How Harambee Stars duo lit up Ugandan football

A number of foreign footballers have played in Ugandan topflight or Ugandan clubs and some for even the Cranes team.

Notable among these are Congolese-born Zazak Lingaya, and Kenyan strikers Maurice Sunguti and Bernard Mwalala. Both played for SC Villa, with the former also playing for Express, writes Robert Mugagga.

Maurice Sunguti 

Sunguti first made his name in football when donning the famous blue and white colours of Kenyan giants AFC Leopards.

He is considered among the club’s greatest players alongside Francis Kadenge, JJ Masiga, Wilberforce Mulamba, Peter Luchungu, Reginald Asibwa and John Busolo.

He left Leopards and crossed the border into Uganda in 1999 to join Express. Sunguti spent two seasons at Wankulukuku without winning a major title.

His next destination was Red Eagles’ rivals SC Villa. At Villa Park, Sunguti was part of a formidable side that terrorised the league and won everything.

He won two consecutive league titles with Villa in 2001 and 2002 plus Uganda Cup honours in the latter year.

He scored a 75th minute league goal against Express at Namboole which Express fans disputed and the game was abandoned as teargas and stones filled the airspace.

Referee Fred Kakooza Mutagubya had stuck to his guns confirming that Sunguti’s goal was indeed genuine. Later, the match was awarded to SC Villa.

He didn’t stay there for long and soon headed home to Kenya, joining Tusker. He hardly played a season with the Brewers when a Swedish club Friska Vijor spotted and signed him.

Sunguti was at Friska between 2003 and 2005. In 2006 Nam Dinh of Vietnam came calling and he went to the Far East.

A nomad, in 2007, he returned to Africa and joined Yanga of Tanzania. There, he won two consecutive league titles and thus checking on the dominance of rivals Simba. Yanga dropped him in 2009, rendering him a free agent.

For Kenya, Sunguti played for the Harambee Stars between 1997 and 2005. His first cap came when he was just 19 on July 18, 1998.

This was a World Cup qualifier against Burkina Faso away in Ouagadougou.

Among his colleagues for Kenya were Mike Okoth, Duncan Ochieng, Andrew Oyombe, Tom Juma, Moses Gikenyi, Phillip Opiyo, Denis Oliech, Robert Mambo, Titus Mulama and Adam Shaban. Together, they qualified for the 2004 Africa Cup of Nations under coach Jacob “Ghost” Mulee.

Kenya finished third in their group behind Mali, Senegal and Burkina Faso. He was also part of the Harambee Stars team at Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup tournaments of 1999, 2001 and 2003.

Sunguti registered 32 caps for Kenya and scored 14 goals. His last match for Kenya was played in 2005 and ended in a 2-2 draw against Ghana. He retired from the national team aged 27.  

After retiring, Sunguti decided to give back to soccer by founding a soccer academy he named Syokimau soccer academy..

Sunguti fact file

Date of birth: October 6, 1977

Height: 1.69 m (5 ft 7 in)

Position: Striker

Teams

1995–1997: AFC Leopards

1999–2000: Express              

2001–2002: SC Villa              

2003: Tusker                

2003–2005: Friska Viljor        

2006–2007: Nam Định           

2007–2009: Young Africans  

Bernard Mwalala

Mwalala is one of the sharpest foreign strikers to ever play in the Ugandan league. Before moving here from Kenya, he originally played for Nzoia Sugar between 2001 and 2002.

At the beginning of the 2003 season, Mwalala was signed by SC Villa and won the 2003 and 2004 league titles.
Did you know that SC Villa last won the Ugandan league in 2004 when Bernard Mwalala was still with the club?

That side had Denis Onyango, Hannington Kalyesubula, Andy Mwesigwa, Timothy Batabaire, Robert Tumusiime, Phillip Obwin, Edgar Watson, Simon Masaba, Hakim Magumba, Nathan Mutenza, Joseph Kabagambe, Phillip Ssozi, Augustine Nsumba and Morley Byekwaso.

Mwalala’s best moment with SC Villa definitely came in 2005 when he helped them win the Cecafa Kagame Cup in Tanzania. He won the golden boot too, netting six times.

Under the guidance of coach Sam Timbe, Villa beat Rwanda’s APR 3-0 in the final. He was part of Villa’s attacking trio that also had Robert Ssentongo and Dan Wagaluka.

After Ssentongo had opened the scoring, Mwalala got the second goal when he outpaced APR defender Hamis Yusuf before beating keeper Aime Ndizeye with a low shot from inside the area.

Mwalala wrapped up things for Villa in stoppage time finding the target from a low left wing cross swung in by Caesar Ssempijja.

Earlier on, he scored the lone goal for Villa in the opening match against Simba and later a hat-trick against Elman of Somalia.

In January 2006, Mwalala left Villa for Young Africans of Tanzania where he had a short spell before being signed by Rayon Sport of Rwanda.

Malaysian dreams

A year later, he was on the move again, Malaysian club Porm FA signed him but midway in the season he returned to Yanga and stayed there until 2009. He would then return to Uganda in 2010, rejoining Villa. By now, Mwalala was different from the agile player of five years prior. With the second coming not impressive, he moved to Tanzania’s Coastal Union in 2011.

A hip injury brought a premature end to the 28-year old’s career. “I thought it was just a normal injury which would heal within a short period, but it turned out to be the one that would end my career,” Mwalala told KweséESPN.

From then on, Mwalala has been coaching at several clubs. Widely acclaimed, he has coached Kenyan side Bandari and Nzoia Sugar.

After numerous visits to hospital, he was advised to undergo surgery, which he declined, and ultimately decided to hang up his boots.

“I didn’t see that coming,” he continued. “I believed that it was a minor problem, when I was advised to undergo a hip replacement procedure I decided it was time to end my playing career.”

Previously an explosive striker with excellent finishing instincts, Mwalala’s 12-year playing career-which had included stints in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Malaysia and Oman - was over.

When he called time on his career, the Kenya international hadn’t countenanced a future as a coach, and was still household name in Tanzanian football after winning two league titles in 2006 and 2007 with Yanga.

In his first season as Nzoia boss, the Millers finished fifth in the National Super League (NSL) and the following season they returned to the Kenyan Premier League after finishing top in NSL with 92 points from 38 games, nine ahead of second-placed Kariobangi Sharks.

Following his stints in Magomeni, Muweza, Coastal Union, Nzoia Sugar and now Bandari, Mwalala’s career has grown in stature.

The injury that forced him to hang up his boots is now a distant memory, and the youngster is fast becoming one of Africa’s coaches to watch.

Mwalala at a glance

Played for SC Villa, Yanga (Tanzania) and Rayon Sport (Rwanda)

Helped Villa win the 2005 Cecafa Kagame Cup

He was top scorer at the 2005 Cecafa Kagame Cup

Won two league titles at Yanga in 2006 and 2007

Post-retirement, Mwalala has coached Bandari and Nzoia Sugar

Led Bandari to Kenya domestic cup in 2012

This article first appeared on the Daily Monitor of Uganda.