NETBALL Ugandans blast Sports Minister after confirming She Cranes coach has no contract

Whereas the situation with Mugerwa might sound unique to those outside sports, it is the order of the day in almost every other sports discipline.

Minister of State for Sports Peter Ogwang has faced the wrath of angry Ugandans after his tweet confirming the She Cranes head coach Fred Mugerwa has no contract with the Uganda Netball Federation.

Ogwang posted on Wednesday morning that: "I have quickly established that the National Netball Coach does not have a contract with Uganda Netball Federation."

He also went on to reveal that the government would compel UNF to hand Mugerwa a temporal contract so he can be able to receive a monthly salary.

If that news was supposed to excite Ugandans, it rubbed some the wrong way and left them wondering how a coach of Mugerwa's calibre would work without a contract.

Amongst the first people to comment was former Assistant Inspector General of Police Asan Kasingye, who wondered why the minister mentioned a temporal contract rather than a permanent one.

"Hon, make it permanent. Why temporally? He's done so well." Kasingye replied to the minister's tweet.

Mugerwa is in the limelight because of coming out to reveal that he has not received a single penny for his work as head coach of the She Cranes for two years.

He threatened to resign if nothing was done. This was at the She Cranes' homecoming dinner held at Serena Hotel on Monday.

Having led Uganda to a commendable fifth place at the World Cup to become number one in Africa, Mugerwa is now a darling and has many Ugandans and social media users in his corner.

"We should just give him a permanent contract for at least 5 yrs before other serious countries come poaching for him. Should he still be on 'probation' even after his performances at the just concluded World Cup games?" a one Pison Nagaba wondered.

It should be noted that Uganda Cranes head coach Milutin Sredojevic is the only tactician getting paid with support from the government.

Joshua Basiima added his voice to the violence: "Your Minister of State for education and sports is saying something. Do these people ever feel a little shy before coming out to speak? Shame upon you, Peter."

Whereas the situation with Mugerwa might sound unique to those outside sports, it is the order of the day in almost every other sports discipline.

Only a few coaches and officials are lucky to walk away with allowances or any token after carrying the Ugandan flag at big sports events.

For playing at the World Cup, She Cranes players and officials received UGX. 10m each but the World Cup comes around after four years.

Slim Kabeja believes there is more than meets the eye: "How can a whole national team be having such arrangements with it's head coach, honestly? Something is really not okay at both UNF and NCS."

Bonny Komagum was left wondering how much more Mugerwa needed to do to convince the powers that be that he deserved to be paid.

He fumed: "You guys are a joke. What much more convincing do you need for him to land a permanent contract? How many good coaches do you have at your disposal? First, all federations at the NCS operate on shoe-string budgets, donations of corporate bodies and well-wishers but then someone goes ahead to beat the odds and produce such a steller performance and this is what you have to say as the min of sports. @OgwangOgwang. You joke too much."

With Mugerwa's situation attracting the attention of the minister and the public, it remains to be seen whether he will get a permanent contract.

There was no mention of the other coaches by the minister as to whether the government will look beyond netball and Mugerwa.