Mugume dreams big at KCCA

In what he describes as the “biggest step”, new KCCA signing Ashraf Mugume Bamuturaki has vowed to work his way into the starting team against a group of the contenders who will play in the Caf Confederation Cup next season.

While his arrival at Lugogo seemed muted, Mugume enjoyed an illustrious youth career that involves winning almost everything.

The fourth-born in a family of five was fascinated with becoming a doctor and his mother pushed him to the academic side, probably hoping he becomes a surgeon. And surgery he does, albeit the one on the soccer pitch.

Winner of the 2015 Copa Coca-Cola title with St Mary’s Kitende and the 2013 national Airtel Rising Stars trophy with Kampala Region, he has twice been selected on dream teams.

While many KCCA faithful will be slow to realise the quality of Mugume, manager Mike Mutebi’s heart must have been warmed by his previous interaction with the youngster during the Copa Coca-Cola tour to South Africa in 2010.

By then, Mugume was part of the dream team that travelled to the Rainbow Nation under the Coca-Cola training partnership. Mutebi was the head coach. The following year, he travelled to Nigeria for the Airtel Pan African U-17 tournament along with the likes of David Owori and Martin Kizza.

Humble beginnings
Having spent most of his youth career with Sparta 09 in the Kampala suburb of Bakuli where slum children are given a life through football, Mugume was part of the promising juniors like Noordin Bunjo, Joshua Okiror, Richard Ajuna and Bright Anukani at Proline. His stunning ball distribution always singled him out from the pack.

“Fadiga (his nickname which refers to Senegalese legendary midfielder Khalilou) was the undoubted leader and could boss the game as he wished,” Patrick Ssonko, his youth coach at Sparta 09, said.

After Primary School, he juggled between Friends of Football (FoF) and Kampala Kids League (KKL) before joining Old Kampala SS. It was from FoF that he was identified by Proline. But it was Old Kampala SS that gave him the platform cutting his teeth into the team during the 2013 Copa Coca-Cola finals.

Pick of best
Old Kampala were bundled out in the groups but Mugume was named on the select team.
In 2014, ambitious Kitende were convinced of his abilities and lured him away.

“My mother objected because she thought I would be destabilised. But Hajji (Musa) Kakonge, my father figure convinced me to seize the opportunity,” he explains.
His aspiration was to excel and replicate his father, Jafari Mugume, a former amateur player.
“Coach Yusuf Kyambadde had already told me at Old Kampala to focus on my strengths and I did just that,” he adds.

In 2015, he won his only Copa trophy before he went on to lose two consecutive finals.
“What hurt most was the 2016 trophy in Soroti. We had the most balanced team and we had a point to prove because we had been ‘banned’ from the East African games in Rwanda in 2015,” he says. Another loss was to come during the 2017 finals when Jinja SS beat Kitende in the Masaka finals.

Police call
It was now time to focus on club duties as he had signed a four-year contract with Vipers in 2016 with whom he had won the Fufa Juniors League. He had played just twice during the first season.
In 2017, he missed all the action sitting his A-Level final papers.

To gain playing time, he was loaned to Police where he played all league games and earned a maiden call to the Kobs team that was preparing for the Afcon U23 qualifiers against South Sudan.
“I never wanted to go back but my loan deal had expired. Vipers badly wanted me back and refused to extend my loan,” he says.

Disaster struck on return as he played two first-team games at Vipers following a broken metatarsal injury. With his opportunities limited, he asked for another loan spell to Police in the second round of the 2019/20 season.

It was delayed by the lack of a national ID card until Covid-19 struck.
“Missing a whole season made me feel like rubbish. It’s behind me now. It gave me a boost, and gave me character,” he says.

“I felt so deeply about leaving Police. It is one of the best places to be. I have to say I am proud of it and especially coach Abdallah Mubiru. They believed in me when no one else would,” he says.
Just another fish in KCCA’s talent sea?
A move to KCCA opened in June and he describes it as heaven-sent.

“I can fit in their style of play. They believe in young talents and I am here to do my best,” he said.
Mutebi thinks the rookie’s combination of work ethic and the ability to spark attacks thanks to an adventurous mindset is key for Mugume’s future.

And with the door open for Muzamiru Mutyaba, Mugume’s arrival can be redemptive. The youngster says he won’t shy away from testing himself against the best midfielders in the country.

He is aware that any of Keziron Kizito, Sadam Juma, Gift Ali, Jackson Nunda, Nicholas Kasozi, Joseph Kafumbe, Sam Ssenyonjo, Herbert Achai, Steven Sserwadda, Sunday Opio, Moses Aliro and Julius Poloto, among others, will certainly not be pushovers.

“I am not putting myself in a hierarchy. I say to myself, I am not the best yet, but I’m going to do everything to improve.”

PROFILE
MUGUME AT A GLANCE
Name: Ashraf Mugume Bamuturaki
Nickname: Fadiga
Date of birth: Nov 16, 1998
Age: 21 years
Home Village: Ibanda, Mbarara
Parents: Jafari Mugume and Saidat Kyogabire
Height: 171 cm
Weight: 63 kg
Strong Foot: Right
Favourite Shirt No: 17
Attributes: Speed, Dribbling, Good Technique, Goal Scorer
Role: Attacking Midfielder
Education: Old Kampala PS, Old Kampala SS and St Mary’s Kitende
Former teams: Sparta 09, FoF, KKL, Proline, Vipers JT, Vipers and twice on loan at Police

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