Patrick Ochan and Jimmy Okello: A story of displacement, despair and determination

DOM HOGAN: In 2007, the Ugandan cricketers made the decision to try to make lives for themselves in Australia. Their journey was long and arduous

In a year that saw Shane Warne claim his 1,000th international wicket and Freddie Flintoff fall off that pedalo, perhaps the most remarkable tale of 2007 began at the ICC World Cricket League Division Three in Darwin, Australia.  

Eight sides took part and, after defeating Papua New Guinea, Tanzania and the Cayman Islands, Uganda beat unexpected finalists Argentina by 91 runs to win their maiden Division Three title.

It was one of Ugandan cricket's greatest triumphs, and is still celebrated to this day, but for Patrick Ochan and Jimmy Okello it sparked a series of life-changing events.

The two had contrasting experiences at the tournament. Bowler Ochan, 18, came up with a crucial 56 not out and three wickets in the final, whereas allrounder Okello, 19, featured only once, failing to score off 23 balls against the Cayman Islands.

They were also multi-skilled athletes with bright sporting futures ahead of them; Okello was a talented footballer, Ochan represented Uganda in tennis at the Davis Cup.

But rather than fly home to Uganda, the pair quickly realised that Australia represented an opportunity to improve both their cricket and their quality of life.

They sought out an acquaintance in Adelaide whom they had met at the 2006 Under 19 World Cup in Sri Lanka.

That person had told the pair that they were welcome to stay with him in South Australia if they ever found themselves in the region, but a few days after their arrival he alerted the authorities after learning they only had tourist visas.  

^{Patrick Ochan and Jimmy Okello have a fascinating story [West Torrens District Cricket Club]}

With nowhere to go, no money, and no friends or family in a foreign country, they turned to a countryman who had gone through a very similar experience.

Jackson "Action" Asiku competed for the Ugandan Olympic boxing team at the Sydney 2000 Games. He too lived in Adelaide at the time, having successfully applied for permanent residency.

Despite living on social security benefits, Asiku gave his compatriots a place to stay at Henley Beach, and it was there that through somewhat serendipitous circumstances they met Denis Brien.

Brien is a former president and current historian of West Torrens District Cricket Club (WTDCC), based in Henley Beach, and was alerted to their plight in July 2007 by friend, and former Australian Test cricketer, Eric Freeman.

He took the two boys under his wing, fed them, and listened to the account of what awaited them should they return to Uganda – a story that he recorded over a number of years and later retold.

Brien tells that Ochan and Okello were Acholi people – an ethnic group from the war-torn northern districts of Uganda and southern Sudan commonly called 'Acholiland' – and their home was being torn apart by violence and bloodshed.

The group responsible for this was Joseph Kony's Lord's Resistance Army, a Christian guerrilla group with links to the Acholi, which sought to turn the area into a theocratic state, and have been accused of numerous human rights violations over the years. 

Brien said: "The LRA may emanate from the Acholi, but they will slaughter or maim anyone who does not join or assist their campaign.

"Both boys have family who suffered at their hands. Jimmy's father was beheaded when captured by the LRA, and Patrick's father was shot. Both were members of the Ugandan military.

"They were both orphaned at an early age; Jimmy since the age of five – he can only vaguely remember his mother – and Patrick since the age of 14."

In the few years they represented their country, Ochan and Okello also became painfully aware of the exploitation Ugandan cricketers were subjected to.

They told Brien that a Pakistan side they played against in Kenya allegedly raised a large sum of money for the Ugandans to buy gear and equipment, but this money never reached the players.

Similarly, at the 2006 Under 19 World Cup the Australian side proposed a full set of equipment for each of their Ugandan counterparts. These were never delivered, despite reportedly leaving Australia.

^{Ochan and Okello moved from Uganda to Australia [West Torrens District Cricket Club]}

Brien added that they also feared retribution at the hands of the government, who have a history of persecuting Acholi, and cartoons of the two being lynched had appeared in Kampala newspapers.

Having decided to help the two young players, Brien helped them apply for refugee status and saw that they were given support from WTDCC and the wider community to keep them going.

"My wife Noaline organised a huge food hamper for them and a number of our family and friends contributed to this and the response of our friends was so great that Jimmy and Patrick had enough food for a month.

"Families at the club helped out considerably. I also took them to the St Vincent de Paul Society, who donated cooking utensils, blankets, towels, food vouchers and clothing, so things began to look up for them, but they desperately needed work.

"They still weren't eligible for social security because they were not classed as refugees. I gave them an old bat, a pair of pads, and gloves to start winter training."

The two were found work through West Torrens contacts, and were able to finally focus on their cricket, despite living under the looming threat of deportation.

By the end of the cricket season, both had been promoted through the ranks; Okello won the 2nd Grade Premiership, whilst Ochan's 1st Grade team were defeated in the Grand Final at Adelaide Oval by a Woodville side that included the individual who had reported their visa status.

It was at this time that the Ugandan Cricket Association announced the two had been banned for life from representing their country, after asking Interpol to help locate and deport them.

Uganda Cricket Association (UCA) Chairman William Kibukamusoke told Cricinfo in 2007: "By the rules of the association, we dissociated ourselves from the act and banned them from playing cricket for Uganda ever again. They would have no cause to come back to us at all."

Their appeal for refugee status was rejected in June 2008, after reports they had been forgiven by Uganda, and the LRA had reached a peace accord with the Ugandan government – accounts which were very much disputed.

As a result, they were given bridging visas, which prevented them from working, and Brien took Ochan and Okello to the Department of Immigration every few weeks to review their situation, appealing to the community to provide letters and statements of support.

In total, they received 233 letters from MPs, WTDCC members, journalists and employers supporting their right to residency.

Over the next 35 months, Ochan and Okello endured countless visa setbacks, revocations, and renewals, all while situations in Uganda worsened with increasing tensions between the central government and the LRA.

Through it all, Brien continued to tirelessly look after them, contact lawyers and politicians on their behalf, and took them to immigration hearings – often with as little as two hours’ warning.

^{Ochan and Okello have set up new lives in Australia [Denis Brien]}

Ochan and Okello were also taken to Survivors of Torture and Trauma Assistance and Rehabilitation Services (STTARS) for psychological support for the trauma they experienced in Uganda.

Both young players continued to play cricket for West Torrens but had to give up the game they loved to earn a living and support themselves.

Brien said: "Patrick stayed with WTDCC for three seasons but then decided to concentrate on work.

"In 2010 his work in a meat processing plant took him to Lobethal on a daily basis, a round trip of 100km, so he wasn't able to train and felt it essential that he concentrate on his job.

"Jimmy played two seasons but decided to concentrate on soccer where he could earn extra money. Although he had mostly played for the 2nd Grade side, he was called into the 1st Grade for a T20 match."

By August 2010, Ochan was told he could only obtain a permanent visa by applying offshore, so he decided to fly to Kenya to do so, but his passport and money were stolen from him.

When he finally returned to Australia in October, he was at long last given a residency visa.

And in May 2011, seven months later, Okello too was awarded permanent residency, after receiving ministerial intervention in his case. Both men had finally earned the right to live and work in Australia without risk of deportation.

In total, the fight for permanent residency lasted 40 months for Ochan, whilst Okello had to wait almost four years and, since 2019, both are fully-fledged Australian citizens.

Brien adds: "The fight for permanent residency was long, tedious and constantly littered with obstacles but they never wavered. We are indebted to Enid Holmes and her staff from the Australian Department for Immigration for their unfailing help and persistence – beyond expectations – to get a positive result.

"Patrick told me last December that the thing of which they are most proud is that they have never claimed social security benefits.

"They have worked throughout, except when their working visas were temporarily cancelled, and both are now fork-lift drivers after starting off as packers."

Ochan was in fact asked by the UCA to represent his country once again, thereby revoking their own life-time ban, and was reassured that should he be detained in Uganda, his permanent residency required the Australian government to intercede on his behalf.

He finished his international career in 2015 after a total of 17 list A appearances and five T20s for Uganda, according to ESPNCricinfo.

^{Ochan and Okello have benefited from the kindness of locals in Australia [Denis Brien]}

He now lives in Adelaide, where he is building a house for his partner and two young children, Malakai, 6, and Mason, 10 months, and hopes to bring his sister's young children over from Uganda to live with him, after she sadly passed away in September 2021.

Okello on the other hand found far more joy with the ball at his feet than in his hand. He went on to play for four semi-pro and amateur football clubs in his adopted country from 2008-21, scoring 40 goals in 109 games.

Like Ochan, he now has a child too, Leilani Ameri, 12, and has also ventured into the music business, performing Dance Hall music under the pseudonym Sokel Jamal, and has played several shows in Adelaide and Melbourne on top of his day job.

It has been more than 14 years since two young, destitute boys walked 12km into Adelaide to find jobs, but thanks to their determination, and the kindness and generosity of people like Brien, Ochan and Okello find themselves living a far better life than they could perhaps have hoped for in Uganda.

"These two young men are quite extraordinary people. They are loyal, resilient, capable, and lovable, endearing themselves to nearly everyone they meet.

"I'm very close to the two guys and regard them as extra siblings.

"Everything that is done for them is greeted with much appreciation and gratitude. They still often thank my wife Noaline and I for what we did.

"Last Christmas, Pat brought his son Malakai to see us and pointed to us and said, 'without these people you would not be here'."