Uganda: Is There Witchcraft in Football, or We Are Just Being Africans?

Drama ensued at the Masindi Municipal stadium on April 19, when Kitara FC hosted Vipers SC in the Uganda Premier League.

Jostling erupted between players of the two teams at different moments of that tense game, the most eye-catching of all the scenes being the one involving two defenders from across the divide. Soon after the second half started, Vipers' Hilary Mukundane was spotted trying to undress his counterpart, Maxwell Owagchiu.

Mukundane kept grabbing Owagchiu's shorts, trying to pull them down, as his opponent fought to escape. This attracted the attention of the referee, Mashood Ssali. He had a word with the two, before the upheaval subsided and the game continued.

Still, Mukundane and other Vipers players kept pointing at Owagchiu, telling the referee something was not right. Apparently, Owagchiu was carrying a gecko in his underwear, according to Vipers players.

They said whenever Kitara earned a corner-kick, Owagchiu came forward, but before the corner-kick could be taken, he would pull the gecko out, tap it on the head of an opponent, in order to leave them dazed and pave way for Kitara to score.

Also, Mukundane allegedly spotted him trying to pull the gecko trick on him, hence reacting fast before Owagchiu could use its charms on him or his teammates. Ahh! Ugandan sport can be dramatic!

When Kitara's midfielder, Paul Mucureezi was contacted about the issue, the former Vipers midfielder said: "I heard of these stories being raised on social media, after our game with Vipers. While some media people seemed to be confirming it, truthfully, all that is being said is abstract stuff to me. I never saw anything of the kind at my club."

His coach Brian Ssenyondo also brushed off the drama as mind games. Ssenyondo believes Vipers were too desperate to win the game - which they did - they planned the script of this drama to perfection.

Ssenyondo said, "Vipers had to create all these scenes to disorganize us and get us off our game plan. Each time we tried to attack them, they would pull a stunt to kill our rhythm and they succeeded."

However, there has been a lot of talk prior, alleging that Ssenyondo's team uses witchcraft. Some have even speculated that his charm is in the four rings he wears on his fingers. Ssenyondo laughed this off, saying his rings are simply a fashion statement, and people's perceptions are not something he can control.

Kitara also have a ritual of kicking the ball out into the opponent's half whenever they kick-off. It is something that has unsettled many of their superstitious opponents, who believe that is witchcraft, too.

But Mucureezi said kicking the ball out whether home or away, is done to make sure they start the game by pressing their opponent from within their own half, to avoid conceding early. But Kitara's opponents are not convinced. Are Ugandans simply too suspicious or we are just a witchcraft-oriented society?

Like Mucureezi said, only a witch would catch another witch! Mucureezi said he believes in God and knows nothing about witchcraft. That said, stories of witchcraft in the beautiful game are not new. It is reported that years ago, there used to be a star footballer at KCCA FC, who always wore dirty boots to his games.

And that if you touched them, you would attract his wrath. He believed his goals came off dirty football boots. In 2001, after SC Villa beat KCCA in a league game at Namboole 1-0, a section of the latter's fans accused the former of witchcraft. They moved around with a football, that had been cut open, and therein, lay a lizard and some grass.

They claimed the reason they could not score was because Villa had bewitched them. Over 40 years ago, when Villa's dominance started back in the early 1980s, it was said that the club had a white sheep that they took to Nakivubo stadium on the eve of a big clash against Express FC.

Also, critics of Villa used to say that underneath their players' skins were snails and geckos, which was why they reportedly never got injured. The tales have been many, including those where certain players competing for the same jersey number, reportedly visit witchdoctors to ensure that their competitors are perpetually injured until they decide to leave the club.

During a recent Vipers league game, someone pointed out how their Congolese goalkeeper Alfred Mudekereza followed a particular pattern of rituals, where he circles the penalty area numerous times.

In his defence, that could be his warmup. But his opponents believe he casts spells on that area, making it hard for him to concede goals from there, unless shot from a distance. Last year, when Gaddafi football club played their games at Kakindu stadium in Jinja, they had a man standing behind their goal like a steward.

This is forbidden in the laws of the game. Yet when they changed sides at halftime, he moved, too. Apparently, he protected Gaddafi from conceding goals. For years now, Wasswa Bbosa, the former Gaddafi coach, has been accused of being superstitious.

While he was Express coach between 2020 and 2022, he at one time chased the club's female staff from the team bus, because the time women travelled with the team to play Villa in Bombo, the game ended in a goalless draw. But matters came to a head in August 2021, when Express played at the Cecafa Club championship.

During the final, Bbosa reportedly told his players not to step on the field before their opponent. It turned out their opponents, Big Bullets FC of Malawi, were just as superstitious and refused to head out first.

This left the match referees in a fix until the Express captain, Enock Walusimbi, a devout Catholic, defied his coach and walked onto the field. Bbosa accused Walusimbi of not following team orders and that his actions would cause Express to lose. At the end of the day, Express won 1-0, and the rest is history.

jovi@observer.ug

Uganda: Is There Witchcraft in Football, or We Are Just Being Africans?

Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters

Success!

Error!

Error!