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Former Uganda Cranes goalkeeper, coach Kajoba dead
Coach Fred Kajoba is gone. PHOTO/COURTESY
What you need to know:
The nicest of people and an avid storyteller, Kajoba infected everyone he spoke to with a smile that often broke out into endless laughter.
Ugandan football, on Monday, lost one of its most loyal, vocal and most sociable servants - Fred Kajoba - who died in Tanzania where he was a coach.
News of the former Uganda Cranes goalkeeper and goalkeeping coach filtered through like a mini-earthquake.
If you knew or saw him, you must have seen a bright rosary around his neck as he professed his catholic faith throughout the 54+ years of his life.
It’s that faith that saw him thrown out of the Uganda Cranes camp when Kajoba left the team hotel for prayers during the Covid-19 pandemic without seeking permission from the head coach Jonathan McKinstry.
He argued that he didn’t need permission from anyone to pray.
At the time of his death, Kajoba was the goalkeeping coach at Tanzanian Premier League team, Ihefu SC, having joined last October to work under fellow countryman Moses Basena.
In his heyday, he played for Coffee and Simba and was the first choice national team goalkeeper in the mid-90s.
His Simba side reached the 1998 Stanbic Uganda Cup final, then-Kakungulu Cup, losing 2-0 to SC Villa.
After retirement, he lived the rest of his life in the dugout, coaching Simba, Bright Stars, Vipers and working with several national team coaches as the goalkeeping coach overseeing multiple generations of custodians.
The most notable of those is 2016 Caf African footballer of year (based in Africa) Denis Onyango who played at two Africa Cup of Nations.
The nicest of people and an avid storyteller, Kajoba infected everyone he spoke to with a smile that often broke out into endless laughter.
Kajoba was also opinionated and never shy to speak out. That put him on a collision course with administrators.
This included a well-publicized fallout with Vipers after he refused to give up the national team coaching job for the club.
