Uganda: Coaches Or Bouncers?

Mark Ssali

14 June 2011

analysis

As far as fallouts go, you have not heard the last of the Guinea Bissau misadventure. In the game proper the Cranes ticked all the right boxes, but as regards the ‘dos and donts’ off the pitch new records were set, even by Uganda’s lofty standards.

The hunger for money and disregard for safety have been well chronicled here and elsewhere, but of as much concern is an issue I had missed out on but will belatedly raise. Having made all sorts of noises about the pitiful demise of our former stars, with for example the circumstances under which Phillip Omondi, Magid Musisi and Godfrey Kateregga left us still an extremely painful memory, I am all for our ex-internationals getting help from the fraternity when they are still able-bodied.

In that light, I would have welcomed the sight of some of the many who are currently struggling working at the gates at Namboole that day, but not George Ssimwogerere and Richard Wasswa. How could the national U-23 and U-17 coaches drop down to the level of bouncers?

The failure to establish and respect institutions has been one of this Fufa’s biggest Achilles heels, and those two support the notion that Lawrence Mulindwa’s regime rewards ‘faithful servants’ because, for instance, I don’t see Sam Ssimbwa stooping that low.

Fare thee well

I had known John Ssimbwa long before as a youngster treading his path, but when we met again years later it was as rivals of sorts. It was the mid ’90s and I was at the time a player of Blue Jackets Basketball Club. Ssimbwa was to show up at our practice court at Makerere University’s poolside, persuade a few young players to renege, and eventually start Falcons.

Not many moons later, after my knees had buckled and Falcons had prospered, it was clear that Ssimbwa had been a visionary with a very good pet project; Falcons went on to dominate Ugandan basketball in the late ’90s, revolutionalising the domestic game as Stephen Omwony emerged as the jewel in the crown.

Ugandan football had produced such godfather types as Patrick Kawooya, Patrick Kiwanuka and Jimmy Adipondo – selfless men who spent millions for the love of the game – and Ssimbwa took that to basketball with a lot more passion and sacrifice for much less reward, walking in the footsteps of Rhino’s Andrew Byekwaso and the guys at Blue Jackets. He lived and breathed basketball and, tragically, I can’t help but feel that the game has played a part in cutting short his life. Fare thee well John, we shall miss you.

Right roar

SC Villa aside, Ugandan clubs don’t possess the staying power to complete the domestic double, and the Express feat of 1995 is but an anomaly. While the Red Eagles and KCC have been guilty of sloppiness when the double was theirs for taking, to blame league champions URA’s failure this season would be to take away something from their Cup conquerors Simba.

In the same way I hailed the institution of URA for sustaining the sports budget that has inspired their football club’s successes of recent years, I will salute the army for continuing to bankroll Simba.

I know that it has been mooted before, but following in the footsteps of other parastatals and doing away with the club would be wrong as I am sure Simba’s budget is not even the tiniest fraction of the cost of a fighter jet for example.

It might be growing pretty fast, but our private sector is still too small to carry the burden of sport, and government shouldn’t shun the responsibility especially since it is not without its returns.

They might never scale the heights of the ’70s team of Polly Ouma and co, and it is hard to visualise the forces (army, police, prisons having the same impact today, but Simba can build on this success if the institution so chooses. The current team has earned that.

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