Here’s why most Ugandans are so bitter about landing 2027 Afcon hosting rights

Who would have ever thought that the prospect of Uganda staging Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) finals matches— a historical first—would easily sink in a lagoon of negativity! Yet here we are with Ugandans gushing cynicism and derision like a fire hose days after the Confederation of African Football (Caf) green-lit a joint East African bid to host the 2027 Afcon. 

It is not every day that the winner of a bid to host a showpiece football tournament ends up being commendably candid about their shortcomings. Or rather the vast bulk of its netizens. The declarations that Uganda's numbers are not quite parade worthy look set to become more strident, hinting, perhaps, at darker things to come. 

In fact, it seems scarcely believable that the joint East African bid from Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania scored a remarkable triumph in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, just the other day. With what can only be described as a crisis galloping ahead, the waft of success seems to have disappeared into ether.

Why have Ugandans made it their business to vent their spleen? It is evident that old and festering grievances have been met with modest mitigations that do little to improve the mood. There is also a sense that the calculus establishing Uganda's preparedness—as glimpsed through Fufa's official bid document—has not given much weight to helping the country shed its banana republic tag.

This, it must be said, is not such a preposterous notion after all. With Mandela National Stadium covered in dust amidst reconstruction works, the complexity of the Cranes' task during the most recent Afcon qualifying campaign was exacerbated when home matches had to be played at neutral venues. 

It is patently obvious that the facility in Namboole will be ready to stage 2027 Afcon finals matches. What remains unclear is how a country that has taken two decades and counting to complete the Northern Bypass project will erect the two other 40,000-seater stadia Fufa envisages in a span of a couple of years. 

The local football governing body listed Akii Bua Stadium and Hoima Stadium as proposed new stadiums in its bid document. A few years ago, the country was dismayed to learn that wads of cash had been spent to put up a miserable-looking stand at Akii Bua Stadium. Will lightning strike twice? Netizens seem to think so.

The Kabalega Airport, Hoima, was also named as a hub for transit in Fufa's bid document. But with the Kampala Flyover project moving at such an underwhelming pace, hedging a bet on aircrafts taxiing at the airport during Afcon 2027 is downright risky. The airport might not rest entirely on a spurious concept, but is certainly not spared of the visitations that continually assail infrastructural projects in the country.

It is easy to dismiss authors of memes that continue to question the wisdom of giving the green light to the so-called “Pamoja” bid as narcissists starving for both attention and meaning. Maybe they are. What cannot be denied, though, is that, for the most part, these netizens have surveyed instructive pain points. 

Above all, with hope and despair living side by side, we have gotten to see just how split allegiances are in our banana republic. Not to worry, though, football is renowned for its unifying properties. In Ivory Coast, it helped the north and south to—albeit with some help from Didier Drogba's star dust—bury the hatchet. Yet, for now, it appears the sweeping scope of the beautiful game’s potential to produce a profound hope amongst Ugandans is only just that—potential. 

This, at any rate, means recent cold responses to the fairly astonishing achievement of landing the Afcon 2027 hosting rights is weighed down by a puzzling backstory. The possibility of apathy it looms should, much like the aforesaid puzzling backstory, be reduced to its constituents parts. Short of that, the champagne will remain on ice.