The late Brig Jackson ‘Bell’ Tushabe, who passed on a few days ago, represented the last group of football enthusiasts to come from the UPDF. Tushabe, who is popularly known as Col Bell, was a rare breed who poured huge sums of money to develop the game without necessarily expecting to get anything. Unfortunately, he closes a rich chapter of Ugandan football in an age where opportunists have taken over the sport.
I remember a time in the late 1980s and early 1990s when a section of the pavilion at Nakivubo stadium used to be occupied by soldiers.
They were passionate, disciplined, freely mixed and mingled with us the ordinary fans. Conspicuously, nearly all of them were diehard SC Villa fans.
Back then, the most recognisable figure was Maj Gen Fred Rwigyema, who was always surrounded you young officers, and one of them was Paul Kagame, Poteli Kivuna and Tushabe.
Being a Villa fan myself, it was always a great experience at Nakivubo, which coincided with the height of Villa’s dominance of the league and the continent.
[caption id="attachment_91" align="aligncenter" width="720"] Col Bell - A true football fan[/caption]
I never really knew Tushabe’s name or rank until about 2001 when, at the urging of the late Ogen Kevin Aliro, Villa elected me National fans’ coordinator.
The task required me to look out for prominent Villa fans and woo them back to support the club in active roles.
In one of my first assignments, Aliro took me to Munyonyo purposely to see Col Bell, who had just recovered from a medical operation. To my surprise, this was the young officer who used to passionately support Villa and it was very satisfying as we recollected the Villa golden days.
He told us he stopped playing an active role in football due to his various placements upcountry and had resorted to supporting community football teams.
However, that visit was like a flick of a switch because it reawakened Tushabe football passion at the top.
Indeed, he financially supported my projects as Villa coordinator and in 2005 when I offered myself to lead the club, him and late Maj Gen Kazini , Col Poteli Kivuna were some of my key backers.
By then, his Victors FC had already become a competitive force and so, he opted to stay there. Added to his appointment by Fufa as the competitions committee boss, it was always a bittersweet moment whenever Villa met Victors because his allegiance was always torn.
In 2014 when I finally ascended to the Villa leadership, Col Bell kept in touch, often putting me to task to revive Villa’s enthusiastic tradition. By then, his Victors had already been relegated from the top-flight and was on the brink of folding.
On the many occasions we met thereafter, he often expressed disappointment of being the sole surviving Villa diehard in the UPDF. What’s more, he was always bitter with the direction of football that glorifies institutional clubs at the expense of individuals who dig into their pocket to promote the sport.
This is a man who singlehandedly gave jobs to more than 40 people without any sponsor or Fufa incentive. He spent more than Shs 300 millions yearly to maintain Victors but hardly got any recognition for his contribution.
It is, therefore, unfortunate that he dies at a time when the status quo has not changed.
Rest in peace Col Bell.
