Mugisha was born on March 3, 1959 to Mathias and Antonia Gasasira in the Kampala outskirt of Bunamwaya in Makindye-Ssabagabo municipality. Mugisha’s football talent was spotted at an early age while he was a learner at Bunamwaya primary school.
He completed his primary school at Police Children School and when he joined Old Kampala SS in 1974, together with his brother Francis Kasasira, talent spotters at the time led by coach Raphael Bwire deployed him to play as a sweeper for the school team.
In those days, being a sweeper was a trendy, stylish role, having been popularized by the great German footballer Franz Beckenbauer. This perfectly fitted the slender Mugisha, who expended little energy and power to impact the game.
CLUB CAREER
In 1977, he joined Uganda Transport Company (UTC) FC, whose star player was giant striker Davis Kamoga, but within no time, Mugisha, at just 17 years, had risen to become one of the most recognizable figures in the team. His excellent passing and ball control artistry wooed Coffee FC to sign him up, on top of offering him a job.
At Coffee FC, he created a superb camaraderie with Rogers Semere to rediscover the club’s lost glory. In fact, his best performances always came against KCC, the biggest domestic club at the time. Not only did he use to destroy their midfield at will, he also regularly scored against them to make their star-studded side look ordinary.
In 1978, a move was initiated by some top KCC officials and fans to sign Mugisha from Coffee to replace the injury-prone duo of Angelo Dotte and William Kityo, but Coffee officials resisted.
Later in the year, Cranes coach Peter Okee summoned Mugisha for Cecafa Cup preparations in Malawi but cut him out of the final team in favour of the more experienced pair Mike Kiganda and Nsereko.
That Cranes team would go on to finish runners-up at the 1978 Africa Cup of Nations. However, in 1979, Mugisha had established himself as the best defensive midfielder in the country, and his inclusion in the Cranes side, which played in the Kenya-hosted Cecafa tournament, didn’t surprise anyone.
JOINING KCC FC
When several top KCC FC players joined the paid ranks in the United Arab Emirates in 1980, a void was created at the club and KCC finally signed their prized asset in Mugisha. Upon signing for the club, Mugisha cunningly disclosed that the reason he performed so well against KCC was to make the club officials appreciate his talent and fulfil his childhood dream of putting on KCC’s famed yellow jersey.
He was swiftly deployed in the midfield alongside the great Moses Nsereko. Thereafter, KCC became unbeatable, and Mugisha enjoyed every minute of his time with the club as they won multiple domestic titles.
Throughout his Cranes career, Mugisha always paired alongside Nsereko in the midfield, and when the veteran Nsereko lost steam, Mathew Lucha or Moses Ndaula stepped up to partner Mugisha. Mugisha won several titles with KCC but, on the flipside, he did not enjoy much success with The Cranes, which went through a turbulent time in the eighties.
Mugisha’s lowest point was when Cranes coach Barnabas Mwesiga dropped him for the 1985 Cecafa tournament held in Zimbabwe. When Nsereko retired in 1985, Mugisha’s form also scaled down as his new midfield partners Peter Wandyette, Tom Lwanga and later George Nsimbe could not reignite the fireworks in him. After the 1987 season, he left KCC to join Bell FC.
SHIFT TO COACHING
In 1990, Mugisha guided Bell FC to the top-flight and in the process, he hung up his boots to take up the reins as Bell FC head coach. After a stellar two years at Bell, KCC FC poached him in October, 1992 as head coach. He swung into action and built a new squad, which went on to win the 1993 Uganda Cup.
In 1994, his KCC side finished third in the league and in 1994, they narrowly lost the Uganda Cup title to Express FC after spot-kicks. With bitter rivals SC Villa and Express growing from strength to strength at the time, KCC FC management sought to reshuffle its technical ranks and Mugisha threw in the towel before he was pushed.
In April, 1996, Mugisha was elected as vice chairman of the KCC fans club but in April, 1997, he made a surprise comeback on the KCC technical team as the club’s technical advisor.
KCC, under the tutelage of Tom Lwanga, went on to win the 1997 league title, but the following year, the duo was dropped. At the Fufa 1998 polls, Mugisha contested and became one of the Fufa delegates from Nakawa division.
However, in 2001, it emerged that he had health issues and he was in and out of the hospital until June 22, 2001, when he breathed his last at Mulago hospital. Mugisha was buried at the family cemetery at Bunamwaya.
QUICK FACTS ABOUT MUGISHA
• Born March 23, 1959, to Mathias and Antonia Gasasira of Bunamwaya in Makindye-Ssabagabo municipality.
• He went to Bunamwaya PS, Police Children School and Old Kampala SS.
• He married Harriet Kibazo, and the couple had three children: Irene Mirembe Mugisha, Douglas Mugisha and Duncan Mugisha. Liam Tristan Bugeme is a grandson.
• He played for UTC, Coffee and KCC.
• He won three league titles with KCC (1981, 1983 and 1985) as well as three Uganda Cup titles (1982, 1984 and 1987).
• He played for the Uganda Cranes between 1979 and 1985. He coached two clubs (Bell and KCC FC).
• On September 15, 1989, he was hanging out with Moses Nsereko at Wampewo flats when gunmen killed the latter.
• His father played football for Tobacco FC.
• His siblings Francis Kasasira (Bell), Alex Mugisha (Mbale Heroes) and Joseph Kasana (Uganda Clays) also played top-level football.
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