Mulago ground now left for epidemic emergencies

By James Bakama

IT has lately been in the news more for cholera and Ebola quarantines. But up to the 1980s, Mulago Hospital sports ground was known more for churning out some of the best football talent

Former Cranes and SC Villa striker Majid Musisi (right) was groomed at the Mulago pitch where now hardly any serious sporting activity takes place on the bare ground

It is here, on the northern part of Mulago hill, that stars like former Cranes captain Jimmy Kirunda, Majid Musisi, Tom Lwanga, Sam Mugambe, Benford Kityo, Adam Semugabi, Jimmy Muguwa, Rajab Sekalye and Richard Kembo honed their skills.

It is a success story that had a lot to do with the national referral hospital. Mulago was not only one of Africa’s top medical facilities, but its top management also strived to make sports a key activity for not only its staff, but also youth in the neighbourhood.

By the 60s, the hospital had a team in the Kampala District League. Similar models were adopted in other medical facilities around the country like Jinja, Gombe and Busunju, paving way for a national inter hospital football championship.

“We were motivated by the stars in some of these competitions,” recounts Kirunda, who like many of his contemporaries, had a stint in the hospital team before heading for greener pastures.

There are also fond memories of Santos FC named after one of Brazil’s top league sides. It not only fed the hospital club with talent, but also adopted Brazil’s free flowing game.

Kirunda also attributes Mulago’s rise to a shortage of sports facilities in the sorrounding areas.

“There was competition for space on the Mulago ground by youths from Mulago, Kalerwe, Kyebando, Kanyanya, Wandegeya and Kamwokya. As children we had to divide the field into six segments to accommodate as many players as possible. “

The hospital in itself was a source of vast human resource ranging from not only families of mainstream staff, support staff but also medical school students.

Talents that eventually triumphed in this survival for the fittest battle therefore always stood out.

Lwanga, arguably one of Uganda’s most elegant players, also says Mulago’s sparkle was also a result of a superbly maintained ground. “The pinpoint precision in our passing was largely because of the near perfect ground.”

Mugambe is also full of praises for the field. “We learnt early how to make the ball obey us. You were never worried of a bump or rock in the field,” explains Mugambe who later blossomed into one of Uganda’s finest ball players.

Like Buenos Aires’ shanty outskirts of Villa Fiorito, which produced legends like Maradona, there was also a slum factor in Mulago’s talent boom.

Youths from neighbouring Kivulu, Kyebando and Bwaise looked to the field as not only a huge relief from the uncertainties of the ghetto , but also as a gateway to better life.

Musisi was one of those who rose from obscurity into one of Uganda’s most successful footballers. “He is one of those players who made maximum use of the field. He always stayed back after normal training to perfect his shooting skills,” noted Muguwa.

A lot has however happened at Uganda’s biggest medical facility over the past two decades. The hospital today is a far cry from the first class medical facility that stood out on the continent.

Football is also no longer anywhere in Mulago’s priorities. The hospital club is long dead. But there can’t be a better symbol for the malaise than the once evergreen field which currently has few patches of grass.

There are actually fears that this now largely bare ground that today also serves as a resting ground for goats could soon be no more. Similar fields elsewhere today house structures that have nothing to do with sports.