S256 – 006 Website: soccer256 Email: soccer256@in Endiba soccer Magazine By Joseph Opio +256783182922 Iddi Amin – Ugandan football’s iconic hero He rates mention alongside Adolf Hitler. He deported an entire race. And his catalogue of genocidal crimes prompted Hollywood to immortalize him in Forest Whitaker’s Oscar winning, ‘The Last King of Scotland’. Yet despite his infamous contribution to humanity’s history, Iddi Amin holds a treasured place in the hearts of football loving Ugandans. In a success starved nation, Amin’s blood-soaked reign is remembered among football funs as a golden era of sorts. During Amin’s eight years in charge, Uganda qualified for the Africa cup of nations three successive times 1974, 1976 and 1978. That record alone is unprecedented. But what grants Amin the enduring affection of fans is the fact the in 1978 he took Uganda to the promised land of an actual continental final. The final, a heroic 2-0 loss to hosts Ghana, remains Uganda’s proudest moment in international football. It’s a moment framed and hung in the minds of soccer fans all over this country. It matters little that Amin led the economy into a spectacular downward spiral, expelled Asian minorities from Uganda and his bloodlust accounted for over 300,000 people in extra judicial killings. Spend a few moments chatting with those who knew Amin’s passion for the beautiful game and one collides with a portrait of a saint. ‘Amin for all his faults gave Ugandan football the kind of profile that no president since him, has come close to matching’ asserted Tom Lwanga a defensive stalwart in that legendary 1978 side. Lwanga lamented ‘In 1978 Uganda beat defending champions Morocco 3-0, humbled Nigeria 2-1 in the semi-final and narrowly lost to Ghana in Accra. Morocco, Nigeria and Ghana went on to become continental superpowers. But where is Uganda now??’ It’s a particularly telling rhetorical question. That 1978 final marked an apex of Ugandan football one a nation has failed to scale again with depressing consistency. To fans, the sheer fact that Uganda has failed to qualify for another continental tournament since Amin’s exit is a damning indictment to all of his successors. Amin isn’t the first dictator to exploit sport as a propaganda tool. Despotic regimes by nature exist on a desperate need for internal and international goodwill to attain some semblance of legitimacy. Hitler tried to hijack the 1936 olympics to showcase his dodgy hypothesis of Aryan supremacy, Mobutu Ssese seko dispatched a plane load of witch doctors to inspire the Zairean team at the 1974 world cup and Sani Abacha’s tyranny coincided with Nigeria’s finest triumphs in international football. Yet , unlike the aforementioned trio, Amin was a genuine sports enthusiast. Standing at 6’4’’ and weighing 280 pounds, Amin had been an East African heavy weight boxing champion as a junior officer in the colonial King Africa Rifles Army. Added to this , the president was also an avid swimmer, a keen basketballer and routinely hopped into cars to take on rally drivers of his era. In 1972 just after his take over, Amin astounded all gathered at Lugogo stadium when he rolled up his sleeves mounted the podium and challenged national boxing coach Peter Sseruwagi to an undercut fight. No sooner had the bout began than an astonished Sseruwagi, clueless on how to proceed against a head of state, was knocked out. Former Uganda Armature Boxing Federation boss David Agong recalled another incident that amplifies the eccentric autocrat’s passion for sport. One afternoon , in 1976 he abruptly offered the equivalent of $1000 to anyone who could beat him in the breast stroke duel at kampala international hotel swimming pool. I stepped up beat him and earned the prize. Its perhaps no wonder that during Amin’s reign , the Ugandan flag flew high and proud in all sports arena. It was with Amin at the helm that John Akii Bua won Uganda’s first gold at the 1972 olympics in Munich. It was with Amin as the president that the national boxing team, now a shadow of its former self, was ranked third in the world amateur boxing. Yet, while Akii Bua’s world smashing gold descended into folklore and the boxers’ conquests remain iconic, its for his success in football that Amin’s name has found its self a subject of enduring poetry among Ugandans. Former cranes forward Polly Ouma is struck by nostalgia the moment Amin’s name is uttered. According to Ouma , Amin easily crossed the line between executive patron and fan. Not that Ouma is complaining. ‘As far as Amin was concerned footballers’ welfare was his priority’ Ouma recalled. ‘He would organize routine matches between us and his cabinet, give us cash to boost morale, offer his presidential jet before and after matches and make unscheduled visits to our residential training camps to personally check if our every whim was catered for.’ Ouma’s teammate and ex international Paul Ssali concurred . ‘Amin’s love for football was incredible. He would insist on meeting us before every game and reminded us of the ambassadorial role we are playing. He would remind us to listen carefully when the national anthem was being played and take our inspiration from that.’ Ssali added ‘ofcourse on top of this he would give us added motivation through cash and non cash rewards.’ Ssali recalled that Amin would particularly before matches against supposed African foes. ‘He always insisted on a win when we played Tanzania or Zambia. By normal standards preparations for matches were flawless. But before a Tanzania or Zambia match , he would personally take over the training sessions.’ Ssali is actually willing to contradict historical evidence in defence of Amin’s honour. ‘I think that stuff written was foreign propaganda. I mean if Amin was such a terrible man why would he have driven himself to our camps unscheduled to have chats with us as we prepared for games? He never moved around with guards that much. He would walk into our camps , sometimes take part in kick-about and then not leave till late. That’s not in the concert with the image that the foreign media paints of him.’ Ssali’s stance is hard to defend but easy to understand. The goalie , afterall saw Amin’s commitment to football override politics when he promptly ordered the release of teammates who had been charged with treason. Players, John Ntensibe and Mike Kiganda had been arrested as subversive elements by Amin’s notorious secret police. Its doubtful the pair would have seen light again but for football. Their fate was reversed when just days before an international game against Zambia . Amin visited the camp as usual only to find the team distressed. When told that the players were troubled because two of their own were languishing in jail. Amin ordered for their express release alongside Baker Kazibwe (RIP) , a vocal female fan who was detained as well. Such preferential treatment can easily blind the favored to someone’s failings. But Ssali asked a more intriguing question. ‘If Amin was so power hungry and blood thirsty, how could he have let his security play second fiddle to football? He never would have released Ntensibe and Kiganda if he dealt with enemies the way foreign papers claimed he did, by extra judicial murder.’ Ssali and his teammates were treated like such national treasures, they were untouchable. Untouchable by the much dreaded security apparatus. Untouchable even by the press. In one eye opening incident shortly before the famous 1978 Africa Cup of Nations campaign, Amin visited the training camp in kyambogo. And after briefing the team on what he expected of them in Ghana, the president routinely asked the players whether they had any pressing problems. Denis Obua (RIP) a flying winger with a cannonball in his left foot, stood up. He called the president’s attention to an acidic editorial in the voice of Uganda, the government owned newspaper at the time. The editor Sammy Katerega had taken exception to the national team selection and dared criticize the entire set up. Duly informed Amin didn’t even waste a second, he summarily declared the editor a ‘national enemy’ and fired him on the spot. ‘Any other problem?’ Amin asked the players. There were none. Luckily for the editor, the reporter he had sent to cover the presidential visit rushed back and informed him of his instantaneous dismissal. The editor knowing the implications of the sacking didn’t even clear his desk. He fled with only the clothes on his back. By the time Amin’s soldiers raided the Voice of Uganda offices hunting for him, the editor was on his way to Kenya to kick-start a life in exile. Such capricious decision making is unbecoming of a head of state. But despite employing the same arbitrary approach to government , pursuing farcical economic policies and turning Uganda into an international pariah state Amindid enough on pitch to ensure his love affair with football fans smoulders on. Jaberi Bidandi Ssali a footballer turned politician was the national team manager during Amin’s reign and recalled one stunning international coup. ‘In 1976 a Brazilian legend Pele visited Uganda, I was national team manager then and the impact of Pele’s visit cannot be over stressed. He was the best footballer on the planet and somehow Amin got the Brazilian icon to visit. ‘It was such a shot in the arm for Ugandan football,’ remarked Ssali. Back then the excitement surrounding Pele’s visit and its significance was only comparable to the euphoria that would grip Uganda if Messi arrived in the country today. Amin’s downfall came in 1979 when he tried to annex part of Tanzania in an ill fated, ill advised attempt to rectify what he termed colonial wrongs. But according to his son Taban Amin, the depot’s love for the game till his death in exile in Saudi Arabia at the age of 78. ‘My father’s passion for football and sports was eternal ,’ revealed Taban. ‘he always swam for a hours a day, organized matches for age mates and encouraged us to pursue sports.’ Taban himself a football enthusiast added. ‘ My father was a rabid Manchester United fan , but he was breast of the developments in the local game by hosting Ugandans who would go to Mecca for the holy pilgrimage of Hajj and peppering them with questions.’ Taban disclosed that Amin’s only regret was that he never lived to see Uganda reach the pinnacle of football, the world cup. ‘My father had seen Mobutu ssese seko’s Zaire become the first black African country to qualify for the world cup in the 1974 world cup in Germany. Zaire now DR Congo neighbors’ Uganda in the west and my dad thought that if Zaire could do it , Uganda could too. My dad and Mobutu were such close friends and I think that friendly rivalry added to his desire to see Uganda match what Zaire had done. Sadly he was over thrown before taking Uganda to the world cup.’ Since his ouster in 1979 no president has disgraced Uganda as much as Amin did. But for soccer fans its more distressing that no Ugandan president has proved worthy to unite Amin’s bootlaces as far as footballing success is concerned. Amin’s thinly-veiled grudges against Zambia and Tanzania arouse out of deep suspicion that both countries offered refuge to exiles bent on overthrowing him. ‘When we won the 1976 CECAFA by beating Zambia in Zanzibar which is technically Tanzania, Amin was thrilled beyond measure ‘ revealed Lwanga. ‘He sent us his presidential jet, flew us to Uganda for a red-carpet reception and then flew us to Libya on the same jet for a state sponsored shopping spree.’ Ssali and company were so inspired by Amin’s rewards that they repeated the fete the following year humbling Zambia this time in Malawi. So carefree was the camera derie between the president and his football ambassadors that Ssali is incredulous when asked if the players ever felt apprehensive around a man with a universally terrifying human rights record. ‘Amin was always so friendly and happy when he was speaking with us before or after games , he would be like one of us.
Posted on: Thu, 22 Aug 2013 08:09:06 +0000
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