..read on
Uganda Vs. Nigeria Who Will Win?
New Vision (Kampala)
NEWS
31 May 2007
Posted to the web 1 June 2007
By Alex Balimwikungu
Kampala
OUR reporter visited several shrines to find out the will of the gods and ancestors on the Uganda-Nigeria match tomorrow. He shares his experience.
AFRICAN football and witchcraft are peas in the same pod. It is a bit of a sore point, but the truth is, witchcraft is very alive in football, especially sub-Saharan Africa; you do not have to look beyond your local stadium for examples. Scorn it as superstition, but its use is still wide spread.
With the much-awaited African Nations Cup qualifier between the Uganda Cranes and Nigeria Super Eagles just a couple of hours away; I set on a journey to the supernatural, to find out from the jjajja's (ancestors) what chances behold for the Cranes.
With the help of a former Cranes player, we set off masquerading as a Uganda Cranes welfare committee members looking for the team's good fortune. I was about to be swallowed in the world of sorcery, shifting between the shrines of the football sorcerers.
My journey was a roller coaster of emotions. Fear, gave way to anger, repulsion and sometimes laughter, as I sought the Cranes' fortunes from three different "sports sorcerers"
I watched the upcoming Cranes vs
Nigeria match through a bowl of water at Attanus Sembajjwe's shrine at Kakajjo Namasuba on Entebbe Road. This was after an hour of summoning the gods to speak out. Unfortunately I am not at liberty to divulge tomorrow's final results for fear of reprisal from the gods.
The 72-year-old Ssembajjwe claims to have served the longest in the business. Wait a minute; before he can talk to me, he makes a list of requirements.
Besides the appreciation fee, which I am at liberty to decide, but should not be below sh50,000, he wants a Uganda Cranes jersey, a pair of soccer boots, sh5000, and a patch of grass from both goal areas Namboole Stadium.
With Namboole closed for renovation after Benny Hinn's crusade, the last requirement poses a hurdle, but I improvise and return four hours later.
When he shuts the door behind him, darkness descends and a deathly silence engulfs the shrine. It is soon broken when he breaks into a chant amid cluttering metal sounds. I am not supposed to utter a word. After what appears between 45 minutes to an hour, a second voice 'appears'.
He announces the presence of the ancestors. However, I almost laugh out loud, when I discover that the ancestors speak as if it were a football commentary on radio. At one point, I keep hearing, "Massa, Massa, Massa" as if the prolific Cranes striker is headed for a goal! The jajjas also lament the strength of the juju the Nigerians have employed. He says their (Nigeria's) juju is so strong.
Fufa should consider doing the following: Slaughter a ram and spill blood at the team hotel to make the players hard; players should take boots for cleansing; they should not shake hands with their 'enemies' who have employed stronger juju, but rather bonga (greet with clenched fists) so as not to receive the juju from Nigerians. The team should not use the main entrance and when entering the pitch, the left leg should be first on the turf!
"I started working for Simba FC in 1972. President Idi Amin trusted me. One time, he sent Maliyamungu to me when Simba was going to play Gangama FC. Gangama won and I became a hunted man," Ssembajjwe says of his only hiccup. The rest have been successes, he claims.
Ssembajjwe claims to have helped KCC FC beat Arab Contractors in 1997; he sold the white ram that the late Villa Boss, Patrick Kawooya, was rumoured to travel with on match days. The ram, he claims, saw SC Villa reach two continental finals.
Ssembajjwe claims the black arm bands, SC Villa donned in 1991 when they beat Iwuanyanywu Stars of Nigeria, are part of his armoury. He recalls that before kick-off, the Nigerians all assembled and urinated on the touch line.
He, however, laments 'our' (FUFA's) reluctance to consult them (sorcerers) opting for last minute arrangements. "Like West African countries do, Uganda needs an official sorcerer to travel with the team wherever it goes. That is the only way to qualify for the World Cup."
Another wizard, Umar Balyejjusa, 32, of Ki****i on Gayaza Road, would pass for a joker. There is something dicey about his appearance. In his mud and wattle shrine, he develops a raggamuffin voice when 'possessed'.
Even before he convulses, Balyejussa has the verdict for the match. The Cranes are in for a thorough beating; reason? FUFA's reluctance to consult the sorcerer's forehand.
Smoking a pipe that emits a pungent smell he pauses, as if to look for answers within, and replies in a shrill voice: "Uganda nkube" (Uganda will be beaten). The former Iganga town council sorcerer claims to be behind the success of individual players, Dan Wagaluka, Alimansi Kadogo, Hakim Magumba and Nathan Mutenza, who previously played for the club.
If she chose to dress in designer clothes, the light-skinned Margaret Namuleme, in her late 20s, would pass for a campuser on any day. She is, however, a sorcererdoctor operating a shrine in Mutundwe.
She too admits that the Nigerians possess stronger juju than Ugandans, but the match could be good for a stalemate.
Namuleme who claims to practice witchcraft for two super league teams and a leading netball side 'consults' for 20 minutes, throwing cowrie shells about her shrine. She develops a 'seizure' as she summons the spirits.
The spirits lament the diminutive size of Uganda Cranes players against Nigerians 'Bulinga bwebazaalira mu loogi" (Cranes players are diminutive you'd imagine they were all conceived in lodges).
Namuleme is now shivering fervently. I cannot help, but laugh at the absurd insinuation from the 'jajja'. I am slapped a sh1,000 fine for laughing in a shrine before getting summarily dismissed.
_________________
A Person convinced against his will is of the same opinion still.
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..MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Pa
Nigeria vs Uganda!
Too long a thread for me to read - summarize or highlight the imporant ones for me please. Thanks
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