Uganda’s best man-markers

ANDY MWESIGWA
Mwesigwa ranks high among those footballing stars that have emerged from the Eastern region of Busoga and ended up taking Kampala and the whole nation by storm. Mwesigwa’s sporting life can be traced way back from his family background in Jinja where his father Vincent Muyesi worked as sports officer at Jinja Military Barracks during the 1980s.
The family head would obviously ensure a smooth flow of sports equipment like balls to the family as well. This was how Mwesigwa and his three brothers were introduced to football.
Apart from the former Cranes skipper, his young brother Tony Waiswa, who later went on to play for defunct Victoria University while his elder brother Robert Mukasa once featured as a goalkeeper for Rwanda’s Amavubi Stars and is presently working as the goalkeeping coach at URA FC.
Later when Mwesigwa’s parents parted ways, the children ended up staying with their mother, Catherine Recho Namuwaya at Jinja Hospital Staff Quarters where she worked as a nurse. It was from here that the single mother struggled to bring up her sons by not only providing them with education but also encouraging them to equally engage in sports seriously.
To all schools Mwesigwa attended, he ended up featuring for their soccer teams. This was the case at Narambhai Road Primary School - Spire and St. Gonzaga Primary School in Jinja.
He was a good defender throughout even when he joined Kaloke Christian High, Light College Bulenga and St. Joseph Naggalama in Mukono District.
Mwesigwa’s true potential was first discovered by the former Mbale Heroes coach James Namakoola, who spotted him while participating in a schools tournament in Masindi and later for Busia United in the local area’s Bananda Cup. To Namakoola, the boy was however still young to be signed by a big club. In 2000, Mwesigwa finally signed for Jinja’s Nile FC at the time when the club’s best player, Matthew Lucha, was about to retire.
Mwesigwa remembers being fielded in one topflight league matches against Police FC. His career at Nile FC, however, did not last long as the club was disbanded after Nile Breweries withdrew its sponsorship.
This gave coach Namakoola a chance to take the upcoming star to Mbale Heroes where he was a coach. Shortly afterwards, Namakoola faced the axe and was replaced by Kenyan Noah Wanyama, the father of Harambee Stars player Victor Wanyama, who went on to appoint Mwesigwa as the team’s captain.
Trust the sharp eye of former Cranes and SC Villa coach Milutin ‘Micho’ Sredojević, who spotted and signed him for the Jogoos in 2002.
“This marked the beginning of my real footballing career. For 13 good years I played in defence consistently for many clubs in Uganda and outside plus the national team,” recalls Mwesigwa.
Mwesigwa recalls he used to play 90 minutes throughout and was never benched or substituted. “At one time, I reached a point of getting exhausted. I spent almost a month flying all over the world for football engagements. I would for instance fly to Angola for an Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) Qualifier with the Cranes then head to Serbia for a Europa match with my team Ordabasy before returning to Kazakhstan for league matches,” recounts Mwesigwa.
Mwesigwa’s first outing with the Cranes came in 2003 when he was part of the team that went to Sudan and won the Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup, beating Rwanda 2-0 in the final. He finally announced his retirement in 2018 and thinks he made the right decision.
“I had clocked 34, the age that is not suitable for someone to continue playing competitive soccer. So it was not right for some people to say that I hanged my boots prematurely,” he explains. In all, Mwesigwa, who played 78 matches for the Cranes and scored eight goals will forever be remembered for forming a formidable defensive partnership with Ibrahim Sekagya, one of the best-ever seen combos in the Cranes team. About that much talked Cranes 0-2 defeat away to Guinea in an Afcon qualifier where he made blunders including bringing down an opponent and earning the home team a penalty, Mwesigwa has no regrets.
“No junior player could have done that. It’s only a senior player like me that could make sacrifices and take a risk of fouling an opponent in the box rather than allowing him the liberty to go all the way past the helpless goalkeeper Denis Onyango and score an easy goal. Who knows? Onyango could have saved that penalty,” he relives.
Mwesigwa is very sure that if he had not stopped that Guinean midfielder Seydouba Soumah and allowed him the avenue to go and score, he would equally have been blamed by Ugandans. He compares his situation to that of Luis Suarez of Uruguay during the 2010 World Cup quarter final match against Ghana. “You see, it was only a senior player like Suarez that had the guts to punch the ball and prevent an imminent score, thus becoming a hero by playing a part in the elimination of Ghana. But would he have been hailed by Uruguayans had Asamoah Gyan converted that penalty?” he questioned.

Mwesigwa wants Ugandans to remember him as one player who worked tooth and nail to see the Pearl of Africa break that 36-year-old jinx of not playing at Afcon back then. “During my last campaign, I personally used my own money to offer teammates cash for goals and assists all in an effort to encourage them to work hard and see the Cranes team through,” he disclosed.

ANDY FACTFILE
(ACHIEVEMENTS)
l Played for Mbale Heroes, SC Villa, IBC (Iceland), Chongging Litan (China), Ordabasy (Kazakhstan), Yenicami Agdelen (Turkey) and Sai Goni (Vietnam).
l He played 78 matches for the Cranes, scoring eight goals.
l He was Cranes captain from 2008-2015.
l In 2005, he was in the SC Villa team that won the Cecafa Kagame Clubs Championship without conceding a single goal.
l He won the 2003 Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup in Sudan with the Cranes.
l He used part of his 2010 transfer money to Chinese club Chongging Litan to buy land in Wakiso where he has constructed an education and sports college.

SAM KABUGO
Kabugo is regarded among the most exciting and creative players to have been produced by Uganda’s oldest football club Nsambya FC. He was in the same class with other former Zebras (Nsambya colours) like John Ssemanobe, Raphael Mukanga, Leo Adraa, Barnabas Mwesigwa, Joseph ‘Professor’ Ssejjemba, Rev Fr. Charles Bwenvu, Raphael Bwire and Joseph Kalibbala.
A shrewd battler who excelled for the Cranes as well, Kabugo was referred to as ‘Solid human wall’ in defence. Grace and artistry are not the words one automatically associates with defenders but they fit perfectly for Kabugo who for almost a decade delighted football pursuits beyond the confines of his own country. With his head band tight on his forehead and supple movements, Kabugo could scarcely remain unobtrusive and once attention had settled on him it was often difficult to look elsewhere.
There was strength and purpose about all his play whenever danger threatened. This industrious centre back would frequently take the heat off with a sharp tackle and thoughtful clearance.
In attacking situations, Kabugo was never far from his forwards and at times sneaked in to score. His playing style could be compared to that of Simba’s Ahmed Doka and probably KCC’s Peter ‘Umbwa Kali’ Wandyete of the 1970s and 1980s respectively.
Astonishingly, Kabugo had a baptism of fire when he first made his international appearance with Cranes. It was against Zambia in November 1987 in an Olympic qualifier played at Lusaka Independence Stadium. He scored an own goal in Uganda’s 0-5 humiliating loss to the Zambians at the time when the Cranes goal was manned by the towering John ‘Okalla’ Tebusweke.
Kabugo’s best moments in the Cranes team was winning the Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup titles in 1989, 1990 and 1992 when he was the captain. Earlier on, during the 1987 Cecafa Cup in Ethiopia, Kabugo played an architectural roles as Cranes walloped the mighty Zambia 4-0.

Born in 1964, Kabugo was the second born in a family of eight. He fell in love with football the few times his father Sam Kamulegeya brought him along to Nakivubo Stadium to watch matches. Whatever young Kabugo saw being done by star players, he would practice it the next day at their Ntinda home.
His actual football career is said to have kicked off in 1970 while at school in Kamuli. From there, he attended St Jude Primary School, Naguru, and later to Kololo Secondary School. Kabugo was part of the Ugandan youth team that played regional tourneys in Somalia and Sudan in 1984.

At club level, he joined Nsambya FC in 1984, then aged only 18. Some big clubs like KCCA, Express and SC Villa later came knocking and tried to snatch him. The club chairman Joseph Kiwanuka was, however, too smart for them. He immediately offered Kabugo a job at his Statewide Insurance Company. In 1987, Nsambya coach Raphael Mukanga appointed Kabugo the new club captain replacing Issa Isabirye.
Kabugo will forever be remembered for scoring a scorcher from the centre of the pitch that went past Fred Kajoba, in Coffee FC goal, and almost shredded the net in a Uganda Cup match. When Nsambya was relegated in 1995, Kabugo hang up his boots only to return in 1996 and briefly play for Express FC.

KABUGO FACTFILE

(ACHIEVEMENTS)
l He played only for Nsambya FC and Express FC.
l He joined Nsambya FC in 1984 at the age of 18 years.
l He was named in the national youth team in 1984.
l He was summoned to the Cranes team in 1987 by coach Barnabas Mwesigwa.
l He was appointed Cranes captain in 1992.
l He won Cecafa titles with the Cranes in 1989, 1990 and 1992.
l He was Cranes manager between 2000 and 2004.

TIMOTHY BATABAIRE
Like Andy Mwesigwa, his teammate at SC Villa and in the Cranes, Timothy Batabaire hailed from Busoga Region. He was very aggressive and a tight man-marking defender.
Andy Mwesigwa talks about him as someone, who exhibited a lot of soccer wisdom on the pitch and leadership qualities during the time he captained the Cranes.
Surprisingly, Batabaire didn’t spare a lot of time to play football while in primary and secondary. He only got into the beautiful game groove while at Makerere University.

A friend of his at University Hall, where he resided, says Batabaire first kept a low profile and no one could tell that he knew how to play.
One day, he however leaked a secret to a roommate that he could play some little football after all. A story is told about how he came to start playing. One day, his hall suffered many injuries thus forcing his friend to beg him to play for them in hall competitions. That day Batabaire played a great match in defence and luckily for him, one SC Villa supporter, Dr. Karuhanga happened to be around. Karuhanga later alerted SC Villa officials to sign the skillful defender before KCCA and Express got to know about him.

Then the departure of Arthur Byansiima and Aggrey Bigala from SC Villa in search for greener pastures provided Batabaire an opportunity to be fielded at the centre back where he alternated with Vincent Tumusiime.
Batabaire joined SC Villa while still a student at Makerere University and within no time he was summoned to the national youth team, the Under 23, which was then coached by Leo Adraa and Jimmy Muguwa.

He played for SC Villa from 1999 to 2003 before heading to Serbia where he briefly featured for OFK NUS. Between 2004 and 2009, Batabaire featured for South African club, Bloemfontein Celtic where he made 101 appearances and scored six goals. Batabaire next joined Bidvest Wits for four seasons featuring in 30 matches and managing to score two goals.

He ended his career with two more clubs, Vasco da Gama and Garankuwa United and is currently residing in South Africa.
While in Cranes colours, Batabaire was captain when Uganda lost 1-4 away to Benin in June 2008 during the 2010 Afcon and World Cup qualifiers.
On returning to Kampala, he reportedly told the media what had actually transpired in Cotonou and blamed the Cranes woes on Fufa’s poor preparations and the team’s treatment out there.
Fufa officials were not amused by his remarks and made him pay the price by dropping him immediately.
BATABAIRE FACTFILE

(ACHIEVEMENTS)
l Won the league with SC Villa in 1999, 2000, 2002 and 2003.
l Won Uganda Cup with SC Villa in 2002 and 2003.
l Won the Nedbank Cup at
Bidvest Wits in 2010.
l Made 34 appearances with Cranes between 2003-2008
l Won the 2003 Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup with Cranes.
l His pro career took him to OFK NUS in Serbia, Bidvest Wits, Bloemfontein Celtic, Vasco da Gama and Garankuwa United - all in South Africa.
l Nicknamed ‘Kyuuma kya leerwe’ (Railway line iron) for being too strong .