The ugly scenes of shootings were captured and posted on social media. This was received with strong criticism from the citizenry, including the Uganda Crane Stars who came out to condemn the violence exhibited on the populace.
“Whosoever of you sees an evil action, let him change it with his hand; and if he is not able to do so, then with his tongue (talk about it); and if he is not able to do so, then with his heart (silence)—and that is the weakest of faith,” Anonymous.
Lewis (2020, September 6th) argues that Social Media is clearly one of the main factors in the resurgence of sports activism. The athlete takes control of their message, and can reach a vast global audience. They have the power, as Rashford did with the food vouchers, to thoroughly embarrass politicians and decision-makers. That doesn’t seem to be Rashford’s goal – he’s studiously apolitical so far – but he clearly has a strategy. (The Guardian).
Recently in Nigeria, officers from the Nigerian Police’s Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) have been accused of unlawful arrests, indiscriminate profiling, extortion and extrajudicial killings and big name soccer players like Alexander Iwobi (Everton), Ndidi Wilfred (Leicester F.C), Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Arsenal F.C) and Frederic Kanoute (Retired) took on to twitter to protest against the status quo in the the soccer mad nation of Nigeria.
On the Wednesday November 18th 2020, clashes erupted between police and protesters over the arrest of Ugandan opposition presidential candidate Kyagulanyi Robert a.k.a Bobi Wine, and the official figures are indicating a death toll of 37 persons and over 40 injured.
Reuters reported that “violence snowballed as authorities deployed the military across the capital Kampala and surrounding areas to help police forces disperse protesters they accuse of rioting and looting. Police said they used live bullets, tear gas and water cannon, and arrested nearly 600 people.”
The ugly scenes of shootings were captured and posted on social media. This was received with strong criticism from the citizenry, including the Uganda Crane Stars who came out to condemn the violence exhibited on the populace.
Allan Kateregga a.k.a Dancing Rasta:
The Uganda Cranes attacking midfielder missed out on the South Sudan double header due to an injury attained at a training camp in Dubai while with the Uganda Cranes. Plying his trade recently with Erbil S.C (Iraq) is now a free agent.
Kateregga is known for his natural abilities to command the soccer ball with silkiness, a quick feet, and an eagle like field vision, but has also been known to speak out to seek authorities’ redress of grievances. He has persistently reminded the President Museveni of the $1M pledge for the Uganda Cranes, a token for reaching the AFCON round of 16 in Egypt, and same player was involved in a heated exchange with Uganda Cranes trainer Jerome D’Antonio issues related to unpaid allowances while at camp in Egypt.
Following the recent protests, Kateregga took on to tweeter to condemn the excessive force used by police to quell the protestors. He demanded for uniform application of the law to other presidential candidates and political activists, and this was broadcast to his audience of 9,941 twitter Followers and 8,701 on his Facebook page
In one of his tweets, He mentions;
“The law has at many occasions proven to be selective and the brutality of the police uncontrollably out to label the local people as the enemy of the state. I express complete disapproval of the police brutality against citizens and the arrest of Presidential Nominee
Aucho Khalid
The Uganda Cranes midfielder must have featured over 42 times for the Uganda Cranes. He recently parted ways with El-Makkasa over default of his wages and is now signed with Al lttihad Alexandria.
The athletic defensive midfielder may have received his matching orders in the recently concluded AFCON game against the Bright Stars of South Sudan, but that would not deter him, from calling out an end to police brutality.
He tweeted a graphic image of a fictional character holding a “STOP POLICE BRUTALITY PLACARD”, broadcasting to his current twitter handle of 906 followers and 34,000 on his Facebook page.
Bevis Mugabi
Mugabis’ International debut for Uganda was in 2018, in their 3–1 friendly victory over São Tomé and Príncipe, and was later included in Uganda’s squad for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt and has ever since become a main stay in the Cranes team.
He missed out on the AFCON qualifier South Sudan double header due to a shoulder injury but ever since recovered and featured for his club Motherwell in the 1 all draw with St. Johnstone over the weekend.
Mugabi condemned police brutality and commiserated with innocent civilians who lost their lives during the violence. He shared his feeling with his over 5,726 twitter Followers and 2,600 on Facebook Page.
His first tweet was descriptive of the situation in Uganda;
Emmanuel Okwi
In an event at held the Kampala Serena Hotel on Wednesday evening coincided with the day of the protests, the sports journalists’ umbrella body (USPA), Uganda Cranes all-time scorer Emmanuel Okwi would go on lose to Joshua Cheptegei who deservedly took home the Sports Personality of the Year award for breaking the Men’s 10km road world record in Valencia in December which had stood for over 10 years.
Never the less, Okwis’ goal scoring heroics and man of the match accolades in the in the group stages of the AFCON 2019 in Egypt earned him the Male Footballer of the Year Award 2019.
Emmanuel Okwi arguably the most followed Ugandan Soccer Player has over 56,400 twitter Followers and 82,000 on his Facebook Page.
He took on to twitter to express his feelings regarding the situation at hand, and his tweet was retweeted 167 times, 22 Quote Tweets and with 1.1K Likes.
“I am sad to see the violence that happened yesterday and the unnecessary death and injury of innocent Ugandans. My thoughts go out to all those affected!!”
