations are able to operate effectively and efficient. The present regulations for example call for incorporation of National Sports Federations but then strangely in the same vein specially exclude incorporating as a company.

This in essence leave options of incorporating as an Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), cooperative, partnership or trust, all of which options are hardly in my humble considered view not appropriate for national sports organisations.

I would propose that a new law is passed which mandates the National Council of Sports or National Sports Authority to register and incorporate a new category of organisation known as Non-Government Sports Organisation.

The institutional framework should be reviewed and restructured. Do we still in 2015 need a National Council of Sports and a Ministry of Education and Sports is a question that needs to be seriously thought through and answered in a sober way.

Many countries, like Egypt, that have had a National Sports Council and a Ministry of Education and Sports have long changed this. We should think of have a National Sports Authority perhaps which would regulate sports organisation, a Ministry of Sports in charge of policy and funding. The National Olympic Committee could then focus on elite high performance athletes and prepare for major regional and international events.

London 2012 Olympic marathon gold medallist Steven Kiprotich is Uganda's best known sportsman and an example of what can be achieved with the right support ©Getty Images

National Federations for the last 50 years have, basically, been left on their own and they have grown, evolved, mutated into various shapes and forms. It is vital that they are assisted to mature into effective and efficiently run organisations.

In order to achieve this mind-set change and paradigm shift their capacity needs to be built in a gradual and deliberate manner. Government should with all haste ensure that it provides all recognised federations with office space and funding to ensure that they have basic human and institutional infrastructure to run efficiently.

A model federation I would argue should have a minimum core of a full-time administrator with sports management experience and qualification. In addition, the Federation should have a person with basic financial management experience.

This, I believe, would allow federations to have capacity to run activities and Government would also be able to locate its federations which it may not be able to do right now for its 54 or so National Federations/Associations. Of course, federations should be allocated funding to enable operate. This should be based on a strategic plan with clear activities and demonstrated ability to managed resources correctly and ethically.

Uganda's rugby sevens team proved a hit at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow last year but more needs to be done to aid the development of sport in the country ©Getty Images

I would further propose that National Sports Federations and Associations could borrow a leaf from the civil society arena in Uganda which has developed the NGO quality Assurance Certification Mechanism (QuAM), a self-regulating instrument that civil society organisations voluntarily subscribe to.

It is designed to promote adherence to generally acceptable ethical standards and operational norms. Federations should adopt minimum compliance standards that they adhere to. The idea would be for sports federations to self-assess their level of development and work towards progressively getting better managed.

We would have three levels, provisional (bronze), standard (silver) and advanced (gold). A federation at provisional level would aspire to graduate to standard and eventual advanced. Self-regulation and mentoring I believe can spur National Federations and Association to great heights.

As a former sports person and current sports administrator, I am firmly convinced that as we look to the sporting horizon in Uganda, business cannot and should not remain the same. We owe it to ourselves, our athletes and our children to change the sports arena for the better.

We should be able to leave a legacy that we are proud to look back at.

Donald Rukare is the secretary general of the Uganda Olympic Committee, President of Uganda Swimming and a FINA Bureau member