As a Christian and sportsman, I believe in the power of prayer and working hard. That can change things and we can experience God and grow in our faith in Him. With hard work, you will reach far. As they say, hard work beats talent. But a combination of hard work and talent is even better. When it comes to Rwandan football, a number of players, coaches, and fans believe that they need an ‘external factor’, or witchcraft, to succeed. And this is a big problem. As a Christian, I believe that juju really exists. But it doesn’t have the power to raise you in any game. As a football fan and sports reporter for the past 13 years, I believe that dedication, hard work, preparation, and talent are more powerful than juju. If you talk about luck, every team needs it. But can juju really help a team win a football match? I don’t think so. If juju was for real, APR and Rayon Sports would have qualified for the group stages of the CAF Champions League and CAF Confederations Cup. The Bible, in Exodus 22:18, says “Do not allow a sorceress to live.” Leviticus 19:26 also reads: You shall not eat anything with its blood. You shall not practise augury or witchcraft. You shall not round off the hair on your temples or mar the edges of your beard. You shall not make any gashes in your flesh for the dead or tattoo any marks upon you: I am the Lord. According to 1 Chronicles 10:13, Saul died because he was unfaithful to the LORD; he did not keep the word of the LORD and even consulted a medium for guidance, [14] and did not inquire of the LORD. So the LORD put him to death and turned the kingdom over to David son of Jesse. So, to come back to my story, witches don’t have a place in our lovely game! Football players, coaches, and fans, need to understand that it doesn’t make any sense to use juju instead of working hard, and smart, in preparing their teams. If you believe in juju, you are headed in the wrong direction. It will take your wealth and ruin your soul. If you look around, some players who have been earning a lot of money but using juju, are actually struggling in life and cannot even afford basic needs. When it comes to local footballers in particular, the use of juju has become part of their lives, and no one can pretend to think that they can actually easily fight it. It’s so rampant that it’s revolting to even think about it. Using juju to win football matches has been, and will always, be part of Rwandan football if we do not act. Individual football players and coaches, who believe in the practice, never step on a football field without first consulting their gods—and these include the biggest percentage of players and coaches from top clubs such as APR, Rayon Sports, SC Kiyovu, and others. But because of the secrecy surrounding such underhand practices to influence the outcome of matches, it’s difficult to tell how widespread the vice is and sorceresses who help them to use juju only take their money instead of helping them develop. In Rwandan football, there have been claims and counter-claims of the use of witchcraft right from the top club to the one at the very bottom. I don’t believe witchcraft has a meaningful influence on the outcome of a football match. And I don’t think it should have a place in the modern game. In Rwanda, teams spend huge sums of money on ‘research’ or witchcraft. The recipient of the ‘research’ money is the witch doctor who is consulted on the luck of a team before a major game. My hope is that some of our ‘star’ players, coaches, and teams take note because juju will not help them in their careers. It is high time we changed our mindset and trained the younger generation, right from a young age. For example, FERWAFA and clubs need to engage the youth leagues like U10, U12, U14, U16, and U18 which can play a big part in the development of local football.
