Cross kings from the right flank

OBADIAH ‘HONDA ACCORD’ SSEMAKULA

At his peak during the 1980s, he baptised himself the tag name “Musanvu W’eggwanga”, meaning the nation’s “No.1 undisputed right winger”. Earlier this when Sunday Monitor talked to Ssemakula, he didn’t mince his words again as he made it clear that he is the best right winger Uganda has ever produced.
He talked from his home where he is currently recovering from an undisclosed illness. “I want you people to get this very clearly. I am the best right winger to have donned national team jersey of Uganda,” he boldly stated.

“During my career I would remind those summoned to compete for the right wing position never to waste time as they had simply been brought to make numbers on the substitutes’ bench. I told them I am the king and was still in charge,” he adds with a strong voice.
Ssemakula’s father Patrick Wilberforce Tebusweke Ssebowa (RIP) was Senior Superintendent of Buganda Kingdom and Kabaka Sir Edward Frederick William David Walugembe Mutebi Luwangula Mutesa II’s body guard.
Ssemakula’s father took him to good schools; Lake Victoria Primary School in Entebbe, Savio Junior School of the Brothers of Christian Instruction in Kisubi and St Henry’s College Kitovu in Masaka.

At Savio, Ssemakula used to sneak out through the school fence and go to the neighbouring St Mary’s College Kisubi (Smack) to train with the big boys there.
Smack had students playing with Coffee FC in the national league then and the club used to transport them in a beautiful bus that Ssemakula admired a lot.
He vowed to play for this club whose chocolate colours by coincidence resembled that of Savio Junior School’s uniform.

Much later especially during holidays, Ssemakula would serve as a ball boy at Coffee training grounds besides carrying bags for some senior players.
When he joined St. Henry’s College Kitovu in Masaka his dream finally came true when he started playing for Coffee. He joined the school when others like Polly Ouma and Kaddu Kiberu were about to leave.
Ssemakula salutes former player James Nswaswa for making him switch from his previously favourite left wing to right one while at Coffee. Luckily enough, he could use both legs.

During that time he played well to earn the moniker “Honda Accord” then the latest car brand to storm the Ugandan market.
Ssemakula’s best years for the Cranes were between 1980-1984 and during the 1983 Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup Championship, he was voted the best right winger in the region.

Apart from someone like Sam Mugambe, he has not admired many Ugandan footballers. His idols have included Eduardo Gonçalves de Andrade, generally known as Tostão, Pierre Michael Littberski of Germany and to some extent England’s poster boy David Beckham.

STANLEY ‘TANKA’ MUBIRU

Just looking at his muscular body and giant thighs was enough to send shivers down opponents’ spines! Mubiru was Uganda’s undisputed right winger between 1973 and 1978 at the time when the national team – Cranes - dominated regional soccer.
John Ntensibe was one of Mubiru’s best friends both at Express FC and in the national team fold with the two at one time sharing a house in Ntinda rented for them by Express management.

Ntensibe, who was the league’s top scorer in 1976 with 22 goals, says Uganda will take centuries to produce a right winger of Mubiru’s calibre. “His stout build, giant physique and big thighs made him stand out from the pack. Once in possession, it was always difficult for anyone to get a sniff of the ball. “Tackling him was a myth as those who dared would always fall off his wonder body which was as hard as concrete,” reveals Ntensibe. In 1976 when the rivalry between KCC FC and Express was astronomically rife, a league match between the two teams had to be abandoned after only six minutes because of an ugly scene involving Mubiru and KCC’s Moses Nsereko.

The match kicked off with KCC making terrific in-roads with Moses Nsereko constantly tearing via the right wing.
Sensing danger, Mubiru crossed the pitch from his right wing position to lend a hand in containing Nsereko though his answer for taming him was quite brutal.
In an ugly kung-fu style, he jumped on Nsereko’s thighs and forthwith ruptured them in the process.

KCC refused to continue playing and later both teams decided the match be postponed to a later date.
Elsewhere, veteran sports journalist, Douglas Nsubuga describes Stanley Mubiru as a rare player who had an illustrious career and at whose peak was voted Africa’s Best Right Winger during the 1974 Africa Cup of Nations tournament in Cairo, Egypt.
It’s widely said that Mubiru could never get his match groove going if he hadn’t tasted some frothy bitter.

Many times he would visit drinking joints (Bufundas) to sip some tots of Uganda Waragi or any other local potent gin before the match - a habit which his coach Robert Kiberu (RIP) had to painfully accept. For the sake of good results, Kiberu used to allow Mubiru sneak a few tot-packs into the dressing room.

Then on the field of play, Mubiru would pay back by terrorising defenders with his agility, strength, speed and precision on the right flank thus defying his man-mountain build that earned him the moniker of ‘Tanka Majjegere’ in reference to the armoured war tank machine shooter used by soldiers to penetrate any terrain in pursuit of enemies.
Mubiru’s former teammate at Express, John Ntensibe, also tells of a story during 1974-75 when German-born coach Westerhoff Otto was in charge of the Cranes and used to make players do roadwork from Lugogo all the way to Kyambogo.

“One day Mubiru told the coach off that they were not soldiers to be subjected to such type of training. He told Otto to simply give them balls and do what they wanted,” remembers Ntensibe.
That was typical Mubiru for you. But he was from a humble background and had been spotted while featuring in the regional Madhvani Cup for Eastern Region and brought to Kampala by Express FC administrators; the late Kezekia Musisi Ssegwanga and Ali Bablo.

STANLEY MUBIRU FACTFILE
(ACHIEVEMENTS)

• Was part of the youth team that won the 1973 Cecafa Youth Championship in Kenya.
• The same year, 1973, he was promoted to the senior national team – Cranes – to replace the ageing John Dibya.
• He was part of the Cranes side that won the 1973 Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup in Kampala.
• He was Uganda Cranes’ best undisputed right winger between 1973 to 1978.
• With the Cranes, he won Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup titles in 1973, 1976 and 1977.
• He was part of Cranes team that participated in the 1974, 1976 and 1978 Afcon tourneys.
• He was voted the Best Right Winger in the 1974 Nations Cup tourney during which he scored a brace against Ivory Coast
• Mubiru won the Uganda Premier League titles in 1974 and 1975 with Express FC.
  

MOSES ‘KALOOLO’ SSENTAMU

He was the exact opposite of Mubiru in size. Ssentamu was nicknamed ‘Kaloolo’ after the small insects commonly found in chicken feathers which despite being so small can be harmful. Ssentamu was a bit young and skinny when he began playing serious football during the early 70s. Born in Kyabakuza-Kisoso, Masaka District on December 19, 1956 to Twaha Ssentamu and Janat Namazzi, Ssentamu went to Bwala Primary School before relocating to his elder brother’s home in Kabowa, Kampala from where he attended East Kololo Secondary School.

He was a student in Senior Two at Kololo when he started training and playing for Kisenyi-based Chicago Boys whose name was later changed to Nakivubo Boys, which was an understudy side for Express. Ssentamu was later signed by Express which was tutored by Kiberu then. It was here that KCC’s goalie George Mukasa spotted him and alerted coach Jaberi Bidandi Ssali about his exceptional soccer skills. Ssentamu was convinced to ditch the Red Eagles for KCC, which had many players of his stature.

He made this bold career move without informing his brother, Hajji Nyanzi, who was a staunch supporter of Express. On learning of Ssentamu’s move, Nyanzi became bitter and almost chased the boy away from his home. Around that time Ssentamu developed a serious bout of malaria, forcing KCC’s coach Ssali to come home and request Hajji Nyanzi to let him take the boy for treatment. Bidandi’s trick was to keep Ssentamu at his home in Nsimbi Ziwoome, Bukoto Parish in Nakawa Division for some weeks to allow his brother time to cool down.

At KCC, Ssentamu settled in well and was helped by the fact that that he could play with both legs - something the club welcomed because such players could be used in different positions. He will never forget one of his first league matches at KCC - a tough one against Denis Obua’s Police FC. He headed in the winning goal and in the process got a serious head injury after colliding with the Police goalkeeper. Ssentamu became unconscious and was straightaway rushed to hospital where after a few days came to learn that his goal had actually won the match for the Kasasiro Lads.

At KCC, Ssentamu was well known for earning the team many penalties both right and controversial ones. Being a small man, he would intentionally try to penetrate opponents’ defences only to be brought down in the box. “My size would make referees feel pity for me and in most cases would point to the spot even though at times I would throw myself down having had no contact with the defenders,” recalls Ssentamu in an exclusive interview with Sunday Monitor. Because of this, he remembers some difficult matches when after KCC failed to score and some teammates would be heard telling one another to give Ssentamu as many balls as possible so that he enters the box and rescues them with penalty offers from the referee.

When KCC FC won the 1978 Cecafa Clubs Championship in 1978 in Kampala, Ssentamu was included on the list of those to take spot kicks at 11th hour after the teams’ two stars shied away from the responsibility. When the penalty shoot-out was about to begin, all the players refused to take the first kick - forcing Ssentamu to offer himself for the job which he did so well. His act gave confidence to his teammates and KCC managed to triumph.

One of his former teammates at KCC, Tom Lwanga, says he will never forget one league moment involving KCC and Express during the 70s when Ssentamu broke through and was about to score. According to Lwanga, one Express fan shouted; “Banange akasajja kagenda kututta mukakube,” – loosely translated as “Please stop him, he is about to score”. Poor supporter reportedly became unconscious and was rushed to hospital where he was pronounced dead. He retired in 1987 after sustaining an unrepairable knee injury.

MOSES SSENTAMU FACTFILE
(ACHIEVEMENTS)

• Joined Nakivubo Boys in 1972 while a Senior Two student at East Kololo High School.

• Briefly played for Express FC before being signed by KCC which he helped bring in First Division league tier in 1974.
• He won the league with KCC in 1976, 1977, 1981, 1983 and 1985.
• Won the Uganda Cup with KCC in 1979, 1980, 1982 and 1984.
• His debut match for Cranes came in 1976 - an Independence Day friendly with Ethiopia at Nakivubo War Memorial Stadium.
• He was a member of the Cranes team that reached the finals of the 1978 Nations Cup in Ghana.

OBADIAH SEMAKULA FACTFILE
(ACHIEVEMENTS)

• His footballing skills were noticed early on when he has in Savio Junior School but trained daily with St. Mary’s College Kisubi students.

• His best years with Cranes were between 1980 and 1984.
• During the 80s, he was regarded as the best crosser of the ball in the Ugandan league.
• Ssemakula was voted best right winger in the 1983 Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup in Kenya.
• He played with distinction for Lugave clan in Bika Tourneys.