The sad story of John Akii Bua

By Kalungi Kabuye

Film: The John Akii Bu Story: An African Tragedy

Director: Daniel Gordon
Narrated by Jason Isaacs

Stars: John Bosco as Idi Amin, Samuel Ibanda as Akii Bua, Michael Wawuyo, and  voice of Akii Bua by Chiwetel Ejiofor

Running time: 90 mins

The iconic picture of the late John Akii Bua kissing his gold medal at the 1972 Olympics is what most Ugandans know of him. And that it was the only gold medal the country has ever won; and that many attempts have been made to evict his family from the house in Kamwokya that he was given by Idi Amin.

But I’ve always wondered what really happened to him afterwards. Did he live the life an Olympic Champion deserved? Did wealth and fame follow him ever afterwards?

The John Akii Bu Story: An African Tragedy, a documentary by Daniel Gordon, deals exactly with that, although ‘African tragedy’ might be a bit of a misnomer here. With millions of Africans dying from all kinds of diseases and calamities, the story of one man’s unfortunate inability to capitalise on his immense talent can hardly be called a tragedy.

But it is a sad story, and brings home to many of us the life a man we just think of in the abstract, another piece of Uganda’s sad history. But it is also the story of an incredible man, who dropped out of school but wrote his memoirs, in pencil, in school exercise books so his story could be told.

The first half of the documentary, initially shown by BBC in 2008, deals with his early life in Lira. Voiced by British actor Chiwetel Ejiofo (do I hear questions as to why a Ugandan was not used?), Akii Bua takes us through his life as one of 43 children from a father who had 8 wives, hunting and playing at being a warrior. When his father dies he leaves for Kampala to find a better life.

His athletic prowess soon got him a job in the Uganda Police, although he would concentrate more on sports than being a policeman. Athletics coach Malcolm Arnold then comes into his life, and we witness the man’s incredible strength and determination, through interviews with Edwin Moses, the man who broke his record, and British sprinter and hurdler Kris Akabusi.

This is my best part of the film and has some incredible footage of Akii Bua running, beating the world and making it stand up and notice Uganda the country. Watching the footage when he came from the inside lane to win the gold medal in Munich in 1972, I actually stood up and cheered.

This is a man who should have been a hero, whose achievements should have led to great fame and fortune. But he was unlucky that it was when Idi Amin ruled a country which was quickly falling apart.

He was due to defend his Olympic record in 1976 in Montreal, Canada, and he was already in the Olympic village waiting for his race when Amin announced that Ugandan athletes would not take part, protesting at New Zealand playing rugby with apartheid South Africa. So Akii Bua was in a plane coming back to Uganda when Edwin Moses broke his record and took the gold medal.

After that things quickly went downhill. Amin didn’t like people referring to Uganda as the ‘Land of Akii Bua’, and barred him from racing abroad, where other athletes were earning lots of money. His 3 brothers, all police officers, were killed by Amin’s soldiers.

He eventually fled to Kenya with his family (and soccer player Dennis Obua) when the war with Tanzania was at its climax, and the life of every Langi was forfeit. Due to the tough conditions, his wife had a miscarriage, and Akii Bua himself was arrested and put into a camp. That is where the international media found him, and he was recused and went to Germany, where Puma would give him a job.

He tried to revive his running career, but his time was past, and he gave up. He never managed to learn German, and wanting his children to grow up as Africans, eventually came back to Uganda. But these were still hard times, and the greatest athlete Uganda has ever known died at 47, with a potential unrealised.

This is a powerful documentary with great cinematography. Although I had issues with the middle part of the film, which Amin dominated, it is integral to the story, that John Akii Bua did not become what he could have because of Id Amin. This is a must watch for every Ugandan, if only to show ourselves that, hey, we are not that bad after all.