Uganda's structural tragedy

 CHARLES MUTEBI

 

Games then were played at Makerere University and the YMCA at Wandegeya.

 

League games this season will be played largely at those two medieval outdoor tarmac courts. How times change? Hardly!

 

If you're looking for a good reason Ugandan sport is still largely amateur, look no further than the failure of the government, parastatal or private sector to invest in sports infrastructure.

 

It is not as if there is no justification - the sports subsector is a genuine employment solution to Uganda's massive youth population and it is not a question of funds either. Ultra-modern sports facilities can be constructed for $5m - $10m.

 

Put differently, how many sports facilities could have been erected by the funds embezzled in, among other heists, the BOU, OPM and Pension corruption scandals?

 

The national men's basketball team (Silverbacks) represented Uganda at the 2015 and 2017 Afrobasket Championships and are on course for another appearance this year. The women (Gazelles) did the same in 2015 and are confident of returning to the continental showpiece this year.

 

Uganda also appeared at the 3x3 women's World Cup last year while the men went as far as the continental qualifiers.

 

Then you've got the netball She Cranes. Ranked seventh in the world, the She Cranes will appear at their second straight World Cup this year, with the potential to reach the semis.

 

And yet for both Ugandan basketball and netball, access to the Lugogo Indoor stadium remains a struggle. Never mind that the facility is really a basic neighbourhood gymnasium, not a stadium. But it is the best we've got and boy does the National Council of Sports rub it in.

 

Sports federations often play second fiddle to non-sports customers willing to pay top shilling to use the facility. The lack of shame is shocking.

 

Then there is Teryet, which, as an update in the New Vision this week revealed, is still in the initial stages of phase one - nine years later. The next update about could be about the Teryet Corruption Scandal.

 

But a new facility was constructed at Makerere just last year, one might say. Well, it is now under lock and key, pending final construction, which will probably start when the money is released.

 

The sh5.56b already spent on it was supposed to be enough but then you know the drill or should we say the deal.

 

What is fascinating about corruption is its irony. I steal to make a better life for myself and (I guess) my family but in so doing undermine the wellbeing of the country in which I want to enjoy that life.

 

 

It is, of course, an illusory quest because when the country implodes, as it must because of ill-management, my good life must perish too.

 

Twenty four years ago, the New Vision Group of Companies was comprised of two arms, with Bukedde newspaper having been founded two years prior. Under the leadership of William Pike, the company - small though it was - was committed to professional management standards that have now turned it into a multi-billion shilling conglomerate.

 

Over the years that has translated into livelihoods for thousands of Ugandans. That is the impact of development and the best argument for kicking corrupt heads out of the government's sports governing bodies or any other sector for that matter.

 

Otherwise, 24 years from now Makerere University and the YMCA may still be the main homes of Ugandan basketball. Imagine that!

 

Email: cmutebi@newvision.co.ug