Inside Wankulukuku glory and controversies

Even at not their brightest hour, no one can take away their honour of Ugandan and Cecafa champions.
Yes, it is seemingly sleeping away, although at 13 league games to go, and with a new man – James Odoch – at the helm, you cannot stop them dreaming again.

And yes, Betway has since left, and Equity Bank never renewed their contract, but Express still believe they will usher in a new big sponsor soon. Plus, the physical conditioning coach, Hellen Buteme, is also gleaming, telling Score, “I’m happy to be back doing what I love.”

Buteme is one of the people Wasswa Bbosa, the sacked double winning coach of the league and Cecafa, viewed as deadwood in his work.
Actually, Bbosa never believed in sports science. But to be fair to the celebrated tactician, he believed in his own science.
On match day, for example, Bbosa separated his first XI from the rest and paid for their special lunch outside the club house at Wankulukuku.

He apparently started this practice after losing the opening two games, one of which he accused club Chief Executive Isaac Mwesigwa of having paid referees so that Bbosa could lose.
It is said Bbosa suspected that food at the club cafeteria affected the boys’ performance.
This newspaper understands that Bbosa and his agent inserted in his contract extension a clause that should he make the Champions League group stage, he would be paid $10,000 (Shs35m).

Mwesigwa also added in the same contract that should Bbosa lose three successive league matches, he would lose his job. Both agreed and signed it off.
So, perhaps Bbosa’s accusations were born of genuine fear for the sack. But why would the club allow the coach to separate the team during meals?
“As a club we always provided the meals,” Mwesigwa told this newspaper, “I think he was waiting on us not to provide the meals and then make a scene.

“Anyway, I knew he would run out of money at some point, so I let him run his course. And indeed, the team was eating together by the time we parted ways with the coach.”
Clearly these two were not the best of friends, but they had a job to do.
When contacted Bbosa for his word on superstition claims, including one of the team medical personnel taking striker George Ssenkaaba to native ‘doctors’ during the player’s long injury layoff, he asked not to speak.

“I’ll be quiet for now,” Bbosa told this paper, “he who keeps quiet does not regret.”
Bbosa’s ability to inspire a winning team has never been in question, but the way he carries himself and his unwillingness to follow new trends was his biggest undoing.
That is where he fell out with Buteme, who is now back working with James Odoch.

That, plus reported indiscipline, money squabbles – where he reportedly preferred cash to bank transactions – and Express’ failure to provide some basic requirements once resources started dwindling, where he fell out with Mwesigwa.
It was always a matter of when, not if, he would be showed the exit.
And this week, it was rather a less dignified exit as he stormed out through the small gate at Wankulukuku, holding a red kit, even before his sack was confirmed by Mwesigwa.
But the issues at Express since they won the league are deeper.

Shs300m bonus fallout
The distribution of Shs300m bonus provided by the club to the team for winning the 2020/21 Uganda Premier League title did not help the already tense situation.
It arrived as Express prepared for the first leg of the Caf Champions League match against Al Merrikh of Sudan at St Mary’s Stadium, Kitende, last September.

Around the same time, there was  grumbling from some players that the club did not provide them with any relief during Covid-induced lockdown yet here they were, calling on them to join camp ahead of Champions League duty.
But according to the club, there was no need for additional relief since the players were getting their full salary during the lockdown.

When the Shs300m windfall landed, and the news excited players. But that excitement vanished from some faces when they realised they received on their accounts less than their colleagues.
A list is said to have been agreed on between club chairman Kiryowa Kiwanuka – who ignored several requests for a comment for this investigative report – and Mwesigwa on who would get what – from the coaching and playing staff to the media team.
“But after that, the CEO and Buteme sat down and came up with their own way of distributing the money,” revealed a source at the club.

But Mwesigwa dismissed this. “The bonuses were for the players and technical team. Myself and the secretariat, even media, were not part of it,” assured Mwesigwa.
Indeed, at one of the crisis meetings, a media officer is said to have told the club chairman that their (media) team had not received any bonuses, to which Kiwanuka is reported to have tasked Mwesigwa to explain.
“I repeat, the media team, secretariat and I were not on that money, but we agreed that if we got more money, we would take care of them.”

Criteria for bonus distribution
That is not all. Mwesigwa is also accused by some at the club of having reportedly favoured some of the players attached to his own Zac Sports, a player agency, during distribution of bonuses.
Deservedly, the club MVP from the title winning season, Eric Kambale – he is also under Zac Sports – received Shs7m, same as Ivan Mayanja, who – those accusing Mwesigwa – claim he did not play that many games.
Faisal Ssekyanze, and Denis Otim are the other players said to belong to Zac Sports.

Mwesigwa was not interested in discussing the issue of his agency owning players at the club, but rubbished claims that some players got more than they deserved.
“The board had proposed Shs10m for every player that played 10 games and above. I advised against it because we had more pressing needs,” explained Mwesigwa.
“So every player that played 10 league games and above got Shs7m, then the next group Shs4m, and those that played fewer games and those on loan each got Shs1-2m.”
Indeed, statistics provided by the club, also shared with this paper, show that Mayanja played 14 league games, accounting for 386 minutes.

However, others believed that some, like midfielder John Byamukama, should have got more than Shs4m purely because of his impact in the games he played.
Byamukama played nine matches, one fewer than the standard used in the distribution. He put in 556 minutes; 170 and 191 more than Mayanja and Muzamiru Mutyaba, the latter having played 13 games.
Byamukama also scored a crucial goal that ended Vipers unbeaten home record last season as the Red Eagles announced themselves as credible title contenders.
The senior assistant coaches each got Shs3-4m, with juniors getting Shs2-3m.

Bbosa, though, was not part of the Shs300m bonus distribution as he had pre-negotiated his own Shs40m bonus before eventually winning the league.
The CEO further adds that the Shs300m was to take care of player bonuses and also partly help the club prepare for the first leg of the Champions League.
“The team was paid Shs208m in bonuses, then the rest went into paying St Mary’s Stadium and facilitating the team for the Champions League.”

The Merrick saga
For a team that was coming off celebrating their best season in decades, alternate news just could not let them be. They had just edged Sudan’s Al Merrikh 2-1 in the first leg of the Caf Champions League at Kitende, and were due a return leg up north.
According to Caf original fixtures, the game was supposed to be played on September 19, 2021, in Obeid, 360km out of Khartoum.
But just over two weeks earlier when the Sudanese were in Kampala for the first leg, they did meet with Express CEO Mwesigwa and Fufa officials in Lugogo.
Reason? To brief Express on the Red Eagles’ communicated date of travel and why it would be difficult for the Ugandans to get a connecting flight from Khartoum on that day.

Some questioned the meeting “but it was our first time on the continent in a long time and we could do with any help. So we had to meet in the presence of Fufa,” Mwesigwa explained to Score.
“The Sudanese told us that there is only one connecting domestic flight from Khartoum to Obeid and it flies once early in the week”
Express had two options. Fly out on Tuesday to catch the early connecting flight and spend two extra days and costs in Sudan, or work out a plan with Merrikh to move the game closer.

Besides, they had a window of three days from Friday through Sunday as per Caf rules.
“So we agreed with Al Merrikh that we move the game to Friday and from Obeid to Khartoum at All Hilal Stadium.”
Rule 9.2 of the Caf Champions League regulations reads: “The place, date (Friday, Saturday or Sunday) and the time of kickoff of the 1/16th finals, quarterfinals, semifinals and finals are set by the host federation who shall inform the general secretariat of Caf, the opposing team, the referees and the [match] commissioner at least 14 days before the match.”

After their meeting with Merrikh officials in Lugogo, Express communicated to Fufa.
“Following a meeting held between Express and Al-Merrikh regarding the return leg fixture,” reads in part a letter to Fufa, signed by CEO Mwesigwa, on September 7, 2021.
“It has been agreed that the game is held at Al-Hilal stadium in Khartoum on September 17, 2021. The purpose of this letter is to request you make the changes accordingly.”

Concurrently, Merrick also notified authorities.  “We kindly ask (you) to accept this request to change the venue of Match No.42 (Al Merrikh vs. Express, CL 2021/2022 from El Obeid Stadium, El Obeid City, to the Al Hilal Stadium, Omdurman City, in capital of Sudan,” wrote Adam Abdalla, the Merrick president, to the Inter-Clubs Competitions on September 7.
The reasons for the request were unavailability of flights from Khartoum and El Obeid.
“We also request change of the date of the match from September 19, 2021, to September 17, 2021, due to availability on this date.”
Caf reportedly blessed the two clubs’ request to move the match and date by reflecting the change in their CMS (competitions management systems), where clubs get all schedules.

So the Red Eagles set off for Sudan sure the game would be played in Khartoum on Friday, September 17, and not Obeid on Sunday, September 19. 
But on arrival at Entebbe airport, Mwesigwa received communication from Fufa and on the CMS that the match had been moved back to Obeid, and from Friday to Sunday.
The coaches and players could not believe it, with some questioning the CEO’s communication, although correspondences backed him.
The reason for the change by Caf was not readily clear at the time, but it was later revealed that Al Hilal Stadium did not meet basic requirements to host the game.
But did Caf just find that out? Fufa’s Ivan Kintu, who happened to be on the same flight en route to Obeid on inspection duties, passively told Express their game would be in Obeid.

“Of course, there was confusion. The two clubs met informally in Kampala and wrote to Caf. Caf responded to their request. But I knew they would end up in Obeid because I was going to the same place for inspection.”
Frantic calls ensued between Mwesigwa, Fufa chief executive Edgar Watson, Merrick and Sudanese FA and Caf contacts.
Caf rules are clear that no fixture or venue can be changed less than 14 days to the match. The Red Eagles believed they still had a chance to play in Khartoum on Friday.
In audio communications between Watson and a Caf contact, which this newspaper has in possession, he requested that Express are given all the necessary support.

However, as Caf stood their ground, Watson brought to CEO Mwesigwa’s attention Caf rule 11 that says that “Caf can at any moment amend the dates, the kick-off times or the venues of the matches.”
Leader of delegation Samuel Mpiima was left speechless by events. “I also got information at Entebbe airport and could not believe it,” he told this paper.
“It was really confusing. Hilal Stadium didn’t meet Caf standards, so one wonders why was the game confirmed there in the first place!
“My message to Caf is ‘we can do better.’ Trust me, I did not believe what I saw.”

Meanwhile, the team was as confused, wondering exactly what was happening. With the animosity already fever-pitch between Bbosa and his CEO, it was a matter of time before the players joined in.
Express spent two nights in Khartoum at their own cost, but because they were now being taken some 360km out of the capital, the hosts had to take care of their flight and accommodation, according to Caf rules.
Incidentally, the Merrick owner also owns the domestic airline, so he made way.
Back at the team hotel, the players were not having any of it. They wanted to return home and were not willing to travel to Obeid.

Silently, they suspected a transaction happened between CEO Mwesigwa and Merrick.
Our sources at the team hotel say the club offered $50 (Shs175,000) per player for them to accept to board the plane to Obeid. They flatly turned down the offer. It was not until Mwesigwa tripled the offer per player that the flight to Obeid was confirmed.
Asked where he got the $150 (Shs510,000) per player that urgently, especially given the allegations that money could have changed hands with Merrick, Mwesigwa explained.

“First, the allegations are rubbish. Also, I didn’t come to football to make money, but to serve. I make my own money elsewhere, and I always have money on me.
“About the $150, I had a budget for that. After the $100 winning bonus pledge for Cecafa, the players reasoned that this was now a bigger stage and $150 would make sense. So I made a budget for that.
“The intention was to put it on the table for them before the game as motivation, but that situation changed everything.”
Whatever it is, Mwesigwa and Express will hope that a new page has turned, and now they can clean their house and end the season on a high.

Issues at hand

Missing Cecafa bonus, prize money
After the league success, coach Bbosa and his team were fast onto bigger things in the region, with Cecafa in sight. Players were promised $100 (Shs350,000) bonus for every match won. They won six en route to clinching a historic first title. That’s $600 per player, which remains unpaid.
“We’ll clear it when we get money,” pledged Mwesigwa.
Then there is the prize money of $30,000 (Shs105m), which Express earned for lifting the title in Dar es Salaam.
Organisers of the tournament paid on time but the club administration kept telling players the money had not come. Then one day, it emerged the team they beat in the final, Nyasa Bullets of Malawi, had received their $20,000 prize money yet Express bosses kept telling players there was no money in yet.
That news report from Malawi showing payment was made to Nyasa Bullets was posted by a player on a WhatsApp group they shared with the technical team and secretariat and hell broke loose. Soon the players exited, one by one. Mwesigwa admits the players have not yet received any Cecafa prize money, but adds that the prize money is also club property.
“What do we do when that money comes and we have salary arrears to pay? I had arrears for two months, so we opted to clear those using this prize money,” he explained.
“We agreed to this action with the board. We had to prioritise. But if we get more resources, we shall pay.”

Investigation: The take-home

Club changed UPL prize bonus promise to players, paid non-uniform money
Cecafa prize money not paid, club angers players with lies about fund receipt

Players exit club WhatsApp group in protest on learning reality

CEO suspected of connivance in Merrikh Caf CL venue change fiasco

CEO also accused of favouring own agency players in bonus payment

Hellen Buteme bounces back after Bbosa sent her to ‘take science to rugby’

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