Onyango Takes Over as Trubish Hands Over PAU Leadership
After eight years at the helm, Bob Trubish officially signed out as Chairman of the Pool Association of Uganda during a heated Annual General Meeting held on Saturday, July 25, at Holiday Express Hotel in Kampala. The handover paves the way for Hon. Gideon Onyango to begin a new four-year tenure in charge of the sport.
Onyango, who was elected two months ago at an elective assembly held at Pope Paul Hotel, assumed office with immediate effect. Speaking to the press after taking over, the former Bugweri North County MP laid out his approach:
“We have officially entered office with only one option: to deliver. We appreciate our predecessors for what they have achieved, but we are here to ensure continuity.”
In his farewell remarks, Trubish reflected on a tenure that stretched to nine years instead of the mandated eight. He said he inherited an association with zero pool tables and no major sponsors, and leaves behind eight tables and a revived partnership with Nile Breweries that included a historic boost to the league. Under Trubish, PAU also secured a new license from the National Council of Sports, placing it among only 11 national sports bodies out of more than 45 applicants to meet the requirements of the new Sports Act.
Looking ahead, Onyango outlined an ambitious plan to decentralize the sport:
“Our task is to extend pool to more parts of Uganda, and we are going to take the league to the grassroots. We are going to empower structures at the district and regional levels and we plan to set up feeder leagues there.”
He noted that PAU’s biggest challenge moving forward is internal conflict, but expressed confidence that it can be resolved. With pool activities now confirmed in over 83 districts, Onyango said the association’s target is to reach 130 districts and attain full federation status next year.
“It would be absurd to say that for the 8 years they have done nothing. As a pool association, we are fully licensed as per the new Sports Act. Now our big agenda is to extend pool to over 130 districts.”
Onyango and his executive committee will serve from 2026 to 2030 with a mandate to make the sport more vibrant and develop a bigger pool of international talent. The new leadership takes over from the administration that succeeded Farouk Kisuze Wamala’s tenure back in 2017.