Let’s honour all our sports heroes
ONE of Africa’s most decorated sports administrators Maj. Gen. Francis Nyangweso was befittingly laid to rest with a 13 gun salute. You only had to glimpse at the who’s who list of the Busia burial to properly grasp the kind of personality Nyangweso was.
James Bakama: I SAY SO
ONE of Africa’s most decorated sports administrators Maj. Gen. Francis Nyangweso was befittingly laid to rest with a 13 gun salute. You only had to glimpse at the who’s who list of the Busia burial to properly grasp the kind of personality Nyangweso was.
The Chief Justice, ministers, army generals, members of parliament and executives of the world’s most influential sports body-the International Olympic Committee were just some of the heavyweights in Busia.
The last time I had seen something close to that was in 1997 when another legend-John Akii-Bua was laid to rest in Moroto country in Lango.
That’s the kind of send off that all our heroes deserve. It not only motivates those who are still alive to work harder, but also serves as a symbol of care from the institutions where the dead served.
That’s however far from true in Uganda. Many of our sports heroes have horrific last days before silently passing on.
One such case was boxer Eridad Mukwanga. The 1968 Mexico Olympics silver medalist was living couldn’t afford a meal at the time of his death in 1997. His burial was just like that of any village pauper.
There was an almost similar story two years ago. One of Uganda’s most decorated sportsmen Leo Rwabwogo collapsed and died while digging. For the benefit of those who didn’t know Leo, he is the only Ugandan to have won two Olympic medals.
Just across the borders in Kenya or Tanzania, Rwabwogo would like his contemporaries like Kipchoge Keino or Filbert Bayi, have retired into the comfort of a national hero
In Uganda he retired into peasant farming and indeed died while eking out a living in his garden.
The only difference between the Mukwanga and Rwabwogo burials was that the latter got some attention. But that was not from world boxing body AIBA, IOC or the Uganda government but from local authorities.
Politicians used the burial as a platform to lift their profiles. Stephen Kagwera, the Burahya Member of Parliament at the time, promised to move a motion in parliament declaring the deceased a national hero. A promise was also made to name a road in Fort Portal after Rwabwogo.
To date none of these promises has been fulfilled. I guess no one has even put these politicians to task.
And, they can of course still get away with it. After all, to them, Rwabwogo was just another peasant.
That’s precisely why Nyangweso’s burial should serve as a lesson. Our heroes deserve a respectful send off. Fare thee well General.
ONE of Africa’s most decorated sports administrators Maj. Gen. Francis Nyangweso was befittingly laid to rest with a 13 gun salute. You only had to glimpse at the who’s who list of the Busia burial to properly grasp the kind of personality Nyangweso was.
The Chief Justice, ministers, army generals, members of parliament and executives of the world’s most influential sports body-the International Olympic Committee were just some of the heavyweights in Busia.
The last time I had seen something close to that was in 1997 when another legend-John Akii-Bua was laid to rest in Moroto country in Lango.
That’s the kind of send off that all our heroes deserve. It not only motivates those who are still alive to work harder, but also serves as a symbol of care from the institutions where the dead served.
That’s however far from true in Uganda. Many of our sports heroes have horrific last days before silently passing on.
One such case was boxer Eridad Mukwanga. The 1968 Mexico Olympics silver medalist was living couldn’t afford a meal at the time of his death in 1997. His burial was just like that of any village pauper.
There was an almost similar story two years ago. One of Uganda’s most decorated sportsmen Leo Rwabwogo collapsed and died while digging. For the benefit of those who didn’t know Leo, he is the only Ugandan to have won two Olympic medals.
Just across the borders in Kenya or Tanzania, Rwabwogo would like his contemporaries like Kipchoge Keino or Filbert Bayi, have retired into the comfort of a national hero
In Uganda he retired into peasant farming and indeed died while eking out a living in his garden.
The only difference between the Mukwanga and Rwabwogo burials was that the latter got some attention. But that was not from world boxing body AIBA, IOC or the Uganda government but from local authorities.
Politicians used the burial as a platform to lift their profiles. Stephen Kagwera, the Burahya Member of Parliament at the time, promised to move a motion in parliament declaring the deceased a national hero. A promise was also made to name a road in Fort Portal after Rwabwogo.
To date none of these promises has been fulfilled. I guess no one has even put these politicians to task.
And, they can of course still get away with it. After all, to them, Rwabwogo was just another peasant.
That’s precisely why Nyangweso’s burial should serve as a lesson. Our heroes deserve a respectful send off. Fare thee well General.