Busoga mourns Abel Dhaira, father hailed

Apr 05, 2016

The late Dhaira was remembered as a God loving sportsman hence his prosperity

Hundreds of mourners have today (Tuesday) attended the memorial service of the late Abel Dhaira, a former Cranes goalkeeper at All Saints Church in Walukuba/Masese division in Jinja district.

The memorial service was led by the Busoga Diocesan Bishop the Rt. Rev. Canon Paul Samson Naimanhye at Walukuba.

Dhaira lost a battle with cancer on Easter day in Iceland's capital Reykjavik.

Delivering the messages, FUFA's first Vice President Justus Mugisha said the late Abel Dhaira was one of the most trusted Cranes goalkeepers and was the first Ugandan goalkeeper to play professional football in Europe.

"Most sportsmen who go outside countries to play football come back in a period of one year but Dhaira stayed longer due to the discipline he exhibited and it's unfortunate that death robbed us of him. He would have stayed in Iceland much longer to lift the Ugandan flag," Mugisha said.

  casket containing bel hairas body during his funeral service at ll aints hurch in alukuba on pril 4 A casket containing Abel Dhaira's body during his funeral service at All Saints Church in Walukuba on April 4.

 

The late Dhaira was remembered as a God loving sportsman hence his prosperity unlike other footballers who engage in drinking alcohol and smoking which normally affects their performance.  

Dhaira Snr hailed

Dhaira's father, Bright Dhaira, was hailed for coaching his son and letting him play for the National team. Dhaira's is remebered for his heroics in the 2012 CECAFA tournament.

"I hail Bright Dhaira for loving football unlike other players. After playing for the national team as goal keeper, he groomed his son him into a good goalkeeper," Mugisha added.

Bright Dhaira was also encouraged to coach other youth with football talents.

"This country, especially in Busoga, has very many potential goalkeepers. Please we request you to coach more Dhairas because Busoga is the cradle of football in Uganda and it is well known for feeding the Uganda Cranes with professional players," Mugisha said.

 ourners attending the funeral service of the late bel haira at ll aints hurch in alukuba inja on pril 5 Mourners attending the funeral service of the late Abel Dhaira at All Saints Church in Walukuba Jinja on April 5.

 

Many football players and administrators like the current FUFA President Moses Magogo hail from Busoga.

Bishop calls on football bosses

In his homily, Bishop Samson Naimanhye expressed dissatisfaction towards Ugandans who instead support foreign teams that play in the Barclays premier league and Champions league.

"I am a staunch supporter of the Uganda Cranes even if it is defeated several times; I will always support it other than any other team in the world. I Uganda I particularly support Sadolin FC because it's my home team which hails from Bugembe where I stay," Naimanhye said.

He hailed the management of Uganda Cranes for taking on the late Abel Dhaira as its goalkeeper and urged them to move to the grass roots and look out for more players.

"Someone can say names of professional players from different foreign teams like Liverpool, Man U, Arsenal, Barcelona and Real Madrid, but cannot say out names of the Uganda Cranes," Naimanyhe wondered.

 eople at the public viewing of the late bel hairas body at obacco stadium in alukuba in inja district on pril 5 People at the public viewing of the late Abel Dhaira's body at Tobacco stadium in Walukuba in Jinja district on April 5.

 

Jinja East Municipality Constituency Member of Parliament Paul Mwiru called for government's intervention to equip the cancer institute at Mulago so that they treat more Ugandans home.

In a moving moment, Bright Dhaira, together with his family knelt down and prayed for the soul of his son and also thanked State House for all the support it rendered towards transporting Abel Dhaira's body from Iceland and working on his funeral service.

The body was later taken to Tobacco Stadium for Public viewing where a special council meeting for Jinja Municipal council led by the speaker Abubaker Maganda was organized in honour of the fallen Cranes goalkeeper.

Present were Uganda Cranes Manager Crispus Muyinda and the Jinja district L.V 5 chairperson Fred Gume.  

The body was later taken to Busoga Lukiiko headquarters in Bugembe to honour his services to Busoga region.

Abel Dhaira will be buried tomorrow (Wednesday) at Kigandalo in Mayuge district.



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