SC Villa fans should embrace Nkemba's vision

Their record in Ugandan football is outstanding. To this day, they are the yardstick. The bar. 16 league titles, 9 Uganda cups, 3 Cecafa Club championships, 1 CAF Cup final.

Thinking about the players who have donned the blue jersey and carried the flag is even more mind-boggling - Paul Hasule (RIP), Majid Musisi (RIP), Jamil Kasirye, George Otto, Ronald Vvubya, Rogers Nsubuga, William Nkemba, Paul Nkata, Moses Ndaula, Sula Kato, Geoffrey Higenyi, Adam Semugabi, Yusuf Ssonko, Paul Mukatabala, Hakim Magumba, Andrew Mukasa, Hassan Mubiru, Andy Mwesigwa, Timothy Batabaire, Nestroy Kizito, Stephen Bengo.

This select sample, records, and history,  combined with the stellar names behind the club founding and governance in the past, namely;  Patrick Kawooya (RIP), Omar Mandela, Franco ‘Capo' Mugabe, Fred Kawuma, Mugalu Luyimbazi (RIP), Eriab Kamya and  Tushar Rupareila spells the greatest football club in Uganda. Combine with recent on and off-field history of the last 16 years when they last won the league, however, and you are left stupefied. A tumultuous period that has been characterized by infighting, intrigue, divisionism, lack of financing, hooliganism, and title drought. They have even had at least four different shades of the same club in this period.  

But after decades of acrimony, a long term solution to returning the club to the good old days has been found - The Villa Members Trust. Club legend William Nkemba, also, interim club chairman since 2018 was full of gusto on Tuesday as he explained; "The founder members of the club have granted the start of the Villa Members Trust. It shall be for those persons who subscribe annually and pay a fee of Shs 50,000. They will be entitled to vote for the president of the club every four years and to a seasonal ticket for all home games."  On the issue of ownership, he said,  "The members of the Trust will own Sports Club Villa."

With ownership problems solved, membership to the Trust defined and voting rights described, the term period for president has been put to four years. SC Villa is now officially a community club whose membership is qualified.  The ‘club congress' will have no more than 120 members from whom the club executive committee will be chosen. It will in turn appoint a Chief Executive Officer who will head the club secretariat. Brilliant.

Nkemba left some grey areas however which might need clarification. What for example, qualifies one to be a club supporter? The word ‘member' seems amorphous in this context. If a member pays Shs.5 million subscriptions instead of 50,000, does he gets more rights within the club structure? If 50% of the paid-up members happen to be among the notorious group that has been responsible for soiling Villa's brand image through acts of hooliganism over the years, how will the club handle that? Suppose all the individuals who have been fighting for Villa's presidency or key positions in the club administration become members of the Trust, what has been done to ensure that they will not continue with their chaotic divisive behavior from within as co-club owners?  Just thinking aloud.

The attainment of voting rights for the club president, for me, appears to be the biggest benefit of being a member of the Trust. Has bad leadership or the lack of it, therefore been Villa's biggest problem for the last 16 years?  Leadership is not governance or ownership. The latter has been at the center of Villa's niggling problems.

The biggest takeout from the new club structure as announced by Nkemba is solving the identity question. No longer can anyone just do whatever they want in the name of SC Villa. If you haven't registered and paid your annual subscription, you have no say in the club affairs. You are just a fan, God bless you. If you love Villa and mean well, get your membership, and become a part-owner. That way, your voice, and vote will count. Villa's problems are not going to simply vanish but the step taken by Nkemba's team must be lauded. Villa fans must embrace their leadership and join in the chorus.