Why That Letter Is Lusaniya lwa Mputta, Why Football Law Is Not Your Land Case, and Why FUFA House Is for Foxes, Not Hyenas
My phone has turned into a switchboard. Mzee, the battery is crying.
Since that IGG letter to Moses Magogo and FUFA landed, my phone has become a radio station. Everyone is calling.
"Mzee Joseph, you have won! Magogo is finished!"
"Mzee, write more, add more fire!"
"Mzee, now we shall enter FUFA!"
Hehehe. Let me put my pen down and put my effort here. Let me tell you, I lost a lot of money and time, and created imaginary enmity fighting for football. I wrote about commercial banks and their ancient traditions of project funding, and I lost. I fought lazy people who want to eat football without digging.
In Ugandan football, someone will hate you just because your class is above him. You buy a good suit; he says you are a thief. You refuse a lady who wants to hook you; she tells the whole boda stage you are impotent. Whoooo! Football in Uganda is for people suffering from what to do. Idlers with big mouths.
So, let me be very clear, with vibe and vigour: that IGG letter is of no consequence to FUFA. It cannot change anything apart from rhetoric, propaganda, the Sabulenya cocktail, and Facebook likes.
I will not celebrate, I will not drum, and I will not dance Kadodi because of that letter. It is just smoke in the basket. Nakiwoogo cassava lusaniya lwe Mputta: you see smoke and think there is fire, but there is nothing.
FOOTBALL LAW IS NOT YOUR MATUGGA LAND CASE
You people are confusing things. Civil law, criminal law, and sports law are three different animals sleeping in three different houses.
The IGG operates under the Inspectorate of Government Act: civil, administrative, and criminal. Powerful, yes. With robes, yes. With a high tower, yes.
FUFA operates under FIFA Statutes, CAF Statutes, and the FUFA Constitution. That constitution was approved in Zurich, not in Kampala, and not in the Anti-Corruption Court.
Listen to the Bible of world football:
FIFA Statutes, Article 14(1)(i): "Comply fully with the Statutes, regulations, directives and decisions of FIFA bodies at any time."
FIFA Statutes, Article 14(1)(a) and Article 19, Independence: "Each Member Association shall manage its affairs independently and without undue influence from any third party, including government bodies."
FIFA Statutes, Article 15, Assembly Is Supreme: The Congress is the supreme and legislative body.
FIFA Statutes, Article 59, Ban on Recourse to Ordinary Courts: "Recourse to ordinary courts of law is prohibited unless specifically provided for in the FIFA regulations."
What does that mean in simple Luganda for my people in Masaka, Gulu, and Mbale?
It means the IGG can write 100 letters. It can investigate government money given to FUFA, like CHAN money and AFCON money. That is okay. But it CANNOT sack Moses Magogo. It CANNOT dissolve the FUFA Executive. It CANNOT order fresh elections. It CANNOT put a caretaker committee in Mengo.
If it tries to force it by force, FIFA will not punish Magogo. FIFA will punish UGANDA. They will ban the Uganda Cranes. They will ban Vipers and KCCA from CAF. They will lock FUFA House and throw the key into Lake Victoria. The players will suffer. Your son who is in U-17 will suffer.
Magogo knows this. He is a cat of so many backs. He has nine lives. He has been to Zurich more times than many of you have been to Owino.
ASK YOUR NEIGHBOURS: THE GRAVEYARD IS FULL OF BANNED COUNTRIES
This is not theory, my brother. This is not my opinion. This is history, with scars.
KENYA, our immediate neighbour, 2022: Sports CS Amina Mohamed said, "FKF is dissolved; we have put a caretaker." FIFA replied in 24 hours: "Kenya, you are banned." No Harambee Stars. No Gor Mahia in Africa. For nine months, Kenyan football was eating grass. The government knelt down and brought back FKF.
ZIMBABWE, 2022: The Sports and Recreation Commission suspended the ZIFA board. FIFA: "Banned." Zimbabwe missed AFCON qualifiers. Players like Khama Billiat cried on TV. Who was punished? Not the officials, but the players.
NIGERIA, 2014: The government took over NFF offices after the World Cup. FIFA gave 48 hours: "Vacate, or you are banned from world football." The government vacated.
GHANA, 2018: After the Anas exposé, the government said, "We have dissolved GFA." FIFA said, "We have banned Ghana." Then they negotiated.
UGANDA, 2008: Remember the FUFA wrangles, Mulindwa vs. government? FIFA sent a letter: "If the Uganda government interferes, the Uganda Cranes will not play." We all ran and organised elections quickly.
So, when you bring an IGG letter to a FIFA member association and think it is a nuclear bomb, my brother, you are holding wind. You are holding nsenene in a basket with holes in Nyendo.
FIFA will protect Magogo, not because they love him. They protect the PRINCIPLE. Today, it's Magogo; tomorrow, it could be you.
THE TIGER AND LION IN THE ROOM: THE FUFA CONSTITUTION
Inside FUFA, there is a tiger and a lion that eat anyone who does not read.
The FUFA Constitution says, loud and clear: THE FUFA ASSEMBLY IS THE SUPREME BODY.
Not IGG. Not the Minister of Sports. Not Parliament. Not Facebook warriors. Not Nakiwoogo cassava mulusaniya on a weekend Sabulenya Lusaniya.
So, who can remove Magogo? Let me give you three ways, only three:
1. The FUFA Congress. The 88 delegates from regions, clubs, and special groups sit and vote with a two-thirds majority to remove him, following Articles 23, 24, and 30 of the FUFA Constitution. Those 88 delegates know where the bread is buttered. They get transport, allowances, and projects. You think they will remove Magogo because of a letter from Kampala Road? You are dreaming.
2. Magogo himself. He decides, "I have done enough; I will retire at my own pace." Not this weekend Sabulenya Lusaniya. At his own pace. Like Blatter, like Platini, like every football fox.
3. The FIFA Ethics Committee in Zurich. This would follow a full football judicial process, not an IGG administrative letter. And even then, FIFA will first ask the FUFA Ethics Committee.
Nothing can be displaced without him in agreement. That is the reality. That is football politics.
IF YOU WANT TO SIT IN FUFA HOUSE, LEARN FROM THE FOX, NOT THE HYENA
This is the juicy part many of you miss.
If you want to sit in FUFA House in Mengo, you have to learn from the Fox, not the Hyena.
The Hyena is noisy. It laughs. "Waa waa waa, we have got him! IGG has written!" It runs around with a stolen bone, thinks everyone is scared, posts on Facebook, and calls radio stations. By morning, the bone is gone.
The Fox is quiet. The Fox knows every hole. The Fox visits the delegate from Karamoja at night. The Fox pays school fees for the delegate's child. The Fox knows Article 21 says you need four nominations from members to stand. The Fox builds alliances for four years. The Fox reads the constitution like a Quran.
Magogo is a Fox. Pure Fox. Those chasing him with IGG letters are behaving like Hyenas. Loud, hungry, but with no strategy.
You want to be FUFA President? Stop running to IGG. Go to Katakwi. Go to Kasese. Go to Arua. Talk to the Assembly. Learn the tiger and lion.
MY FINAL WORD: THE INDABA WE NEED
I will only celebrate when football people agree to have a meeting, an Indaba, with Moses in a friendly conversation. Not this wind blowing from the high tower with robes.
Sit down in one room. No cameras.
Moses, my brother, where did we go wrong with accountability for government funds? The 6 billion, the 10 billion: how do we make it clearer so the IGG does not have to write letters?
Moses, how do we make FUFA finances so clean that commercial banks can fund projects? Because, as I wrote, banks have ancient traditions: they fund stable institutions, not drama. No bank will fund a federation that is fighting the government every month.
Moses, what is your succession plan? When do you retire at your own pace? Who are you mentoring?
That is how you change FUFA. Not through weekend wars.
Let me enjoy my pen and my vision of rejuvenating the age below me. I have lost enough money fighting lazy people who just want to eat football without planting.
The IGG letter will be filed. FUFA will reply with 10 pages of law, quoting FIFA Statutes. FIFA will watch from Zurich and say, "Don't touch our member, or Uganda is out."
And football will continue on Saturday at Kitende. Vipers vs. KCCA. The ball will still roll. The fans will still shout.
Stop celebrating smoke. If you want the house, learn to talk to the owner. Be a Fox.
The Kifuuta Oracle has seen this movie. I know how it ends.
AND, as I said, you may think and pray for a bad omen to befall Moses, but the IGG is a blessing that can clear his name. Naye Mutto wange Magogo, in Kifuuta we say, "Enswaswa etayanula mbu efuka ngalabi."
