Lubega: I will miss Axam forever

When Axam Kisekka met his friend Godfrey Lubega in Kampala a few weeks ago, he eagerly talked about his immediate goals of winning a major title like the Mr Central crown this year.

That required him to compete in bigger weights like welterweight. But this time he looked even lighter than his familiar bantamweight.

“He told me he had been sick, but was confident he would recover soon and resume the preps,” Lubega, who won the 2023 Mr Central crown, remembers their last chat.

Next, Kisekka was announced dead on May 16, in a minor health facility in Masaka, after weeks of reportedly battling a migraine. (The details are mazy). He was buried in Kasaali, Rakai district, the following day.

At 33, he was survived by a wife and two children. But his bodybuilding family will remember him as one of the most passionate performers, with a natural smile and a sense of humour.

“I think I first met Axam in 2009, when he joined bodybuilding. But in his first competition he didn’t go beyond the prejudging stage, and he cried. I remember the same coach had brought us to the event. I looked at Axam and felt sorry. I told him he should change the way he trains, and his diet.”

Perhaps, Kisekka heeded, and after the departure of Mubarak Kizito, he became the most dominant bantamweight, which made him a regular in the finals of the regional and Mr Uganda Championships.

Representing Rubaga Club, Kisekka won bantamweight gold at the Mr Uganda 2018 Championship before winning bronze, finishing third in the overall final.

He also won two bantamweight titles at the East African Championships most notably in Mombasa in 2021.

How he will be missed
Coach Tamale Ssali, who has been a judge in almost all the competitions Kisekka has been on stage, said the sport will miss an athlete who was flexible in weights.

“He liked his bantamweight, but often he could try other weights, and whenever you told him ‘this is where you will compete best’, he would oblige. Now there’s that gap.”

Ahead of the 2021 Mr Uganda Championships Lubega and Kisekka were the favourites. But both were shocked by an incredibly improved John Ronald Kariitwa, who bagged gold.

The following year, both improved. But while Lubega finally got the Mr Uganda crown, Kisekka finished fifth. They always joked about Kisekka’s small body vs his big ambitions. “‘You’ll never win major trophies if you stay in those small weights. I’ll never forget those jokes,” Lubega said.

Kisekka, like Lubega, wasn’t a club goer, never drunk or used drugs. “He was clean like that.”

Every gambler knows the secrets to survival, but when Lubega’s luck ran out, he was arrested and detained at Nateete Police Station.

Kisekka did what he could to have his friend released. He also used the moment to emphasise: “vva ku zzaala,” (stop gambling).

When Lubega won the Mr Kampala crown in 2019, Kisekka’s advice finally made sense. “It would sound crazy if Mr Kampala was arrested for petty gambling,” Lubega told us in a previous interview.

Dreams unlived

Offstage and outside the gym, Kisekka was first a taxi conductor. Later, he became a driver, plying the Nateete-Kasenge route.

But he won’t realise his dreams of winning a major title like Mr Central or Mr Uganda crowns.

He won’t compete in the Mr Olympia and Mr Universe, as the professionals he has been idolising on YouTube.

He won’t build a bodybuilding academy in his Nateete hoods, a dream he shared with Lubega.

Whatever happens now, Kisekka will just watch on, smile, perhaps the way he did when Lubega and colleagues pulled off farewell poses ahead of his burial. “Like soldiers, that was our gun salute to him,” Lubega said.

AXAM KISEKKA BRIEFLY

Died: May 16, 2025

Age: 33

Debut: 2009

Favourite division: bantamweight

Best local: bronze, Mr Uganda 2018

Best regional: 4^th place, East Africa 2021