Prime
How politicians exploit youth through football
Peter Cromwell Okello
What you need to know:
- A hastily organised tournament, low-quality trophies, a blaring sound system, and, most predictably, t-shirts emblazoned with the names and faces of the political benefactors. The objective is not development, it is distraction.
In contemporary Uganda, football has evolved into far more than a sport. It is now a potent political tool, one increasingly employed not to uplift the youth, but to manage and pacify them. What was once a source of community cohesion, pride, and personal development is being steadily repurposed into a form of political spectacle, engineered more for optics than opportunity.
From the dusty fields of urban peripheries to small trading centres across the country, youth football tournaments have become ubiquitous. Branded as grassroots initiatives, these matches are rarely the work of sports federations or youth development agencies. Instead, they are largely orchestrated by politicians and aspirants with an eye on the next election cycle. A hastily organised tournament, low-quality trophies, a blaring sound system, and, most predictably, t-shirts emblazoned with the names and faces of the political benefactors. The objective is not development, it is distraction.
Young players, desperate for any sliver of visibility or opportunity, are unwittingly turned into walking billboards for political ambition. Participation, while seemingly voluntary, is shaped by economic desperation and the acute absence of meaningful youth programming in their communities. When a government official appointed to oversee youth, affairs prioritises political mobilisation over resource mobilisation for youth development, the state drifts from its core responsibility. Of course, the problem is not the tournaments themselves; it is what they have come to represent. Weekend matches are no substitute for a coherent national strategy that addresses systemic challenges such as inadequate sports infrastructure, lack of trained personnel, and the absence of policy frameworks linking sport to education and employment pathways. Meanwhile, politicians who package these matches as youth empowerment are, at best, misinformed and, at worst, disingenuous.
Even the language surrounding these events is misleading. “Empowerment” is a strong word, and it should not be diluted to describe the handing out of t-shirts, plastic medals, and token cash prizes. Real empowerment involves building platforms that nurture potential and provide continuity. It is about policies, not posters, programs, not performances. Moreover, these tournaments are seldom neutral. They frequently mirror broader political strategies of control and co-optation. Youth are encouraged to rally under banners they did not choose, for causes they do not control. A tournament becomes an endorsement. A handshake with a politician becomes a vote. Uganda’s political class must be called to account. It is time to stop treating the youth as pawns in campaign strategies and start recognising them as critical stakeholders in the country’s development.
Investment in youth sport should be institutional, not seasonal. It should be designed to outlast election cycles and political tenures. Equally, Uganda’s youth must reject being reduced to cheering crowds or props in staged photo opportunities. They should not allow themselves to be adorned on political t-shirts or used as walking billboards for someone else’s ambition. It is time to demand structures, not spectacles, real investment, not token inducements. Accepting a t-shirt must never mean surrendering one's voice.
Participation in football should empower, not silence; it should strengthen political agency, not erode it. Uganda does not lack talent. What it lacks is a leadership ethos that understands sport as a vehicle for national development rather than a megaphone for political messaging. As the next tournament rolls into town with the usual fanfare, we must ask: who benefits? And at what cost?
Mr Peter Cromwell Okello
X: cromwellokello
