I stand with Magomu, but here is why unionising is the best option

The Uganda Rugby Union (URU), which this past workweek slapped Magomu with a six-month suspension and stripped him of the national captaincy, supposedly for bringing the sport into disrepute, has stared with bald attention at responses full of bile.

The halfback was deemed to have fallen foul of the fine line between right and wrong after using his Twitter platform as a megaphone to accentuate the travails of beleaguered National Council of Sports general secretary, Patrick Ogwel.

Full disclosure, before URU’s disciplinary process proffered a tough regime of sanctions on Magomu, I posted in support of the maverick player.

The post was evidently gobbled up and spat out by the busy schedule at the recently-concluded 2024 Olympic Games. Regardless, as a free speech advocate, I thought it was crucially important for me to go on record with my position. And I did just that.

As I offered in the post, the corner of the players is where you will always find me. And it is pretty much a no-brainer as to why this is the case—without players, you have absolutely nothing.

Needless to say, other stakeholders should sit up and take notice when a player, moreover a captain, makes something remotely close to an emphatic declaration.

It is quite evident that URU has come off looking as shabby as the beard your columnist sported when pandemic curbs put barbers out of a job not so many years ago.

But, and you can take this to the bank, expect the local rugby governing body to have the last laugh when the dust settles. Past precedents show that ‘viral campaigns’ on social networks can only do as much, not least in banana republics such as Uganda.

The show of strength in posts from fans and a tiny sliver of active players will, sadly, not translate into something tangible.

I carefully use the adverb ‘sadly’ because what we risk ending up with if the hashtag #IStandWithMagomu, as widely expected, falls flat on its face is a paternalistic relationship punctuated with a litany of ‘yes sirs.’ And they are typically sirs; not madams. Despite Jeroline Akubu’s best efforts.

The useful question to ask is: how best can the sport’s most important constituency—the players—wield solidarity against what is by any measure the hegemonic power of the URU?

The power dynamics at play as well as the attendant forms of exploitation and harm that result means that it is foolhardy for a singular player to go it alone. Such an approach will succeed in systematically addressing, well, nothing.

The precarity and systematic subordination encountered by players who risk it all by putting their bodies on the line can be decisively addressed if they unionise.

Indeed, it is the considered opinion of your columnist that unionising can help much-maligned players in this part of the globe to bargain collectively and regain a semblance of control over their working conditions.

While unionisation is undoubtedly the best pathway to improving the rights and working conditions of players, previous attempts, at least in the rugby ranks, have proved fruitless.

This was primarily because URU burnt the midnight before coming up with Machiavellian tactics that effectively set up players against each other. Mostly by the hue of their club jerseys. Will lightning strike twice? If it does, Magomu’s valiant efforts will be in vain.