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Uganda: Bring Back Those Simple Days
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The Weekly Observer (Kampala)
COLUMN
27 March 2008
Posted to the web 27 March 2008
Robert Madoi
Renowned R'n'B crooner Kenneth 'Babyface' Edmonds sings in his smash hit Simple Days: Bring back those simple days of yesterday, when a man was a man and a friend was a friend.
No doubt Ugandan football would do with the comfort of the Babyface-esque simple days. Not with the rough times the game has had to endure in the past weeks. The aforesaid rough times have had a sledgehammer effect on the game, impacting probably more harm than Mohammad Ali's jab would on a good day.
The maverick Hungarian-German Laszlo Csaba was supposed to be the best thing that has ever happened to Ugandan football since Burkhard Pape.
But he has so often pulled up short even at such low reaches like the regional CECAFA Senior Challenge Cup. His excuse is that he hasn't been given legroom to exercise his powers. And he is supposed to be professional! It baffles the mind that as a professional coach, Csaba has watched with arms folded powers usurped from his grasp.
After close to two years of having FUFA's dubious technical committee do all the scouting and naming of national players, Csaba jumped out of his skin last week and made a veiled threat to resign if things kept following the same trend.
Apparently, the Hungarian-German wants to have a hands-on role in the selection of the national team's party. But how? For one, despite being handed a car - that I believe FUFA fuels - Csaba has never made an attempt to scout for players. Watching matches in the local backdrop is also a big ask for the Hungarian-German.
So, in the midst of all of this, FUFA's technical committee comprising of Asuman Lubowa, Paul Ssali and Tom Lwanga have duly stepped in to fill the void. Since they too don't watch all league games, Lubowa and Co. at times pass the baton to FUFA records' officer Haruna Kyobe who in turn summons players to the national team.
Sickening, isn't it? Which begs of the question: why can't we have those simple days of yesterday, when a man was a man and a friend was a friend? Nowadays, men are puppets and friends are wolves in sheep clothes.
If Csaba were man enough then he could have done all the national team scouting and squad selection. And if FUFA's bigwigs were friends, they too would have desisted from overstepping the line.
But, sadly, the dimensions in life aren't entirely linear as Moses Basena can attest. It wasn't so long ago that Basena was coach of KCC FC.
Basena went to Lugogo to help set KCC back on track. With a sharp eye for talent that has seen him unearth players like Bruno Olobo, Godfrey Sentongo and Jimmy Katajwa, Basena was expected to set a solid foundation for KCC that would act as a springboard for bigger feats in the future.
He started out well, keeping the Yellows in the top echelons of the Super League. New faces like Joseph Bukenya, an unknown quantity from Baza Holdings, joined KCC and worked up frenzy.
But sources claim that some KCC bigwigs like Paul Ssali - the club's Technical Director - weren't happy.
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They badmouthed Basena, and did everything to see him out. They succeeded, forcing Basena to join URA FC. And KCC? They are back to square one all because men and friends are no longer the salt and light of the world.
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