Mikabila – Out of Africa, into…?

Everyone knows about Cameroon since Italia ’90. The world youth cup was won last year by Ghana, beating England in the final. The next world cup will see three African nations represented, any or all of whom are well capable of making an impression (watch Nigeria in particular). Football is hugely popular in Africa, and the next few years will see African nations recognised as major footballing forces – all that nonsense about extravagant skills but no self discipline just isn’t going to wash any more.

So you’ll be surprised to learn that for most of this season a Zairean premier division footballer has been resident in Oxford, and no one has asked him to even kick a ball, right?

Mikabila, 28, attack or midfield, played for top side AS Bilima in Zaire, a country which since 1 965(!) has been under the dictatorship of General Mobutu. Random arrest, torture and murder seem to form a central plank of Mobutu’s political philosophy. In 1990 there was a ‘liberalisation’ of the political process, in which opposition parties were legalised, but since that time anyone who has emerged as anti-Mobutu has been a target for the police and army, who have opened fire on demonstrations. Opponents of the government are liable to ‘disappear’.

Fearing that he would be imprisoned in Zaire, with all that implies, Mikabila came to this country in April 1993 to seek political refugee status. Since which time he has been in prison. I met him recently at Campsfield Detention Centre, near Kidlington Airport. He had recently spent thirty days on hunger strike, along with the other detainees at Campsfield, but while thin and slight in stature, he was confident of regaining his fitness, claiming to have always been naturally athletic. He denied allegations of force feeding, though he cou1dn’t speak for all the detainees. He enjoyed watching English football on TV, admiring particularly Ryan Giggs, Paul Ince and Andy Cole, but didn’t seem to know much about the mighty yellows. One thing on which he was particularly insistent was that he had come to England to seek refugee status, not to pursue a career as a footballer, though, if he were to gain his freedom, he would of course be interested in any chance to play, professionally or otherwise. His mood was more a kind of gloomy resignation than being actively pissed off – not entirely surprising after a year in the can.

We agreed to get him some kit (trainers etc), and went back for a second visit after the Wolves match, only to find that he had been moved to another detention centre at Gosport, near Portsmouth. No reason was given. Since then I have spoken to him over the phone, and he knows of no reason for the move – he does, however, apparently now get the chance to play football once a week.

As far as I’m aware, Mikabila’s case is no more or less deserving than that of any other political refugee. But to think of a guy who obviously loves football, and has committed no crime, wasting away in a prison is profoundly depressing. To think of the yellows slithering into the Second Division while a potentially exciting talent is locked up only a few miles away is depressing too.

If you are interested in the plight of Mikabila and other detainees, please contact The Campaign to Close Campsfield, do 111 Magdalen Road, Oxford or phone Oxford 724452.

The Grand Old Man of the London Road