She was known as an iron lady in political circles, but at KCCA FC, she was a messiah who came at the right time to help the club to another level.
During the eight-year tenure of Jennifer Musisi Semakula as KCCA executive director, KCCA FC rediscovered its hunger and winning formula. Between 2011 and 2018, the club returned to its mojo and won virtually all major silverware domestically and regionally. Since then, however, KCCA has struggled to remain a giant.
Right from administration, management and technical issues, KCCA has not been the same. Just recently, Vipers SC humiliated them in the Uganda Cup final to wind up a forgettable season. The way KCCA players crumbled to Vipers like cookies, it was obvious the club needed a leader of Musisi’s mantle to set things moving at Lugogo.
Her support for the club and the motivation to players and technical staff yielded unstoppable results. Despite the crude way the politicians used to describe her, she was charming, honest, plain-speaking, and a go-getter who did everything she could for the club.
Before her arrival at City hall, the club’s administration was wanting, and as a result, she dissolved Bakka Musujja’s KCCA FC executive and replaced it with Michael Okua, who she dropped after two years and appointed Julius Kabugo, who went ahead to cure the long-time disease which had crippled the club.
WHY MUSISI WAS A DARLING
At that time, KCCA FC had won two league titles (1997 and 2008) and just one Uganda Cup title (2004) in 14 years. She made a number of adjustments to the organisation when she first arrived at City Hall, but she also took the time to research the issues facing KCCA FC.
Her first thing was dissolving the club’s executive committee headed by Bakka Musujja and replacing him with Micheal Okua, who headed a new-ly-created club board. Though Okua’s board made some breakthroughs and won both the 2013 and 2014 league titles, she dropped Okua and in April, 2015, appointed Julius Kabugo, who was KCCA’s deputy finance director at the time.
Kabugo swung into action and appointed Josephine Namukisa as the club CEO also replaced coach Abdallah Mubiru with Mike Mutebi. Mutebi assumed the role of the club’s manager and was granted complete control of team affairs.
Kabugo believed that Mutebi would change KCCA’s style of play, which was seen as one-dimensional, to one based on technique and speed. Musisi was a motivator who watched the club’s training sessions at Lugogo, and on many occasions, she gave big bonuses to the players and technical staff before decisive matches.
It was during her time when the club signed lucrative sponsorship deals such as the three-year Shs 3.2bn with Star-Times. The club also secured other sponsorships from MTN, Shell, Britam, Highland Mineral Water and Prime Media, among others. During her reign at the institution, KCCA for the first time claimed a double (League and Cup) in the 2016/2017 season and went ahead to achieve another milestone by featuring in the Africa Champions League in 2017.
THINGS FALL APART
KCCA’s success story was hit by the resignation of both Kabugo and later Musisi. In August 2017, Kabugo resigned after leading the club for two years. His resignation caught many at the club unawares; his deputy, Aggrey Ashaba, replaced him on an interim basis.
The transition seemed to work as the club won the 2018 Uganda Cup. But the bombshell was the resignation of Musisi in December, 2018. Musisi was replaced with Andrew Kitaka, who pledged to bankroll the club as was the case under Musisi.
The club did not only win the 2018/2019 league title but also recaptured the Cecafa Cup. In November 2019, Agaba was replaced by Martin Sekajja. Besides his effort to start the construction of Omondi stadium, the club’s performance declined, and it never won anything during his tenure, which stretched to 2023.
The arrival of Andrew Serunjogi as the club’s new board chair is yet to materialise into a winning formula. Hopefully, Hajati Sharifah Buzeki, the recently-appointed KCCA executive director, will reignite the club passion and fit in Musisi’s shoes. That will require requisite funding and restructuring of club management. Only then can the club to bounce back.
See? It all boils down to leadership.
The media should stop blaming players and coaches only for results on the green grass.
Good logistics and planning go along way and it starts at the top.
Over to you FUFA.