Top junior league graduates in UPL

There have been a number of exciting young talents sprouting out in recent years. Some of whom came through the now-gone Fufa Juniors League and endured a full cycle.

Not only did they feature prominently in the StarTimes Uganda Premier League, they went higher by making the national junior teams. Some even made the Uganda Cranes.
The SCORE delves into the top four among the graduates from the junior league side.

Charles Lwanga | Age 20
Forward | KCCA 20

There hasn’t been so much good at KCCA this season. The team parted ways with arguably their most successful manager Mike Mutebi. But if his successor Morley Byekwaso wants to build a team for the medium- and long-term, then he must look no further than the attacking pair of Sadat Anaku and Charles Lwanga.

The latter has been the most on-form and consistent graduate of the Fufa Junior League in the UPL this season.
Lwanga, who crossed over from SC Villa, has battled for his space with experienced forwards Juma Balinya, Gift Ali and Keziron Kizito for his starting place in the team.
He has the best return in front of goal for the Kasasiro Boys, with 11 goals while playing 1,231 minutes spread over 22 games. His goals carried weight.

The club hasn’t lost a match in which he scored picking four man-of-the-match accolades on the way. He has formed a strong attacking partnership with Anaku.
In the seven goals Anaku scored, Lwanga was the architect of four. Anaku has also not scored in a game Lwanga didn’t feature in.
Lwanga joined SC Villa Junior Team in 2017 and played two seasons, scoring 33 goals with over 20 assists.

He also won the Copa Coca Cola National Schools’ Championship and East Africa trophies while at St Mary’s, Kitende, before crossing to KCCA in June last year.
Lwanga is in the provisional Uganda Cranes squad for next month’s Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup.

Briefly
Born: September 2, 2000
Clubs: SC Villa JT (2018-2020), SC Villa (2019-2020), KCCA (2021-date)

Gavin Kizito Mugweri | Age 19
SC Villa | Defender

Kizito was born a leader. He has captained the Uganda U-17 to their maiden Afcon and brought the silver medal at the Afcon U-20 early this year where they lost the ultimate prize to Ghana.

At 19 years and five months, the youngster has already had a fair share of controversies. In January last year, just a month after being crowned the best upcoming talent in the Fufa awards, Kizito was involved in a push-and-pull with Villa over his contract. He flew out to Dubai for trials without the club’s consent.

However, he returned and has been a pillar in their defence. Due to the national team engagements, Kizito missed 10 of the league matches this season but has been a guaranteed starter when available.

He has started in all the 17 games when available playing full minutes bar for their 3-1 loss to his former club Vipers last month where he picked a straight red in the 65th.
He has picked only one yellow card and assisted Nicholas Kabonge’s lone strike in their 1-0 win over Onduparaka in March.
His meteoric rise saw him earn his Uganda Cranes debut on March 29 where he replaced Robert Mukiibi before halftime in the 1-0 loss to Malawi on the last day of the 2021 Afcon qualifier.

PROFILE
Born: January 14, 2002
Clubs: URA JT (2016/17), SC Villa JT (2017/18), Vipers JT (2018/19), SC Villa (2019 to date)
National teams: Uganda U17 (2017-2019), Uganda U20 (2019-date) and Uganda Cranes (2021- date)
Achievements: Captained the U-17 to Afcon, won bronze with U-17 in 2018 Cecafa, captained Uganda-U20 in Cecafa and Afcon U-20, won silver in 2021 Afcon

Isma Mugulusi | Age 17
Busoga United | Midfielder

Busoga United could have struggled throughout the season but Isma Mugulusi has shone bright with several man-of-the-match performances proving him to be the sun at the heart of the team’s solar system.

When he is up, Busoga is up and when he is down, they are down. In fact, the club registered only one win without him on the field of play, losing six and four draws in the 11 he missed while on international duty, academic engagements or injury.
His return from Afcon duty saw the team win four consecutive games against Myda (1-0), Wakiso Giants (0-1), Kitara (2-1) and Onduparaka (2-0) that lifted them above the red zone.

In that run, he had scored a goal, three assists and scooped two man-of-the-match accolades. He went on to score three more goals, several assists and player of the match performances.
Mugulusi started all games for the Hippos in Mauritania, picking one man-of-the-match award. He was part of the Cubs team that played qualifiers and finals of the Afcon U-17.

To that, he scored the lone goal against Belarus as Uganda Cubs picked their single win at the 2019 Uefa assist tournament in Turkey.
He made his Uganda Cranes debut on June 6 as the team fell 3-2 to South Africa in an international friendly.

PROFILE
Born: October 10, 2003
Clubs: Busoga Utd JT (2017-2020), Busoga Utd (2019- date)
National teams: Uganda U-17 (2017-2019), U-20 (2019-date) and Uganda Cranes (2021- date)
Achievements: Cecafa U-17 bronze, Afcon U20 silver in 2021

Aziz Kayondo | Age 19
Vipers | Defender

Kayondo is a product of St Mary’s, Kitende, and a distinguished member of the national U-20 Hippos squad that won silver at the Afcon.
His rise has been steady. He has been the main man for the left back position preferred ahead of highly-rated Disan Galiwango whenever available.

He ranks ahead of Galiwango because of astute defending and giving the team more balance whenever they go with three at the back.
Kayondo also provides a lot going forward with his crosses. On top of it, he has a good understanding with his fellow Kitende graduates.

Mentions
 Uganda Hippos poster boy Derrick Kakooza (Police). KCCA’s Steven Sserwadda who is on the brink of joining New York Red Bulls in USA’s Major League Soccer. Vipers’ trio of Bobosi Byaruhanga, Najib Yiga and Karim Watambala.

PROFILE
Born: October 6, 2002
Clubs: Vipers JT (2017- 2019), Vipers SC (2019 – date)
National teams: U20 (2019-date) and Cranes (2021- date)
Achievements: Played at the Chan 2020, won silver in 2021 Afcon U20