Is athletics going to the dogs?

Money, although considered as a medium of exchange, is not at all a reality; but has taken another scenario which is quite worse in thoughts and actions. It has really corrupted our minds as well as our direction of thoughts. Before he joined the administrative side of Rwanda’s athletics, Dieudonne Disi used to be a role model for many young aspiring athletes, even the old used to look at him for inspiration. During his prime, when he was winning international competitions and looking the real deal as the sport of athletics in this country was concerned, I wrote an article describing him as one of Rwanda’s unsung heroes—and I don’t regret anything I wrote. But if what we are reading in the press about what is happening within the national athletics federation in anything to go by, then we might as well forget about producing another Disi anytime soon. The federation is embroiled in a long running scandal of embezzlement of funds by the same people supposed to protect it from the dirt hands. The scandal is threatening to tear the athlete’s body apart with top officials throwing accusations and counter accusations against each other. Disi, the federation’s 1st vice president along with the federation treasurer Nadine Muterinkindi as well as the Secretary General Constantin Twajamahoro face suspension for alleged mismanagement of the body’s funds.The federation president Gerald Ntare alongside his 2nd vice (Louis Rurangirwa) and the federation advisers (Empimaque Nziyeyimana and Jean Pierre Munyaburanga) are at war with the aforementioned trio. For about four years now, the athletics federation has struggled to hold onto several top administrators for longer than a year, all because they come in and instead of working to develop the sport, they prefer to develop their bank accounts. Before all these greedy characters came up, athletics used to be one of Rwanda’s top two sports along with football, but now they even struggle to organize a national championship! Reason being the limitless greediness of the people running what was once a well organized federation. Not long ago, Disi won over $250,000 in prize money in just a single season. Back then, he was the one guy against corrupt officials running the sport he used to say he loved, but to now hear that he’s the same guy being investigated for mismanaging the federation money—it’s scandalous. Though the money is very important for human survival, and people really suffer with it, but when it comes, it corrupts even the wisest brains—and I wouldn’t hesitate to put Disi in this line. Why did I pick on Disi, when he’s being accused along with two other individuals? The answer is simple; Disi is by far the most recognized name of the entire executive board, and he’s one person, who many people, including your columnist, had a lot of faith to turn around the fortunes of Rwanda’s athletics. “The more wealth you have, the higher is your status in the society you live in, higher is your power,” is a common statement we hear everyday. They say money corrupts but it cannot always corrupt the mind. Money earned with inappropriate ways (may) corrupt the mind, but money earned through hard work, will never corrupt the mind. A person, who has put in his or her all hard work and gets rewarded always values money and so he or she will most likely not let the money prevail on the mind. Rwanda has a competitive advantage in athletics, but with all this money grabbing and greediness by the same people elected to put things right, the sport needs urgent attention from both the National Olympics Committee and the sports minister himself or else the country sees it’s second most popular sport go to the dogs. nku78@yahoo.com