It all began in January 1999, when Uganda's SC Villa were runner-ups in the CECAFA champions held in Kampala. Villa was entitled to $6,000 (just over UShs 9m) as prize money.
CECAFA sent Villa a $6,000 cheque immediately after the tournament. When they presented the cheque, it bounced.
After a series of irritated telephone calls, Nyamweya met Villa officials in Nairobi and told them CECAFA had sent them a draft through the Federation of Uganda Football Associations (FUFA) office in Kampala. When the Villa officials returned to Kampala, they headed to the FUFA office. Nothing had been received from Nyamweya. They waited and waited. Nothing.
Villa went on the war path again. Nyamweya, according to club officials, now said he had sent a replacement $6,000 cheque by registered mail to Kampala. However he could not say to which address and to whom he had sent the registered letter. A blow by blow account of this saga in the sports pages and FM radio stations had by now rivetted the attention of soccer fans.
The embarrassment became too much for Mr Kezekia Musisi, a CECAFA official in Kampala. Musisi flew to Nairobi, to pick the Villa cheque and put an end to the scandal. He got a cheque alright. Being a man who loves the limelight, Musisi called a press conference and announced with a lot of fanfare that had he had settled the affair of the cheque.
Villa was asked, now that it had the cheque, to confirm that it would participate in the 2000 CECAFA champions where it had qualified as the Ugandan representative. Because the club was now deeply distrustful of CECAFA, it refused to confirm. The press announced that finally the circus of the CECAFA cheque had ended. It was a premature call. Just as well Villa hadn't confirmed they were going to the CECAFA championships with began in Kigali, Rwanda, yesterday (May 28), because when they presented the cheque, it bounced!
Had they confirmed, they would have rued the day. According to CECAFA rules, a team which withdraws from a tournament to which it has already signed up, suffers a penalty of $1,500 and a two years suspension.
The Rwanda government, which is investing over $500,000 in the tournament, was getting restless. It wanted Villa to come to the championship, as the club has a large following in Rwanda and that would enliven the tournament. Kigali allegedly talked tough with CECAFA.
Nyamweya asked Villa if it had people in Nairobi whom it could send to his office to collect their money. The Villa emissary went to Nyamweya's office, only to realise after a three hours wait that he had mysteriously disappeared, allegedly through a side door.
A second Villa emissary was sent last Wednesday. He got a cheque and presented it at a bank on Moi Avenue. He was advised there weren't sufficient funds on the account. Nyamweya, according to club officials, asked that another person be sent to collect hard cash from his office. The courier waited around Nyamweya's office until closing time; he was nowhere in sight.
Rwanda then hit CECAFA where it mattered most; in their pockets. It threatened to delay issuing some of its officials with visas; withhold allowances due to CECAFA officials at the tournament; and would freeze their cut of the gate collections. That moved CECAFA - halfway. On Thursday afternoon, word came that Villa had been paid about UShs 3m, one-third the amount it is owed. And the Rwanda government had guaranteed the club that it would get its money, possibly through chopping off CECAFA's share of revenues from the tournament.
It's an incredible story if you think about it. If CECAFA was based in Uganda, where the punishment for people who issue bouncing cheques is swift and severe, Nyamweya would probably not be a free man.
©2000Charles Onyango-Obbo & Worldwide EP. All rights reserved.