Congratulations on getting Afcon to EA, now please don’t embarrass us

It is not your average Ugandan that I am worried about. Those are hospitable and can hold their own. The food will be great. The drinks will not stop flowing. Reggae will be on loop. It is the suits and ties that worry me. The ones paid to plan. 

They say good things come in pairs. How true for Uganda’s sports enthusiasts, that the same week in which the government announced plans to construct an ultramodern indoor sports arena, is the one in which the East African bid to host the African Cup of Nations gets the nod from CAF. Couldn’t get any better!

Sports, as this column and many others have argued, is perhaps Uganda’s single-most rallying point. It is when we are at our patriotic best. In part, because it is one of the few places where technical know-who isn’t as pervasive. For the most part, you have to pay your dues in sweat, talent and skill to earn a spot on the team. Some people of course find their way there without all the three but sports still remains above board, where accusations of nepotism, tribalism and ethnicity are concerned.

Even more importantly, sports is in the big leagues as a revenue generator and employer — both directly and indirectly. So, even if the bi-annual football showpiece has lost some of its lustre in recent times, it still is the biggest crowd and media puller on Africa’s sports calendar. So we can expect the eyes of the continent and the world to be focused on us, and lots of feet to land here when the time comes.

We can also expect everyone to make money — if we prepare and let them. From the boda guys to the food vendors, restaurants and bars, hotels, the ladies of the night, landlords, tour guides, construction people, etc. I haven’t included the thieves here because we shall come to them in a little while. It is hard to think of any activity that has the potential to bring such a windfall for muntu wa wansi in the way that Afcon could.

 That also means we might not have the experience to curate the appropriate guest and host experience. Will Kampala roads be ready? Will the streets be lit? Will they be clean? What happens if it rains? There will definitely be more cars on our roads in 4 years’ time. How do you make it easy for people to move to and from the stadium to wherever else they want to go and spend their monies.

Speaking of stadiums. We recently had to play the entirety of our failed AFCON qualification campaign at away grounds because we don’t have a proper stadium. Ignominy. The hope is that the Mandela National Stadium in Namboole will be ready, but we aren’t famous for meeting deadlines. And that should be a big worry, considering that even Kenya, the other co-hosts didn’t have an accredited stadium at the last time of checking. The less said about the monstrosity at Nakivubo, the better.

The structure of three hosts means that each country will likely host an average of five countries. So we need to make the most of it. Not just for the duration of the games but even after. What do we sell to them? How do we sell to them? What memories do we want them to leave with? How do we curate the guest experience and make it worth their while? How do we get them to come back? To tell others at home about Uganda?

The last major event we hosted, Chogm, was an absolute organizational disaster that landed some of committee members in jail. Some of the hotels that were supposed to be readied for the guests had still not been completed a decade later. The corruption bonanza was of untold proportions. But you couldn’t tell because the bulk of the guest list was high level. It won’t be the same with Afcon. Football is a poor man’s sport. It attracts your average income earner and joy rider. And they will be here in droves.

It is not your average Ugandan that I am worried about. Those are hospitable and can hold their own. The food will be great. The drinks will not stop flowing. Reggae will be on loop. It is the suits and ties that worry me. The ones paid to plan. The guys making and approving budgets. The ones whose one job is to not screw things up. To make this memorable for everyone. It is those that I am worried about. Worried because they neither have a record of excellence nor of proprietary.

Mr Rukwengye is the founder,         Boundless Minds. @Rukwengye