‘British’ Dafala resigned to living a pauper’s life

He had it all. He captained Uganda Cranes and the mighty Express of the 1970s and had an unofficial stint with Manchester United. Dafala’s career is an unrivalled one. Football records show that he never received a booking during his football career. Not at any time was he ever substituted over poor performance or started a game from the bench. However, Dafala’s fall from grace to grass is a well-documented one.

Early career
Dafala was born on February 2, 1935 in what he calls a “strict Muslim family”. Due to that background, he first attended Koranic studies for four years. At the age of nine, he joined Chadwick Namate Primary School. He was the youngest in his class and thus failed the Primary Six exams. “I did not know any other religion apart from Islam. So, I ended up failing the Religious Education (RE) papers. From Chadwick, he joined Ndejje Primary School and failed his exams again, until he went to Kibuli Demonstration Primary School, where Islamic Religious Education (IRE) was taught. He then went to Kibuli Secondary School for his O-Level studies. In all those schools, Dafala was a good footballer.
Kadara Kenyi, Dafala’s father, had served in the King’s African Rifles (KAR) and fought in both World Wars. As such, from 1956 to 1960, Dafala got a scholarship through the British High Commission, to study at Mombasa Institute of Muslim Education, specialising in Electrical Engineering. The colonial government offered him a job at Uganda Broadcasting Service, now UBC, as a sound engineer.
Dream move to Express
After school, Dafala joined Young Salumbey, a team that was full of Nubians, his tribesmen. He represented them in the Entebbe-based Chwa League. At that time, Uganda’s top division was in recess, with Salumbey playing in the Luwangula Cup (current Uganda Cup).
His turning point came against Express FC in 1961, which they defeated 3-0. However, Express coach Jolly Joe Kiwanuka, a prominent figure in Ugandan football then, was in Europe. When he returned, he protested the result and the match was replayed, this time Express won by the same margin. Despite the defeat, Dafala put up a good display and Kiwanuka lured him to Express.

Enviable Cranes career
In 1961, Dafala got a call-up to the Buganda region team for the Aspro Cup (Regional Cup). Many football followers reasoned that this was his time to join the national team. But Clive Bond, the national team coach, reasoned that Dafala and his Express teammates were not yet ready for the Cranes. Kiwanuka, not amused, organized a match that pitted The Cranes against Express, and the latter won 2-1. Bond asked for another match, which Express won 3-1. Bond got convinced and selected 11 Express players, including Dafala.
Dafala was called up for the 1962 Cranes team that qualified for the Africa Nations Cup in Ethiopia. Unfortunately for him, being a junior player, he never kicked a ball at that tournament. Dafala, however, dusted himself and became a pillar in the team that won back-to-back Gossage Cup titles in 1962 and 1963. He was the captain. He was also part of Coach Robert Kiberu’s Cranes side that played in the 1968 Afcon games in Ethiopia. Uganda lost all their group games. However, winning three consecutive Cecafa titles in 1968, 1969 and 1970 came as a relief.
But when German coach Burkhard Pape succeeded Kiberu, he relieved an ageing Dafala of his captaincy. He continued working hard and got selected to the Cranes side that toured West Germany in 1970 but got injured, which became the beginning of the end of his Cranes career. When Uganda beat Tanzania 4-1 for the 1970 Cecafa, Dafala retired from national duty.
He singles out the 1968 match against England’s Middlesex Wanderers, who were touring East Africa. They thrashed Uganda 7-0. Dafala was manning the defence, a game he recalls as his worst ever.
“They were very superior. They just routed us because they had everything. Even when we drew 1-1 in the return match, it was not enough to wipe away the pain of losing by such a margin,” he says.
But Dafala continued his Express fairytale and guided them to the 1974 league trophy, ending a five-year lull. He was also an imposing player when Express retained it a year after, and he then decided to retire from football on a high note. He remains the only known local footballer to have never received a booking in his career.
“Yes. I never used to engage in unnecessary tackles or exchanges with referees. I was a smart and disciplined player,” he defends his feat.

Fall from grace
In 1971, Idi Amin entrusted Dafala, David Otti (Rip) and Hassan Mutaasa with a sports goods shop that had been left behind by the expelled Indians. This became his only source of livelihood until 1978 when Amin was overthrown.
“When we lost the shop, life started getting tough. Because during our times, there was no money in soccer; just allowances.
“That’s why you see most players from our generation suffering,” he reasons.
So since then, his life has been a miserable one. He sometimes fails to afford a meal.
“My health is deteriorating every day and I don’t have money to pay my bills. I am in bad shape, I can’t even let you take my photo,” he painfully says.
For Dafala and most of his contemporaries, life will never be the same.

Becoming ‘British’

As a young boy, Dafala interacted a lot with the Britons and learnt a lot from them. During his time at the national broadcaster, he went to BBC for training. While in the UK, he would get some time to play soccer, and incidentally, sometimes he would train with the Manchester United junior teams. However, he had no dream of joining them.
“It was just a one-off. Both I and the Manchester United people were not serious about this. I was very talented; they liked me, but that was it. I was also not interested because BBC was paying me well,” he says.
It’s from this training that he learnt many football basics. For instance, he learnt to head the ball with his neck sticking out plus the art of short and long-range passing. He also learnt to dress up in a British way. On return, his playmates nicknamed him ‘British’ and the name stuck.

Booking
Booking is the act of writing a football player’s name in a book as a punishment for breaking the rules
When a player is cautioned, the player’s details are traditionally recorded by the referee in a small notebook; hence, a caution is also known as a booking.

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