{UAH} Abbey/Frank/WBK:: There’s no money?! These unspeakable Fufa officials should be run out - Comment

http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/OpEd/comment/These-unspeakable-Fufa-officials-should-be-run-out-of-town-/434750-3386004-gs6k2f/index.html

There's no money?! These unspeakable Fufa officials should be run out

Once in a while, people bring out their nasty side. Uganda's football chiefs did that early this month at the moment of the country's greatest joy when the Cranes qualified for the Africa Cup of Nations for the first time in 39 years.

Uganda last qualified in 1977, playing the very final match against Ghana. Two weeks ago, Uganda beat Comoros in Kampala to qualify.

But as everybody celebrated, the men who made it happen had the smile wiped off their faces by the country's soccer governing body, Fufa.

Uganda qualified for Afcon Gabon 2017 thanks mostly to the hardworking, long suffering Serbian coach Milutin Sredojevic. When he first came here over a decade ago, Ugandans could not pronounce his name and settled for simply calling him Micho.

He first came to coach SC Villa, keeping the team on top for so long that he bagged coaching assignments in all sorts of different places, eventually winding up next door in Rwanda. After Fufa did what it does best — mismanaging coaches — they brought back Micho on the cheap a couple of years back.

The man got down to business and in due course, achieved what had eluded us for four decades. Then he brought up the little matter of his unpaid salary, which we are told has been pending for several months. The Fufa guys told him there was no money.

It wasn't only Micho who was slapped in the face before the victory cheers had died out. The players had been promised $10,000 each if they beat Comoros, so they played their hearts out. They too were subsequently told there was no money.

The Mandela Stadium was filled beyond its 45,000 capacity as Fufa had sold over 50,000 tickets for an average $10. From ticket sales alone, they could have paid the boys' promised bonus and Micho's paltry arrears. His pay is embarrassingly low compared with his predecessors, so let us not even mention it here.

But what Fufa did is not unusual in Uganda. Many women make sure they fall behind on their housegirls' pay for two or more months. Should the girl decide to run away, as this is the most common way to end employment, at least the employer benefits from having got several months of free labour…

But the trick is also used by bigger employers. They tend to keep workers on "probation" with minimal pay, and, after exploiting them heavily, either pronounce them unfit for permanent employment, or create an excuse to just sack them.

It is widely claimed in Kampala that Fufa did not expect Uganda to win, and were just waiting for a chance to fire Micho. But Micho and the boys "disappointed" Fufa by winning.

The match collections already having disappeared into Fufa's bottomless pit, the "no money" song came in handy to respond to payment requests. That was the origin of the public "Pay Micho" campaign.

Joachim Buwembo is a social and political commentator based in Kampala. E-mail: buwembo@gmail.com

There's no money?! These unspeakable Fufa officials should be run out - Comment

http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/OpEd/comment/These-unspeakable-Fufa-officials-should-be-run-out-of-town-/434750-3386004-gs6k2f/index.html

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