OPINION: Is Ugandan government worth celebrating the success of Uganda Cranes yet it has not nurtured and supported the team?

By Lydiah Namayengo 

Congratulations Uganda Cranes for winning DRC Congo by having scored 2-0 by Kaddu and Okwi in your first match at the African Cup Of Nations (AFCON) 2019 on Saturday 22nd June 2019 in Egypt after the long 41 years without engaging in the African competitions.

Winning the first game with DRC Congo has helped Uganda gain momentum since it is in a very tight, critical competitive group (Group A) comprising of Egypt, DRC Congo, Zimbabwe and itself as it awaits to take on Zimbabwe to wrap up the group.

Success for the Cranes is not just a win but it takes commitment, persistence, consistence, team work and determination. So the Cranes win exhibited that!

Success in winning a match is also about support not only from your coach, team mates, people but also state and government in power!

So has the government of Uganda come out to give ultimate full support to the Uganda Cranes to start celebrating this win yet it has not always supported the players in their training, no sustainable funding and standard training grounds?! What will happen after this win?

But as we celebrate, where will the future Kaddus and Okwi’s that score in Africa for Uganda come from when Uganda lacks training centres and academies for sports? How will they be nurtured? Who and where will they train from?

Uganda currently does not have nation wide soccer and sports academies to train children and youth to engage in sports.

We saw the government jumping up to speed over Steven Kiprotitch in 2017 after winning a gold medal yet they had never supported his training, travel or talent and even promised to construct a stadium as a ground for practice and training of many young people to run and other sports. What happened to this promise?

So do u have the moral authority to celebrate the win of Uganda Cranes?

Government promised to construct the Akibua stadium in memory of the late but we have never seen this pledge come to pass, what happened to the construction of the Akibua stadium?

So why celebrate AFCON win yet you don’t value sports?!

What happened to the She Cranes and the promise made by government to support these girls in boosting their talent?

I call upon government of Uganda to invest in talent development by establishing sports academies and training centres for young people in every region to reduce on unemployment as some people now earn on talent.

I call upon the Ministry of Education and Sports to strengthen the extra curricula activities in schools and to introduce teaching of sports activities in the primary schools and all levels of education as a subject with knowledge that will transform people into a career.

I call upon the private sector to invest in football and other sports activities so as to boost talent and make it an industry that can bring profits through investing in establishing pitches, training camps, sports exchange programs, as well as establish as sports technology and sports materials since the government does not care about us but their stay in power!

I call upon the school owners of private schools to provide a supportive environment for the young children with talent, deploy a trainer/coach to train them as well as offer scholarships to those talented children that have uplifted the standards of your schools as well as allocating time for training in the education teaching time table since government schools and Inspectors of schools or head teachers do not take it as a priority!!

I call upon the various parents to come out and discover the interests and talents that your children have, nurture them, support them, mould them and invest in them until they can be grounded to higher levels to even be professionals that can be self employed due to their talents since the government u voted into power forgot about u the day u ticked the ballot paper!!

I call upon the sports masters to holistically train all the children under their custody without discrimination with support and later help them in specialization of which sports they will do best to be focused for their future.

I call upon the owners of the soccer and sports academy to focus on talent development than business or money making thereby making sports training more cost friendly, affordable and available for all the children and parents irrespective of their financial status, political, economic and social status.

I call upon the Ministry of Finance to reduce on the taxes levied on the sports items and training materials like jerseys, sports shoes, trophies, balls, to become affordable in a bid to boost talent and promote self employment but not over taxation or your regressive taxation system.!

I call upon the political leaders, cultural leaders, religious leaders and volunteers to continue organizing sports tournaments and competitions for football, netball, volley ball, rugby, wood ball etc in your communities in a bid to make sports readily available for example the Buganda Massaza Cup etc.

I call upon government to support the Mini Leagues like Star Times League, Uganda Premier League, Clubs like Villa, Express FC, plus other tournaments and also increase sports funding in the budget allocation so as to boost talent development.

Uganda Cranes has always failed to raise funds to pay salaries for the team players, failed to have sports materials for training, failed to foot bills for their travel to participate in international competitions like the She Cranes etc!!

How can a country that has a First Lady of the country as the Minister of Education and Sports fail to lobby for its funding!?? This must stop!

I call upon the talented young people in sports to never give up on their dreams, to fight and continue trying until u get their because nobody will do it for you unless you do it yourself because this government does not care about u or your talent but cares about their stay in power!. Therefore they should not celebrate our win!

Its only when parents have paid school fees, requirements and all dues that they can come out to celebrate the graduation of their children!!!

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#PrioritizeTaletDevelopmentInSchools.
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