Phew! Words are just inadequate, what can one say about the poor sports administration? I have always pegged my mind onto optimism that at one point on course sports administration in our own Rwanda and Africa as a whole will genuinely display an attractive face to look at. It looks like that we shall wait until thy kingdom come, amen! Rwanda’s many sectors have tremendously taken shape in pursuit of reaching a global scale unlike our sports sector. The major cause to the continued sluggishness in the sports arena is none other than the international sports federations who stipulates that governments should never intervene the running of federations. What a can of worms! This is an infertile protective measure, which has only done our talents more harm than good. This has only rendered our sports administrators a dash of arrogance and an instinct for embracing graft like it is something running out of fashion tomorrow. This high-level snobbery abundantly expressed by our sports administrators rather ploughs a ground for robbery than results delivery in the sports arena. It is no secret that sports federations secure amounts of thousands of dollars from their international counterparts annually, but the way it is spent is done in a robust concealment. Our officials have managed to enjoy using these funds to feather their own nest because of one fundamental reason; one, the Rwandan government – known for its zero tolerance on abuse of office – is barred by the international sports rules and regulations to intervene. Let us take a look at this scenario. Imagine Chantal Rugamba ruined the tourism sector. Imagine Francis Gatare frustrated investors interested in an entry into Rwandan market. Imagine Nkubito Bakuramutsa failed to build the national backbone. Imagine! Imagine! Imagine! These guys will - without doubt - be given a chance try their talents somewhere else. I so wish this was a similar environment ingrained in the sports governing sorority. Perhaps, this would pump a new life into our sports management, thus creating an enabling environment for talent development. I strongly subscribe to a credence that if the Rwandan government is granted a green light to run its sport sector with no limitations things can turn for better in just five years. If given a chance, sports development would aptly fit into the country’s go-getting vision of creating a knowledge-based economy. A transformation from agricultural-based economy to a knowledge-based economy would as well mean a transformation of a potato grower into a soccer player able to earn 12,000 pound sterling a week in the Barclaycard English Premiership. Since the early 1990s, the number of players leaving the country to play for clubs abroad each year has risen from 130 to 850, making Brazil the world’s biggest exporter of footballers. If we are highly attaching value to investing in our own people through knowledge acquisition, our sports officials should not stick to going astray like a headless hen. There is urgent need to run our sports management in the same direction as other developmental sectors in the country. As I conclude, here’s a question on which you should ponder. How come that there’s no even a single black person owning a NBA club yet NBA is 98 percent made of black people? Kindly deliberate on this over this weekend. E-mail your insults and comments to: emma.nsekanabo@rita.rw
