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Munna Masaka, the betting graduate
John Bosco Zziwa (front) placing a bet. PHOTOs BY Rachel Mabala
What you need to know:
Having failed to find a job after graduating, John Bosco Zziwa, ended up finding refuge in betting which is now his source of survival.
One morning of the year 2008, in one of the villages deep in Masaka District, John Bosco Zziwa, a farmer and Makerere University graduate with a Bachelors of Science in Business Economics, came from his garden with only Shs20,000 to place his stake on different soccer games at one of the betting shops in the nearby town.
Zziwa, who only ended up betting because he failed to get a job after graduating, says he got all the games right and won Shs88m. Unfortunately, he did not take his prize because the betting shop had to close due to insufficient funds. To follow up on his betting career, Zziwa embarked on a journey back to Kampala to make a fortune in betting.
Since then, he wakes up to walk from his Najjanankumbi home to the different betting shops in the city, most preferably Gals Sport betting in Katwe- a Kampala suburb to place his bets of the day and wait for the results after the games.
When I walk into the theatre-like building, Zziwa is seated on a small plastic chair in front of a 32 inch screen where he is trying to search for information on the team he is about to bet on. “I treat this as my business because this is where I get my money from. I just need to research then go place the bets,” Zziwa, says.
Since his arrival in Kampala, he has been winning amounts ranging from Shs500,000 to Shs10m from the different betting parlours. This has earned him admiration among his peers whom he guides on prospective bets. “Many people call me their consultant and they always call me and give me money to help them place bets and we always find a way of sorting ourselves out at the end of the month,” says Munna Masaka, as he is known in his circles. His plan this year is to save at least Shs50,000 a day which translates to Shs1.5m a month.
The achievements Zziwa has cultivated from betting are worth noting. First, he managed to sponsor his girlfriend until she completed her degree at Makerere University. “She did not have a father and her mother was suffering from Brucellosis fever. I had faith in her and I’m proud to have paid her Shs800,000 per semester tuition.” He adds that he bought a plot of land and built a house in which his brothers are residing, back in his village. Also, people have come to respect him for what he is doing.
“When I had first joined this game, people thought I was a crazy person but looking at what I have been able to do, I have respect and anyway, who has that time to care about what I do, this betting game has not let anyone down, people are joining it every day,” Zziwa calmly says. “And by the way, this game has also saved us from the deadly HIV/Aids because young men do not have time to think about girls, they are looking for possible bets and they are always hungry to win,” he adds.
Every day, Zziwa looks at the different websites that offer betting tips especially on soccer which is his favourite sport. However, he warns that since betting is a business, there are websites that engage in match fixing (asking teams to deliberately lose games for a monetary benefit) after discovering they have enough traffic.
“Such will place high odds on weaker teams taking advantage that people will place bets on the stronger teams and eventually the stronger teams will lose and lots of money will be taken by betting companies,” he points out.
The bad times
Like every job, there will always be bad and good days and betting is no exception. Two years ago, Zziwa placed Shs1m on a Spanish league game; Barcelona against Osasuna with hope that the former would win. He was shocked however, when Osasuna beat Barcelona. This made him lose all the money.
“I was sure I would win Shs10m and I had already made plans for that money; I was really sad but I did not stop betting. The next morning, I was the first person at the teller,” he says. Asked about his best day, he quickly reminisces a day in 2009 when he placed a bet on 12 teams on a receipt (betting form) and it won him Shs10m. “I remember it was in mid-week but I did not tell anyone that I had won, I made sure it was a secret, how many people get lucky to win a receipt of 12 teams?” he asks.
Since its inception in 2004, sports betting has become widely spread and most of it is uncontrolled due to lack of a clear policy on who should participate in the game, where and when. This has made a good number of youth think they can gain a fortune from placing bets on a wide range of sports activities from as low as Shs500 and earn millions which is not always the case.
To this however, Zziwa says the youth are not doing anything wrong but rather they need to be a little more calculative when placing bets. “All you have to do is place bets on the easiest and avoid crowding games; people always want to get lots of money at once which is so impossible,” Zziwa advises. However, people as lucky as Zziwa are few and as many counsellors advise, gambling is a highly addictive activity that can cause one many losses.
