Jogo Salongo: No More ‘Villain’ at the park with tycoon Omar Mandela as the new Club President

By Daniels N. Tatya

Omar Mandela is resourceful, he is knowledgeable, he is clean and he is monetarily of value. To write about him as the long-awaited President at Villa Park, truly you are telling a story of how SC Villa is coming out of its cagey state of affairs to a stable out-fit with a man mentored and shaped at home to rescue matters.

It’s not for his wealth, not for his knowledge and not for his resource that he is returning to the club’s administration; it’s because at the time when the most successful soccer club in the land is fast phasing away, then, he is simply the fitting administrator to take up the mantle of organizing and re-collecting the hitherto fall-apart things.

Come Saturday, Omar Mandela will be the sworn-in president of the Villa Park outfit-SC Villa. City Tyres CEO Omar Mandela, according to the SC Villa communication is in the race against himself ahead of Saturday’s elections. Mandela return to active club football administrative role since 2004.

By close of nominations last Saturday Mandela was the only candidate for the club presidency, thanks to financial constraints against Farouk Meywa, who had also picked forms, as told by the club’s electoral commission committee chairperson. 

Meywa had picked forms but did not pay nominations fee therefore returning them incomplete. “He didn’t pay the Shs19.5m nomination fee and also didn’t have complete list of executive members,” Villa electoral committee chairman Isaac Walukagga told the media.

“We have guidelines, which were shared ahead of time. We have a roadmap and in light of what has transpired, we can’t revisit the timeline we set ourselves.

“The person who has complied with the requirements will be vetted by the board of trustees and once that is completed, we’ll have a declaration of that person’s candidature,” added Walukagga, whose commission threw out Meywa’s request for an extension.

Ssegona, Mbidde all out: City Lawyer and legislator Medard Lubega Ssegona and Soccer fanatic Dennis Mbidde, who had vied for the club’s top seat could not act. The duo had on August 28 engaged in the electoral process at the club that were aborted citing irregularities in the voting process.

Mandela therefore takes over from the interim leadership of William Nkemba who has been in the position for three years since Eng. Ben Misagga quit the post citing interference from Moses Magogo’s led FUFA.