Ugandans pay Shs30, 000 for Shs3, 600 ticket in Gabon

Uganda supporters cheer for their team ahead of the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations group D football match between Ghana and Uganda in Port-Gentil on January 17, 2017. AFP PHOTO

What you need to know:

  • Thanks to their official passports, MPs Allan Ssewanyana (Makindye West), Hamson Obua (Ajuri County) and Odonga Otto (Aruu County), didn’t find the same hurdles.
  • The universal feeling is that Tuesday was a lesson taken. Everyone vowed to try and buy tickets early for Saturday’s second game against Egypt.

A large portion of the Stade Port-Gentil was near-empty as Uganda Cranes played her first Africa Cup of Nations’ game in 39 years, losing 1-0 to Ghana on Tuesday.
Later in the evening, the stadium was significantly packed for Mali’s goalless draw against Egypt thanks to the former’s large working population here.
Those would have known the drill of accessing tickets to the group D double header easily. Ugandans fans had to run around the city and almost fail to buy match tickets.

With no tickets being sold at the stadium, you had to acquire tickets from specific shops in town. The ordinary ones were priced at 600 Gabonese Francs (about US$1 or Shs3,600)
“I had to run to the local market to get tickets. While there, I could only get two yet we were in group of six so I was four short,” fan Norbert Kazibwe said.
“Eventually, we bought tickets at 5,000 Gabonese Francs (about Sh30, 000) from a dealer outside the stadium.”
Another group only found tickets due to the arrogance of Makindye Division Mayor Ali Kasirye Nganda aka Mulyanyama who introduced himself as a “Ugandan minister.”
Tickets that had disappeared re-appeared “the moment they realized a minister was speaking,” Vipers’ official Wycliffe Luyombya revealed.

Thanks to their official passports, MPs Allan Ssewanyana (Makindye West), Hamson Obua (Ajuri County) and Odonga Otto (Aruu County), didn’t find the same hurdles.
The universal feeling is that Tuesday was a lesson taken. Everyone vowed to try and buy tickets early for Saturday’s second game against Egypt.
Considering that Mali and Ghana play first at the same stadium before Uganda-Egypt later in the night, you sense that the Malians will buy every piece of paper in this city.