Kirabira’s travails yet another reminder of need to strike tradeoff between spending and investing

The image of Ugandan footballers in a ruined state no longer unsettles the parts of the brain that worry about anything and everything. Such a tenuous hold on images of distress has only served to sharpen antipathy to a grave problem.
This probably explains why news depicting a perilous future for Isaac Kirabira passed virtually unnoticed in the week that’s just ended.

The diminutive midfielder has come to understand the destructive power of the coronavirus pandemic after accumulating rent arrears of seven months. A Shs2.1 million debt has left Kirabira with little choice but to accept an offer of free, albeit temporary, accommodation from his sister.

Kirabira’s eviction provides yet another cautionary tale that confronts us with the reality that the welfare of sports personalities remains a millstone around the nation’s neck.

That said, choosing to solely view the eviction through the aforementioned lens would tantamount to telling a tangled and ultimately incomplete story. A heavier emphasis ought to be placed on the why as much as what.

It was not so far back when Kirabira was on KCCA’s payroll – the ultimate dream of most football players plying their trade in Uganda. While the pay was hardly earthmoving, the alternatives locally were admittedly unprepossessing. At least in Uganda.

To cap things, the combative midfielder was also a recipient of some particularly juicy bonuses after the Kasasiro Boys went toe to toe with some of African club football’s aristocrats. One is tempted to wonder what happened to the cash windfall the 26-year-old player earned during his time at Lugogo.

The plot thickens further on learning that the midfielder was among players that categorically brushed off advice from KCCA to invest a lump sum of their continental bonuses in fixed assets such as land.

It seems like Kirabira allowed the trappings of fame to get to him. He clearly attached great importance to things to qualify to be classed as liabilities. When push came to shove, there was little comfort in knowing that he had reaped the whirlwind.

Depending on his sister to have a roof above his head must now provide for some charmingly awkward relief.
Kirabira’s story, which is punctuated with more ebbs than flows, is not peculiar to him. Many Ugandan sporting personalities live for the moment.

What Kirabira’s predicament shows in the starkest way possible is that even when pointed in the right direction, wrong decisions continue to provide grim merriment for many.

The temptation then is to be resigned to the fact that the proverbial old dog cannot learn new tricks. Old ways can never be unlearnt.

Such resignation is hardly helpful. Responsible authorities must persist until the penny drops. While Kirabira’s travails remind us of how badly things can go wrong, redemption is never far away. It starts by building capacity.
And this can be achieved through seemingly small actions. Take the young players that KCCA strong-armed into investing their bonuses in assets such as land. They have picked valuable lessons that will doubtless stand them in good stead going forward.

The tradeoff between spending and investing is one that should be impressed upon players at all times.