Museveni, Bach meeting: UOC score on refugees, land

In 2015, Justin Kwizerimana ran away from the armed conflict in the Rutchuru territory of North Kivu in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

He found home in Kyangwali Refugee Settlement but that was about it. In 2021, his life turned around when the International Olympic Committee (IOC)’s Game Connect project was enrolled in the area.

This is a project that seeks to improve the mental health and psychosocial well-being of young people affected by displacement through sports.

Kwizerimana, 29, has since turned into a coach in the project and has found the confidence and knowledge to start his own poultry farm.

“I am better off here than returning to a place, where I witnessed a lot of things I cannot describe,” he told Saturday Monitor, during the recent visit of the IOC president (since 2013) Thomas Bach to the country to, among other things, visit the refugee activities at Yes Centre, Nsambya on Wednesday.

Implementation

The project targets youth between 15 and 24 years, including those with special needs, in the areas of Kampala, Adjumani, Kamwenge, Kyangwali, and Lamwo.

Over the four years, 1,347 youth have showed interest and these have held 18,154 bi-weekly sessions with these creating 117 clubs in the disciplines of football, netball, taewondo, volleyball and basketball. These are also involved in community tournaments and inter-settlement competitions.

Over 133 coaches, including 59 refugees and 74 from the host districts, have been trained in sport for health, sport for protection, and financial literacy. The latter has attracted 1032 youth who have created 37 saving groups that amassed Shs31.7m in six months.

Game Connect Uganda reports that they have been able to overturn depression and anxiety issues in “99 percent” of the refugees partaking in their activities.

“Through Makerere University, we have been able to make research by comparing a control group that did not go throught the projet with one that went through it. The results we see can be attributed to the approach (Game Connect) because randomized control trial that can be used to compare the two groups,” Robinah Nannugi, shared with the media and IOC President.

Bach was happy to see the veracity of the programme saying that “what goes to your heart is to see that these numbers are a reality. When you see their smile, confifence, joy in playing sport, only then can you realize the value of this wonderful programme.”

The challenge, however, is that refugees need at least six months to get enrolled in the programme. Game Connect is only comfortable assimilating them when they are settled as this guarantees consistence in training over a period of four months.

“We get calls all the time from the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) about new arrivals. But remember a group gets a coach attached to them for four months. So, one who has just arrived when that group is on say on stage three of their programme cannot just get in. We try to do mentorship programmes for the new arrivals but those are not as comprehensive,” Nannungi adds.

Matter of principle

Uganda, according to Prime Minister, Rt. Hon. Robinah Nabbanja, is home to “1.7m refugees.”

“There is a lot of pressure on the resources we have. We are almost failing to feed our own people. The schools, teachers, and health centres in host in those settlement areas are overwhelmed yet the funding is being cut,” Nabbanja told the IOC President in a meeting at her office, which was also attended by United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi.

Grandi said the “funding is there but there are issues with implementation.” He also expressed concerns that some of Uganda’s neighbours like DRC and the “two Sudans” continue to pile pressure on Uganda’s refugee intake with the continued conflict.

According to President Yoweri Museveni, who both Bach and Grandi met at State House Entebbe on Wednesday, “Uganda’s support for refugees is a matter of principle.”

Maybe it is important to note that Uganda’s own State Minister for Sports Peter Ogwang, was also born in Internally Displaced People’s (IDP) Camp in Katakwi at the height of cattle rustling in Teso.

“The chaos in the world is caused by mistakes of political actors. Uganda was once a failed state under Idd Amin and others, and at some time, we were the fourth biggest exporter of refugees in the world competing with Afghanistan and Ethiopia.

“Our student movement that started in the 1960s and later became a political military had a lot of time to analyze this and we were later able to reverse these mistakes in Uganda. We re-oriented our people from the politics of identity (tribe, race, gender, religious chauvinism) to the politics of interest.

“Now we have no refugees although some Ugandans stay in the diaspora and actually remit a lot of money home. So when people run away (from their countries), we see no problem other than feeding them. We also do not insist on putting them in refugee ghettos but we let them percolate into the society, do business,” Museveni said as he expressed interest in how the IOC has linked sports to the refugee question.

Political neutrality

Museveni teased Bach, a German Olympic medalist in fencing at the 1976 Games, about former German leader Adolf Hitler snubbing African American runner Jesse Owens at the 1936 Olympics and that led to another discussion about “political neutrality”.

“I am happy to see a German that is happy with Africans,” Museveni said, while Bach retorted with a story about Cindy Ngamba, a Cameroonian women’s middleweight boxer, who won the first ever and lone medal, bronze for the Refugee Team at the Paris 2024 Olympics. This team competes under the Olympic flag.

“There is no global north or global south in the Olympic Movement. All athletes are equal and in Paris we had all athletes from the 206 National Olympic Committees taking part.

“Even when some countries are at war with each other, we had their athlets competitng and living peacefully in the Games Village. This was only possible because we followed the principle of political neutrality which we believe aligns with the Non-Aligned Movement (where Uganda is a member country and Museveni the presiding head), which does not want us to take sides in war.

“Some forces are trying to divide the world of sport by making it political and organizing games of political nature which will lead to sports being an extension of war,” Bach said prompting Museveni asked him if there is pressure on the IOC to reject some countries. There is a fear that Russia could popularize their World Friendship Games to compete with the Olympics.

“Yes. We banned the Russian NOC but took the decision to allow Russian athletes to participate as neutrals,” Bach stated, again prompting Museveni to ask about Israel, which is at war with Palestine as Russia is with Ukraine.

“The NOC of Israel and the NOC of Palestine both live in peaceful existence even though the countries do not love each other. None of them claims authority over each other’s athletes in Gaza or Jerusalem,” Bach said as he highlighted that Russia’s NOC claims control over the areas of Donetsk and Donbas, which are known to be under Ukraine.

UOC target Kyambogo

The meeting took a 360 degrees turn around the issue of lands and settlements but for the better and got even more lively when Museveni announced that he will support First Lady and Minister of Education and Sports Janet to secure land for the UOC.

The UOC has a grant from the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (Anoca) to establish a home with an office and various facilities but it is feared this generous extension, from Anoca president Mustapha Berraf’s executive committee, could come to an end this year as the Olympic movement braces for elections across board next year.

“I will support Maama to solve the issue of land. You heard the offer could expire at the end of this year, so this needs to be a priority,” Museveni said as he also invited the rest of the world to train at the High Altitude Centre in Kapchorwa.

According to Ogwang, the IOC and Anoca have been pushing UOC to get titled land for the project. Mandela Stadium Namboole was far from granting such a wish but in his speech at State House, UOC president Donald Rukare expressed that Kyambogo University is an option.

“In my considered opinion, Kyambogo is a good option and we (Ministry of Education and Sports) will meet UOC and UPDF next week to see how we can fast track the issue of the office and what is required to have an Olympic size pool in Namboole),” Ogwang clarified.

Phase Two of works in Namboole involves establishing a swimming pool. This was partly delayed by a Court case between the stadium and Sports View Hotel but Saturday Monitor is reliably informed that Court ruled in favour of Namboole.

Numbers

1.7 – 1.7m refugees in Uganda

4 – Applied in Kampala, Adjumani, Kamwenge, Kyangwali, and Lamwo

99 – Percentage of resolved anxiety and depression issues

133 – Coaches trained since 2021

206 – Number of IOC member countries

1,347 – Youth involved since 2021