Editor,

Allow me to react to the article, "Local coaches 'fear' Amavubi job” (The New Times, February 11).It is high time we empower homegrown coaches to take up the responsibility to coach the national football team, especially when the performance of the team with the foreign coaches has been so barely a C grade.

Ferwafa needs to look at the problem holistically and promote football academies around the country with emphasis on adequate talent detection and retention. The preparation of the former under-17 side is a good example (even as you can also argue the coach was a foreigner at the time) that success is possible with long-term planning and not patching things up.

There is no such a thing as magic bullet. Look at all the Rwandan companies that are performing well. Are the CEOs foreigners?

It's time for a Rwandan to be the coach of Amavubi and given a two-year contract, renewable, provided he brings results. Truth be told, the Rwandan coaches interviewed are not applying (or they don’t want to waste their time) because they know the job is reserved for a foreigner. Food for thought!

Al