Uganda: Mohammed Segonga is a Rare Breed

Aldrine Nsubuga

21 May 2011

FUFA has expressed shock but not alarm, after receiving a letter from Ugandan FIFA referee Mohammed Segonga, that he has retired from the profession.

Many other football people who have learnt of the news are surprised and remain in utter disbelief. I am not.

It pays to know some people personally and Segonga is one such example. He’s a personal friend, we are in the football brotherhood and we also share a professional relationship outside football.

For a person, he’s brutally honest, almost to the point of nakedness.

So principled, he has retired in his prime, when as Uganda’s best referee, the world was at his feet. An academia who loves to do things by the text book, with analytical powers that would unveil the secret behind the most unethical intentions however well meaning they look on the surface. He’s a strong character, focussed, unshakeable. A man who lives not to be liked, but only to stand for what is right. The kind who will tell you “I don’t like you” but then give you a 30 minute audience, just to listen to what you have to say. He’s ‘the’ perfectionist.

We were at the university together but even though I started to play for the University football team in my first year just when he and the likes of William Nkemba were leaving, we immediately struck a code which has remained till now.

One of the hardest central defenders I ever came across having played as an attacking midfielder-cum-striker but will never forget the day he almost broke my leg, only to come to me after the match and offer a handshake with the words, “Aldrine am sorry, but it was the only option available, otherwise you had finished us.”

It was a hearty laughter that followed and from then on, we were friends for life.

Referees come in all shapes and sizes but Segonga had only one size…the big one.

Eloquent with the whistle, articulate in his decisions, decisive and unwavering.

He hated football politics, disliked football politicians and looked down on football opportunists.

One of few football people who invested personal money in various development projects starting at youth level without ever blowing his trumpet or making it known to the public.

Segonga had a rare ability to balance his love for football and his professional job in the civil service where he serves in a senior capacity.

I haven’t talked to him since hearing the news but I can say with certainty that only a conflict of ideals within his inner man must have guided his decision.

His job on the one side and whether it’s worth it giving his all to a game run by people who simply can’t get their priorities right. A frustration somewhere? Don’t bet against it.

This guy has a clean reputation and an outstanding career. He will do anything to keep it.

AllAfrica – All the Time