Africa-Press – Uganda. Waves, which is owned by Matovu’s son Nicholas Jjengo and his wife Yvonne, has one of the mush-rooming small football pitches but is complimented with a pool and gym among others to make it “a one stop fitness centre.”
Earlier in May, Uganda Swimming Federation (USF) executive member Peter Buvumbo did a pool census and declared that there were over 200 swimming pools in the country.
Most of these are concentrated within Wakiso, Jinja and Kampala. Since then about five others in Lungujja, Kiira, Wakiso, Bweyogerere and recently Waves Fitness Harbour in Ntinda have sprung up.
“In selling off playgrounds all over the country, we have not been honest to the future generations,” Collins Wasswa Matovu – a veteran swimming coach who honed his skills as a runner, swimmer and footballer in the 1970s and 80s in Nabumali Secondary School – said during the launch of the fitness harbour last Sunday.
Waves, which is owned by Matovu’s son Nicholas Jjengo and his wife Yvonne, has one of the mush-rooming small football pitches but is complimented with a pool and gym among others to make it “a one stop fitness centre.”
Jjengo and his wife did not disclose how much they spent to set up the facility, which required silting the low-land area in Kigowa that would flood during rainy seasons, but picked up on the rare business opportunity after their friend and best man Ben Mwesigwa signed them a “Shs100m cheque to stop the procrastination.
Since the initial lifting of lockdown in September last year, swimming clubs have struggled to reopen as the schools which usually house them remain closed and that is why businesses like Jjengo’s could hit a jackpot if they can keep to their promise of “promoting talent.”
“What we need are accessible and affordable facilities, where we can facilitate children to enjoy their talents.
So it is our special request that you (National Council of Sports) work with private investors to set up such facilities while USF should acquire land and then rally the public to construct a national aquatic centre,” Matovu told NCS chairman Dr. Donald Rukare, who was accompanied by board members Steven Asiimwe, Cecilia Anyakoit, USF president Moses Mwase, USF executive members and members from other swimming clubs like Dolphins and Malta, to the launch.
Matovu, usually referred to as ‘Jjaja Coach’ was also at the forefront of reconstructing the pool at Nabumali after almost four decades of no use and is also credited with revamping para-swimming in Uganda when he, among others, discovered the talent of now Paralympian Husnah Kukundakwe.
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