Africa-Press – Uganda. Vipers were involved in one of the best StarTimes Uganda Premier League title races in nearly half a decade only for President Yoweri Museveni to impose a 42-day lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The title was awarded to Express FC, one of the calls made by Vipers president Lawrence Mulindwa when he met the media this week.
Infrastructure
This is work in progress. What more should be expected? We need to upgrade the access roads to the stadium. The first phase was already done by the school from Entebbe Road to the school.
We shall soon be embarking on the few things that are required, the floodlights and the access (roads) to the stadium even though this should be shared by the government.
We were planning on installing floodlights from China but with Covid-19, that has had to wait. But there is what I call an injustice. We put a stadium in place so the government should also do their part.
Something must be done either by the local government or the central government to work on the access roads. Anyhow, we shall continue working towards improving access as required by Caf, we are working on it.
We are proud as Vipers that our stadium is the only one in Uganda to host Caf and Fifa games. We are making Uganda proud because it would have been a disaster if we were to hold our games outside the country.
The stadium is ready to host any games since Caf sent their approval in April. I want to assure Ugandans that St Mary’s Stadium is ready to host all Fifa-accredited matches and CAF matches.
We are ready to host the world cup qualifiers which I think will start in September. And all the clubs that will represent Uganda in the different competitions on the continent will also be free to use the stadium.
I don’t interfere in club affairs
If you doubt our structures, I wonder what more we need to do. We have all structures in place and they are independent. We have the technical team with all the coaches.
They conduct their business and I only come to watch their games. Sometimes I spend about two months without attending their training games. We let everyone do their work and wait for results. Every person has their office.
Ask the stadium manager. He has his office. Even the coaches. I am an educated investor. That is the difference between me and some club owners. I facilitate whatever they need but never interfere.
I only come in as a parent and administrator. For instance when Shaban Muhammad wanted to beat the coach, I had to interfere. I cannot look on when someone is undisciplined.
That is the only time I intervene. We all have roles and people must accept their mistakes. As a club, we shall continue to mobilize financial resources to improve the club.
We have projects that we plan to complement the sponsors. These projects will be independently run for the benefit of the club. Soon we shall unveil those projects while strengthening and empowering what we have in place.
Partnerships are key. We have two partners in Europe. Another in South Africa and Zambia. These partnerships are aimed at training and exchange programmes such that we improve on our players.
I will achieve that dream of becoming the best team in Africa. Vipers has set the standards which other clubs can copy. Copying is good especially if you are taking the positive parts.
I wonder why clubs should keep moving. These are clubs we used to support as young people. How many years are those? What was done? We need to get visionary leaders not trophies.
These leaders must build structures, especially infrastructure. Without infrastructure, you are wasting time. As Vipers, we shall continue following that line. In Uganda, any club can take the trophy if the other is sleeping.
Winning the title is not all that we look at. If you are sleeping, you can lose out. Like for us we had six games and we drew five. Our season was over just like that.
Recognised: Fufa president Moses Magogo (R)honoured Mulindwa with the Fufa Presidential Award a couple of years ago.
On firing coaches
These recruitments of coaches are like trial marriages. Sometimes you discover after some time that she was not fit for you. The problem is that we depend on papers especially when someone is highly recommended.
Even some of them I had forgotten like the Nigerian when I read in the papers. As the Fufa honorary president, I am going to talk to the federation such that there are regular refresher courses.
The percentage of professional coaches is lacking. Many of them are not professionals. If you cannot withstand pressure then you are not a good person. Pressure drives performance. It has to be there. I am a person of results.Many of the coaches when they are outside Vipers they talk a lot but when you give them a chance they fail and run away. For us we want results. I will never stop demanding them.
Look at Chelsea, they had Lampard [Frank] and he had failed but when they changed, didn’t they win the Champions League? Football is a gamble. I will never stop until I get the right person.
Maybe Fufa need to change the way coaches get papers like it’s done in Europe. Not just a few days and you have a license. Why attack a fellow coach like what I saw. Are you the one who chooses a coach for another team?
Coaches are teachers and players are students, now what kind of gesture was he showing to his players? Very unprofessional conduct.I can confirm that we are in the process of recruiting a coach. But we are taking our time. Even if it means breaking the bank, I am ready to do that as long as we have the right coach. We have a very good technical team that will work with him.
What coach suits Vipers?
This time we are looking for an experienced coach who will add value to the team and players here. We are the manufacturers of players but are they being used properly?
For instance, if we buy a player like Orit, what value does the coach add to him? We are looking for experience and exposure. Somebody with character. A coach with a winning mentality. A coach who can be respected by players.
A coach who can achieve. A coach who has come to achieve but not to celebrate because they have won the Uganda Cup. No.We want a coach who will strengthen our youth program because we have a lot of talent here from the school but what has been your contribution since you came?
If I may ask some of the past coaches we have had, including the recent one. We need a coach who is very professional, somebody with character, one with enough exposure and one who is to conquer African football.
On The Wheel: Kiwanuka arrived at Kitende with the blessing of the club’s last coach Kajoba. But he has a lot to do to win Mulindwa’s confidence.
Kajoba acted unprofessionally- Bemoans Mulindwa
The way our former coach left was unprofessional. He (Kajoba) left unceremoniously. Just said bye to the players and got into his car and left. This is very unprofessional.
For us, when we give you the job, we did it formally, by appointment letter and contract but then you leave because you have been told to decide between the two jobs (national and Vipers) without anything formal.
That is the unprofessionalism I am talking about. For us, we give you a contract you sign papers, but you decide to leave unceremoniously.
There should be respect for clubs. We had a return game in a few days against SC Villa. However much it is weak, you cannot underrate it since it had earlier caused havoc in the first leg that ended 1-1, There is no way we would undermine Villa.
That was a big game, so we had to prepare for it very well. We were going to face a traditional team. There is no way you will think that things are going to just happen like that.
So he needed to be with the players and train them as they prepare for the game. We had put the players in a residential camp.
But the coach was willing to give us only one hour in the afternoon to see them, and we cannot handle that kind of unprofessionalism.Matter of fact that Uganda was going to play a friendly game which was not a qualifier or serious game.
We expected him to give us more time than he was ready to. But all he did was to tell the players ‘bye-bye.
Fred Kajoba being unveiled as Vipers SC coach by club patron Dr Lawrence Mulindwa. PHOTO/FILE
So in any case, if he had decided that he cannot balance the two, he would come back and tell the management, I believe they would have forged something.
But he decided to choose the national team, yet it is me who took him there though he might have forgotten. He did not give us priority. We cannot tolerate such unprofessional behavior.
And for that case, I need a new coach with identity. A person who will utilise the available structures and build a philosophy at Vipers that even if he leaves the team can take trophies for the next three years due to his foundation.
A brief history of Vipers
Vipers is a football club based at Kitende in Wakiso District. Vipers has won the StarTimes Uganda Premier League four times. The club was founded as Bunamwaya FC in 1969.
Vipers have played in the Uganda Premier League since 2006 after winning the Wakiso District and Super Mini League promotion league in 2005.They have finished in the top half of the table every year since the 2006–07 season. Bunamwaya won their first ever league title with two rounds to spare in 2010.
They did not participate in the 2011 Caf Champions League for financial reasons.Bunamwaya were unable to replicate their success, finishing 3rd in 2011 and finishing runners up in both the Uganda Cup and the league in 2012.
Change of name
On 21 August 2012, Bunamwaya was renamed to Vipers SC in order to “elevate the status of the club” and make them more nationally relevant.Vipers lost the 2013 Uganda Cup final in heartbreaking fashion. After taking the lead in the 78th minute on a Joseph Mprade penalty, Victoria University scored a goal in the final seconds of the match and then went on to win the penalty kick shootout 5–3.
League success finally came again in the 2014–15 season after a league campaign which saw Vipers lose only once. They were led by Edward Golola.The club has close ties with St. Mary’s School in Kitende, with 17 players on the 2015 championship-winning squad from that school.
Caf debut
The championship found Vipers in continental competition for the first time. In the 2016 Caf Champions League, they lost their first ever continental tie 2–1 on aggregate to Enyimba of Nigeria in the preliminary round.
Vipers finished runners up in the 2015–16 season but saw their first ever success in the Uganda Cup, beating Onduparaka FC 3–1.The win qualified them for the 2017 Caf Confederation Cup where they beat Volcan Club from Comoros 1–1 on away goals in the preliminary round but fell to South African Platinum Stars in the first round 3–2 on aggregate after conceding a 90th minute penalty.
The Vipers participated in the 2018-19 Caf Champions League where they fell to CS Constantine of Algeria 3–0 on aggregate, one round shy of the group stage.
In May 2020, Vipers was declared champions of the 2019/2020 league while leading with 54 points from 25 matches for the fourth time in their history after the league was cancelled by Fufa due to the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic.
Club profile
Full name: Vipers Sports ClubNickname: The VenomsFounded: 1969 (as Bunamwaya FC)Ground: St Mary’s Stadium-KitendePresident: Lawrence MulindwaManager: Paul Kiwanuka (interim)
Club achievements
League (4): 2010, 2015, 2017–2018, 2019–2020Ugandan Cup: 2016Pilsner Super Cup: 2019
