Serunjogi has his work cut out in bid to revive KCCA FC 

The Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) recently appointed Eng Andrew Serunjogi Mukiibi to serve as the new chairman of the KCCA FC board of directors after a five-month search.

Serunjogi replaces Martin Sekagya, who departed the KCCA early this year but had continued to serve as the club’s interim chair because the board of directors had yet to elect a permanent replacement. The club’s charter stipulates that the board chairman must be a KCCA staff.

Aggrey Ashaba, who previously served as vice chairman of the board, had his name referred back to the Authority council standing committee for further scrutiny. Although the new board has not yet been formally introduced by KCCA, intimate sources indicate that it may do so this Friday.

The new board’s tenure will be three years and it is made up of a combination of technical professionals, past football players, supporters, and local officials. Ten people make up the board, but only three of them are new; the others are holdovers from the previous board. Serunjogi (chairman), Nakawa mayor Paul Mugambe and club icon Jackson Mayanja are the fresh faces.

Peter Kibazo, Jeremiah Keeya, Tom Lwanga, Nasifah Nakato, Ivan Kirya and Joseph Kirimanyi are additional board members.

SERUNJOGI, WHO IS HE?

In his position as supervisor, Roads Maintenance at the KCCA, Serunjogi has been with the organisation for more than 12 years. He was part of the KCCA junior team, the City Cubs, in the 1980s and has been a devoted follower of KCCA FC ever then, but he did not advance in his football career.

He is a member of the KCCA staff from the engineering department. It is from this department that KCCA FC was first created. So, Serunjogi takes over the reins at a time when the club is lacking in numerous areas, including management, expertise and vibrancy.

Compared to the reins of Julius Kabugo and Ashaba from 2015 to 2019 in which the club won six major trophies and reached the Caf Champions League group stages, the club did not win any significant awards under Sekagya. KCCA was the best club in the majority of categories, including being the most organised club, and having the best academy, but all of this is past; the club is now in a different era.

This is not to suggest that Sekagya is not given credit for building the Phillip Omondi MTN stadium, even if it did not proceed as planned due to inadequate funds. Until recently, when a foreign coach was introduced, the youth programme had disintegrated and the technical bench was disorganized.

Therefore, it would be wise to streamline the youth programme that earned the club a lot of money in transfers. Due to the termination of a significant sponsorship agreement like that with StarTimes, the club’s finances had also suffered. So, going forward, the stadium’s development should be prioritized by Serunjogi, and it should be completed quickly to enable the club make money from gate receipts and other activities.

The marketing division needs to be reorganized, and subject matter specialists should be hired. What’s more, if the new board is considering moving the Lugogo side back to where it once belonged, the issue of accountability must be crucial. The new board should also stabilize the technical staff by carefully choosing players and tacticians and encourage the former players to join a group so they can continue to be useful to the team.

They ought to choose their own board representation, moving forward. The club should also get rid of the internal politics that have recently threatened to split it apart.

bzziwa@observer.ug