Obua hails exemplary Mwesigwa
Motivation. Former Uganda Cranes skipper Andy Mwesigwa (C) has the State Sports Minister Obua (R) at all ears during a guided tour of his school - The Andy Mwesigwa Comprehensive High School in Kakiri, Wakiso District on Wednesday. PHOTO/DEUS BUGEMBE
State Sports Minister Denis Hamson Obua has called on sportsmen to pick a leaf from former Cranes defender Andy Mwesigwa when they call it a day on their careers.
The message comes in the light stories of former sportsmen turned beggars after running down their bank accounts. “They (sportsmen) should learn that these days sports is no longer for just leisure and entertainment but income generating,” he said while at the Andy Mwesigwa Comprehensive High School in Kakiri, Wakiso District.
Mwesigwa was blessed to have a long career spanning 14 years starting at SC Villa in 2002 to until his retirement at Saigon FC in Vietnam in 2016. He played in China, Kazakhstan, Cyprus and Iceland , earning lots of money in lucrative deals. It is the same money he used to set up the school, something Obua sees as a major milestone and yardstick for other sportsmen. “I’m here to motivate him and also encourage all those young men and women who are talented in sports that they must follow his example and use their savings to invest for their respective futures,” he added before pledging 50 bags of cement to help with the completion. The minister also donated 20 balls while the Wakiso Sports District Officer Brian Senyonga offered to help with grading the playing grounds.
As a child, Mwesigwa faced the wrath of his mother as she prioritised school over football. He went on to do a diploma in business administration and management. While in Europe, he thought of putting up a school back home as a gift and as something to fall back on after retiring. “Sports goes with age therefore you cannot be active forever. The moment you get to learn that, you have to start planning for life after that,” he said.
Mwesigwa also highlighted how accumulating instant wealth can mislead players into squandering finances recklessly only to regret later. In future he hopes the school can produce educated sportsmen citing a case in Iceland where one of his coaches was a retired footballer but a dentist too.
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Mwesigwa’s Way. Mwesigwa also highlighted how accumulating instant wealth can mislead players into squandering finances recklessly only to regret later. In future he hopes the school can produce educated sportsmen citing a case in Iceland where one of his coaches was a retired football but a dentist, too.
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