From ‘exile’ to pitch, Bumbuli chases amputee soccer dream
At the peak of his powers, Bumbuli was a no-nonsense midfielder. PHOTO BY MARK NAMANYA
What you need to know:
MAN ON A MISSION. Bumbuli knows he has been no saint. But the former Proline midfielder is more than determined to make sure his association works in helping amputees be able to play and benefit from the beautiful game of football.
KAMPALA. Back from imprisonment to a city he once combed with reckless abandon, things have changed for Isaac ‘Bumbuli’ Imam.
Like many footballers full of promise, Bumbuli who at the start of his football dream had even been to Carrignton – Manchester United’s training ground, where he met his idol and inspiration Patrice Evra in 2009, was not afraid of throwing his happiness at people, sometimes it bordered on pride and arrogance.
The troubles in the life of the then budding footballer at Proline FC started on September 25, 2013 when a trigger-happy policeman at Jinja Road Police shot his leg, after he got into an unfortunate incident with another driver on a night out, and left him needing amputation to save part of his leg and maybe life.
It is hard to teach old dogs new tricks and it is easy to see why Bumbuli still felt it hard to divorce from playing football.
Assisted by Uganda National Action on Physical Disability (UNAPD) and their partners Disability Sport Organisation - Denmark (DSOD), he started a drive to start a national amputees’ football team and give the disabled hope.
Bumbuli, with the help of DSOD’s Tracy Fluer Pedersen and former Everton footballer Steve Johnson, started his drive with 18 disabled soldiers at Mubende Rehabilitation Centre (MRC), one that houses over 4,000 amputees, and was on the brink of breaking out to Kampala, Nebbi and Busia when more calamities befell him.
Life in Luzira
They say when it rains, it pours. Before his palms were even able to get used to the feeling of supporting a footballer’s weight on clutches, Bumbuli was sent to the coolers in Luzira on July 1, 2014 after he was found guilty of manslaughter.
He had on another fateful night - in his life – been involved in an accident where he knocked two people dead and left four injured.
As a father of one, he was the sole bread winner of his young family. “Lawrence Mulindwa (former Fufa president) had given me some money to support the amputee football project but I left that with my family,” he revealed in an interview on May 17.
There was a plan for him to pay off the aggrieved and spend one-and-a half years in prison but knowing he would not be able to fend for his family in the said period, he chose to be locked away for four years.
Life in Luzira and indeed Uganda’s prisons can be rasping; the small cells are overpopulated and prison authorities take little interest of the inmates’ welfare and conditions.
However, Bumbuli having been born in Luzira was lucky to be put in what he calls “Cell B2” where he was with “the prison VIPs”.
These had the privilege to have regular visitors, cook their own food and receive gifts.
On January 6, Bumbuli was released thanks to the big heart of sympathizer Apollo Ssenketo, who was only meeting the amputee for the first time but paid Shs6.7m for his freedom.
“There are times you hustle through this city to find something to take home and you wish to be back in prison. Life is tough but what can you do about it?
“Your kid has to feed, you have to pay rent, and above all, medical bills,” Bumbuli, who believes he has learned his lessons, says.
He narrates a story where he couldn’t pay his son’s medical bills of Shs320,000.
“My child was sick but luckily he was treated. When it came to payment, I had only Shs210,000 so I gave the hospital my passport too and told them ‘let me take my son home and whenever I get the balance, I’ll return for the passport. The good doctor just handed it back to me and refunded Shs10,000 as transport to get home,” he shares.
Road to redemption
But unlike in Shawshank Redemption where Brooks (James Whitmore), a librarian of the prison, commits suicide after failing to adjust to life outside prison, Bumbuli pushes on albeit with luck and gradually gets used to coming out of self-imposed exile, since January, to continue his football dream for amputees.
“Unfortunately, the project died when I went to prison. The association (Uganda Amputee Football Association) that I tried to register then is under some people who are not interested in pushing the cause, so I had to register another one,” he shares.
Bumbuli Amputee Football Association (BAFA) hosted Pedersen in May and the plans, including going back to Mubende to refurnish what has been lost are in full gear.
