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The East African Standard
July 26, 2003
The Council of East Africa and Central Africa Football Associations (Cecafa) go to the polls in Zanzibar on August 15. The question is, who will replace Somali’s Farah Addo who has retired?
The Council will need to scout around for a president who will hold the organisation together, the way Addo did in his second stint as the regional boss.
Addo was unanimously elected in 2000 in Uganda and his term was due to end in 2004. But he retired in March this year to go into mainstream politics in Somalia.
Although the shrewd Somali national retired from Cecafa, he still holds on as the first vice-president of Africa Football Confederation (CAF) and president of Somalia Football Association.
The new Cecafa president should be a natural leader who will hold the Council together and have an ear and eye at CAF headquarters in Cairo.
Since the retirement of Addo, there has been a flurry of activities in the region.
The man who took over as the acting president, Ashebir Giorgis of Ethiopia, has been ousted as Ethiopia Football Federation president. A new federation is in place and the acting Cecafa president has since gone underground.
According to the Cecafa constitution, eligible candidates should submit their nomination to the General Secretary 45 days before the poll.
Accordingly, only three candidates observed that and they are: Ali Ferej Tamim (Chairman Zanzibar FA); Dennis Obua (President Uganda FA) and Alhaj Muhiddin Ndolanga (Chairman Tanzania FA).
Tamim: The soft-spoken Zanzibar FA boss was Cecafa vice-president for many years. He was the second man in command when the regional body was engulfed in Fifa/CAF fiasco of 1998. He came out clean as the CAF hammer fell on the region. He quit in November 1998 as CAF slapped a blanket ban on Cecafa following the disagreement of the 1998 Fifa poll. Tamim left the stage and went on to reorganise his ZFA which he has led for over two decades.
Tamim, a former Zanzibar international, comes from a respected business family spread across the Island. He has good and well-knit connections in the ruling elite.
Although he has solid contacts at the top, he keeps a low profile and mixes freely with the masses. His candidature has been endorsed by the Government of Zanzibar and more particularly the Minister for Sports and Youth, Haruna Suleimani.
Tamim’s FA is perhaps one of the few stable football associations in the turbulent region.
Obua: He played for Uganda Cranes in the 70s and was one of the most respected goal poachers in Africa.
The Ugandan, who hails from Lira in the North, was elected Fufa president in 1998 after beating a combined opposition in the poll. He became the first northerner to lead a politicised Fufa.
During his tenure, Fufa has gained immensely from Fifa funding. He has close contacts at Fifa House in Zurich although at home, his leadership is always threatened with court suits and newspaper cartoons.
Obua retained the Fufa leadership last year amid chaos and political interference. Although his candidature has not been endorsed by the government of Uganda, Obua has a sizeable following in the region and his high profile as a great goal poacher in Africa will be an added advantage.
Ndolanga: Ndolanga, 64, is the longest serving chairman of the Football Association of Tanzania (FAT).
The shrewd FAT boss has been in the thick of things as football boss of the huge East African country.
Elected FAT boss in 1996 Ndolanga has presided over an organisation that is strewn in controversy. But the charismatic veteran administrator, has the knack of surviving. A former international player and a senior civil servant in the government of Tanzania, Ndolanga has the experience and thick skin to survive challenges.
He touted earlier as Addo’s automatic replacement. This was based on the fact that he was the longest serving chairman in his country and member of CAF Nations Committee.
But when Addo retired, other interested personalities announced their intentions, hence Ndolanga, a veteran of many wars, will have to fight it out in August.
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