Football needs business structures - Misagga

Jan 15, 2014

BEN Misagga is the former SC Villa fans’ coordinator now based in Zambia and Namibia, Misagga spoke about his potential return to Villa Park

By Sabiiti Muwanga

BEN Misagga is the former SC Villa fans’ coordinator who made waves on the Ugandan soccer scene in 2005. Within months of ascending to the post, he had spearheaded the reactivation of close to 10 club fans branches, sought corporate sponsorship and even led club fans to meet President Yoweri Museveni.

Now based in Zambia and Namibia, New Vision Sport caught up with Misagga while on a short Christmas holiday and engaged him in a short interview.

Where have you been of recent?

I now oscillate between Zambia and Namibia where I am involved in road construction and maintenance. I also do consultancy work for Lusaka City in outdoor advertisement. My company, Preconstruction, also does some road construction work in Angola on top of interests in mineral exploration in Malawi.

That sounds big, but some people here doubted your credentials as an engineer

That was football politics and I wondered how football development would be married to my qualification as an engineer. One thing I have discovered with Ugandans is that many of us are graduates with PHDs [pull him down]. Whenever they see somebody making progress they will do all to see him fail even if it means mudslinging them.

Villa fans are crying out for you to return and lead the club out of the jeopardy they are in. Is it the reason you are here?

It is not a bad idea but one has to first consider the merits and demerits before making a decision. At present, Villa is made up of factions so all these must come together first. There must be a common consensus from all to reconstruct a single Villa. The likes of Mugabe (Franco), Mandela (Omar Ahmed), Muwema (Fred) and other former leaders must first sit to forge a way forward.

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Misagga enjoyed a fruitful spell as the SC Villa fans’ coordinator. Photo by Michael Nsubuga

I know they still have the club at heart and they are very influential and they still command respect from among the fans. Then we must look at the constitution because it is that document that gives the mandate.  I have personally talked to Muwema and we are in agreement.

But that seems to be long term. Is there an immediate remedy for the short term? They seem to be desperate.

Whoever dreams of resurrecting, they must die first. Let Villa die now, it is the only way we shall all realize that we need corrective action and we will immediately start on the long term solutions.

There was an election where you were returned unopposed as Villa president. What exactly happened?

It was football politics like I told you and there were so many issues involved. Right now I don’t want to open fresh wounds, let us move on if we want to see Villa out of the current woes. But the biggest problem was with the club constitution where the Fans’ Coordinator and the President were both elected by the club fans.

They both derived their power directly from the fans. As Fans coordinator, I commanded a lot of support among the fans from the achievements that had come my way within a short time. So the constitution must be reviewed in that respect so there is a clear demarcation on the roles of either office.

What were some of those achievements?

I managed to open or reactivate a number of club fan branches in Kampala, Kampala extra, Mukono, Mityana, Luwero and Jinja. This in effect increased the club fan base and gate collection during games shot up.

I also mobilised the presidential jet through Minister Charles Bakkabulindi and the then Presidential Press Secretary Amelia Kyambadde to pick the victorious Villa team from Arusha after winning the CECAFA Club Championship.

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Misagga wants to see an end to clubs being entirely reliant on their owners for financial help. Photo by Michael Nsubuga

Following that victory the President donated or pledged a bus to the team but it was my through my effort that it was delivered at a state dinner we organized at Entebbe. President Museveni was represented by Deputy Premier Muganwa Kajura.

At that dinner, all Villa great players and officials, like the late Patrick Kawooya and Paul Hasule were recognized. I am sure their plaques are still hanging in their houses.

With a large fane base we had created, it was easy to get sponsorship from then Allied Bank (now Bank of Africa).

We hired land in Mityana where we established a maize farm looked after by the fans in the area. But because there was no close monitoring, it was mismanaged.

So what advice do you give to the Villa fans who want your hand in the club?

My advice, and this is not to Villa alone but the entire football fraternity in Uganda, is that we must put up structures that are attractive to ‘investors’. There are so many people out there willing to put their money in football, but they also need to know how they will recover it.

Secondly we must do away with the notion that clubs will depend on hand-outs from individuals. Club constitutions must change to incorporate a business module. We must move away from running clubs as charitable institutions where we approach individuals for hand-outs.

We have had people here sponsoring football but they pull out and never return. The latest is (Lawrence) Mulindwa (the outgoing FUFA president). But Mandela, (Franco) Mugabe, (Godfrey) Kirumira and others still have the money but when they do not realise returns, they pull out.

One other important factor that is being overlooked is continuity. We go into football for passion and also to make friends. But this friendship should also be extended to families to create a sense of belonging. But in Villa we have seen so many of our top officials and players pass on over time.

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Currently based between Zambia and Namibia, he hasn't ruled out a return to Villa Park. Photo by Michael Nsubuga

What have we done since to show their families that we belonged to the same ‘family’ with these people? How will their families continue to relate with the club when it ‘abandoned’ them when the person who took them there departed? Some of these officials and players sacrificed so much, sometimes at the expense of their families, to promote Villa. 

In a nutshell, what would be your ideal Villa?

I would want to have a Villa with a business sense. I want to see a single unit in Villa. I have already talked to Muwema and Ssemanda (the leaders of the two factions in the club) so that we find a way of forming one unit.

Secondly, Villa should not be a garden, it should be a kitchen. We should no longer be a club to train players, we should just polish them. We should be in position of attracting some of the best talent on the continent to compete favourably.

That way we would also be able to raise gate collections, play to late stages in continental competitions which also comes with cash rewards and even sell our good players to bigger clubs. That is the business sense I am talking about. I have seen it work with my friend Mois Katumbi’s TP Mazembe in DR Congo.

Finally, if we are to develop football let us do away with intrigue in the game. Let us build on individuals’ ideas and not destroy them completely just because we do not like the person coming up with the idea. Otherwise Happy New Year.

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