By Andrew Kabuura
Being Ugandan sometimes doesn’t just circle around ancestry or holding the passport. Nope! It goes beyond this my friend.
It actually could go up to reciting all the three stanzas of the national anthem or knowing what the blue stripes on the court of arms represent. It could even mean being able to realize that the Adibas (read Adiddas) jersey made in China meant for the Uganda Cranes fans has a hen instead of a crested crane.
Running a risk of being labeled a primary school social-studies teacher, I will go on and say some Ugandans seem to have misunderstood the whole idea of an East African Federation. Some seem to have interpreted it as Ugandans becoming Tanzanians and Tanzanians doing the same with the Kenyans.
To this back ground, I will quickly get my point before the editor reconsiders this piece.
This week almost had a perfect for me, until two major events registered in our no-really-shiny history. One was the death of the longest serving SC Villa secretary Edward Luyimbazi Mugalu. This comes as really bad news considering he was patriotic enough not to confuse our national colors with Tanzania’s like George Simwogerere.
Yea, the other ugly part of the week so far is the George Simwogerere issue. You probably want to first know who he is to know how treasonable what he did is.
This soccer legend (legend is used loosely here) captained the Uganda Cranes and league giants Express. He is also a 35-plus Year old Ugandan.
He recently was tasked to coach a-should-be U-23 side as we bid to play at the All Africa games. He started pretty well with mentionable wins with the 5-1 thrashing of Kenya his latest.
But like they (Ugandans) say every pretty gal always has something ugly about her, Simwogerere found it fitting on Friday to train the national team while donning a Tanzanian national team jersey. Yes, he did so am not lying.
In football, especially where there are fierce rivals, the smallest of things do really matter. It’s actually like dating an insecure lady. She will consider every compliment you give her friend as a sign of straying. Even when her friend’s jeans fit better.
So, the flamboyant tactician was captured live on camera taking the real Ugandans through their drills in Nairobi and comfortably talking to the press while in the black, green, yellow and blue (ignore the order) strip. Why?
As a Uganda by descent, who can also recite all the 3 stanzas of the anthem and realized it was a hen not the cranes on the Adibas jerseys, I was left wondering if it’s his problem or Fufa’s.
But on second thought I think he deserves to face the guillotine for his act. It’s actually blasphemous.
Bobby Williamson, a Scottish, was sensible enough to don the Uganda kit while in training something Simwogerere can’t?
My point here, in case you don’t get it yet, is not the fact that Simwogerere can afford the shirt or has the freedom of wear, but I find it disrespectful and irritating to wear a Tanzanian jersey in an official Ugandan camp. Can you imagine the next day’s headline if Sir Alex Ferguson is pictured in a Man City t-shirt? Or Bobi Wine openly admitting Bebe Cool is Uganda’s best artist? (Artist used loosely again!)
Anyway one of my friends thinks Simwogerere was thanking the Tanzanians for their part is disposing Ugandan dictator Idi Amin Dada in the 70’s and am saying he should have waited for their independence day to show his support.
I still feel irritated!