This is my year: Agnes Nabukenya

At 15, the Senior Three student is the FUFA Women Super League’s Most Valuable Player (MVP) for 2023/2024. She is also the top scorer of the season with ten goals firmly tucked under her belt.

Consistency, determination and hard work define Nabukenya. For the 2023/2024 season, she played a crucial role as Kawempe clinched the FUFA Women Super League title for the 2023/2024 season after defeating Kampala Queens 2-0 in May. The win ended the club’s six-year trophy drought.

“I feel happy about those achievements. When I scored two goals against Kampala Queens, I expected to be named the top scorer. But, being named MVP came as a complete surprise. It is my first time to win such an award, although this is my third season,” says the midfielder.

A month earlier, Nabukenya had delivered an outstanding performance in the Uganda Muslim Education Association Solidarity Games (UMEA) title, where she concluded the tournament with 26 goals.

Early beginnings

Football has always been an integral part of Nabukenya’s life. As a child, her father – who was an avid player – always took her along whenever he went to the village playground in Mityana to play football.

“My father, John Lubega, was not a professional football player, but he loved the game. He did not care that I was a girl; he just took me along with him. He would travel to villages in Mubende, pick up young boys and bring them to Mityana to play against his club. I was six-years-old at the time, and even when he was away from home, I would walk to the playground alone to play with the boys,” she says.

At the time, her mother was living abroad. However, when she returned, she took Nabukenya away from her father. She did not see him again for many years.

A mother’s apprehension and support

Initially, because they were just getting to know each other, Nabukenya’s mother did not stop her from playing football.

“I did not really know her since I had been living with my father. We did not connect, but she encouraged me to play. Whenever I visited relatives in another town, after greeting them, I would walk out of the house to look for the nearest playground where boys were playing football. I would watch them, itching to kick that ball. And even if they stepped on my toes or kicked me, I did not mind,” she reminisces with a smile on her face.

However, when she spent the whole day playing football, her mother almost beat her, threatening to forbid her from playing the game.

“My aunt stopped her, convincing her that football is a valuable game. My mother had been listening to people who told her a girl should not be allowed to play boys’ games. She was discouraged. But, I knew that even if she beat me, I would be in that playground the next afternoon, playing the game. I was the kind of child who was always in the group of pupils being punished for playing in the compound during class time,” she says.

It was at that time that a coach, who’s name she does not remember, noticed her talent and approached her mother about enrolling her in a school that prioritises girls’ football.

“Although I enjoyed playing the game and watching it on TV with my father, I did not know much about football. I did not even know the local football stars. Actually, at the time, I thought I was the first girl to play football, until I joined that coach’s academy,” Nabukenya says.

She attended the coach’s football academy every holiday.

In Primary Five, she joined St Noa Girls Junior School in Zzana, along Entebbe road on a sports bursary.

“Coach Cranmer Kitenda of the school’s football club asked if I wanted to join the team. I jumped on the opportunity. He called my mother and told her to bring me a jersey and sports shoes. I was surprised when she complied and brought the items on visiting day. I thought she had come to cane me,” she says.

Nabukenya’s mother and Coach Kitenda bonded and vowed to grow her talent and education. In 2019, when St Noa scrapped off girls’ football, she joined Mukono Parents Primary School on a sports bursary.

Joining Kawempe Muslim Ladies FC

In 2021, Coach Kitenda took her to Kawempe Muslim Secondary School for trial games. Her impressive performance caught the attention of the technical bench, who included Coach Moses Nkata. She was quickly enrolled on a sports bursary. 

“I first saw her in her Primary Seven vacation. After watching her play, I did not think she would go far. Yes, she knew how to kick the ball, but there were so many things lacking in her skill. But she has proved to be hardworking. I am impressed by the rate at which she pushes herself to do better. Her attitude is also good, because even on days when the team is off, you will find her in the field training,” Coach Nkata says.

Although she found girls in the school who played much better football than she did, Nabukenya was not daunted because she wanted to learn from them and surpass their skills.

“I found girls like Hadija Nandago (U-20 Queen Cranes captain), Shakirah Nyinagahirwa (MVP 2022/2023) and Samali Nakachwa. They were really good but they played the same style. I learned what I could from them, and then, I developed my own style,” she says.

However, her mother’s death during the third term holidays of her Senior One almost derailed her talent. After the burial, her mother’s relatives were fighting to claim her, but with a caveat – she had to stop playing football because according to them, it is not a feminine game.

“My mother’s death hurt me. She was not sick so I did not have the chance to say goodbye. She was murdered in her home. I hated her relatives because I did not really know them and I did not know if she had a good or bad relationship with them. I kept thinking one of them had killed her,” Nabukenya says. 

The day before her death, Nabukenya’s mother had called Coach Kitenda and like someone who had an inkling of what was going to happen, bequeathed her daughter to him.

“She told me to take Nabukenya to my home so that she could play football during the holidays and not put on weight. I agreed but told her the girl should stay with her in the first week of the holidays before she traveled to my home in Kakooge in Nakasongola district. When I called her the next day to pick Nabukenya from school, she did not answer the phone. She had been killed,” he says.

Standing firm on the promise he made to further Nabukenya’s education and football talent, Coach Kitenda stood up to her relatives.

“They tried to threaten me with arrest but I stood firm and told them I would look after the girl. I knew they could not afford to take her to a decent school. Her tuition fee at Kawempe Muslim Secondary School is Shs1.4 million. What if they took her to a school that asks for only Shs7,000 as school fees? Nabukenya was depressed. I grew up without a mother so I understood what she was going through,” he asks. 

Now, during holidays, Nabukenya spends one week at her aunt’s home in Ggangu, Wakiso district, and then the remainder of the holiday is spent with other girls at Coach Kitenda’s academy in Nakasongola. While the coach provides scholastic materials, her aunt provides everything else that a girl needs.

A father’s indifference

Since she was taken from him when she was seven-years-old, Nabukenya only saw her father again last year.

“Every time I tried to call him, my mother would get very angry with me. I still loved my father. Eventually, I stopped. His phone never went through anyway. I think it was stolen. After my mother’s death, I tried to reach out but he did not seem interested in getting to know me and establishing a relationship,” she says. 

Although she spends most of her time with Coach Kitenda, Nabukenya’s father has never seen his daughter’s guardian.

“I think he should be the one to look for his daughter or the person looking after her. We searched for him and eventually found him. When I called him, he promised to send money to transport his child to visit him in the village. He never sent the money. It was his brother who took the child to visit him. I keep telling Nabukenya not to write him off because in spite of the fact that her parents separated or that maybe he cannot support her, he is still her father,” Coach Kitenda says.

Unfortunately, her father does not know the fruits of the seed he planted many years ago when he took his daughter to football games. Nabukenya’s international career is taking shape. In 2023, she made her debut on the U-18 Teen Cranes in the Cecafa Championship game against Tanzania. 

“I have made many friends because of this game. I remember at the start of this season when I was goal hungry and depressed. I was not scoring enough, but a friend, Yudaya, encouraged me and now, the awards I got inspire me to work harder,” she says.

The challenges

In August when other students will be in school, Nabukenya will be playing in the East Africa Secondary Schools games (2024 FEASSSA Games) as well as in the CAF Women’s Champions League Zonal Qualifiers in Ethiopia.

“I worry that the school can take away my bursary if I do not perform well in class. On the other hand, the coach says he needs footballers that can win trophies. The pressure is great but I try to manage it by getting the school timetable before the term starts. However, if I am to play, I cannot focus on my education. If a league game is to be played on Sunday, I can revise my books from Monday to Friday. After that, it is only football on my mind.”

She says this method has helped her right from primary school. The 2024/2025 FUFA Women Super League season is also expected to kick off in September.

“I always train early in the morning and evening. In the middle of the day, I study. However, if we are traveling out of the country, I always make sure to do extra reading,” she says.

Her other challenge are the simple-looking knee injuries that turn out to be worrying after a day or so.

Nabukenya’s biggest dream is to play for the senior national women’s team, Crested Cranes, like her role model, Fauzia Najjemba, who captains the team.

“Fauzia is serious and focused. She tries so hard to make her team win. I want to be like that. If I am the top scorer with ten goals this year, next year I want to win with 15 goals. I want to play for an international club,” she says.

Najjemba also plays as a striker for Russian Women’s Football Championship club, ZFK Dynamo Moscow. 

Playing for clubs

However, her coaches do not believe she is ready to play club football

“Many schools and clubs have approached me with money offers for Nabukenya. But I have consistently refused,” Coach Kitenda says, adding “I cannot put a child in a football club, unless it is a school club. A football club will not bother to educate her. At least here I can monitor her performance in class. Yes, we play football, but a bad injury will stop you from playing. You never know where your education can take you.”

Coach Nkata agrees, saying, “She is still young and there is time for her to improve her game. She gives good defensive headers but she does not score well. With more work and with time, she will improve. But she has done well this season and lifted our team. For now, she should focus on her education, and think of joining clubs when she is in an institution of higher learning.”

Coach Kitenda has his work cut out for him. He says the midfielder is good at long-range free kicks and knows how to pass the ball. But, because she is not a fast runner, sometimes he lets her play in the boys’ team, to increase her speed because men’s football is faster and more aggressive.