Kasozi rapidly raising of Kitara on and off the field

The turnaround for Kitara FC, a team that went down at the end of 2021 with just three wins all season, is taking the league by lightning speed. A combination of pieces have fallen in place including the hiring of capable coach Brian Ssenyondo.
At the moment, Santa doesn't have time and he's got to deliver the gifts for the passionate fans of Kitara, who call themselves the "Pride of Bunyoro". Sitting second on the Premier League log after seven matches, they are prepared for the big fight on their hands.
Multi-skilled lawyer Deo Akiiki Kasozi has twitched a few things making Kitara into one of the hottest tickets around.
Kasozi, a 39-year-old administrator with the Judiciary, born and raised in Kijungu, Hoima City has not only boosted Kitara's image on the field, but off it as well. Merchandise sales have increased so has the attendance of their home games. And star power is flocking to the Oil City giving Kitara a lot of prominence.
"The atmosphere was astonishing. It was grand," said Josh Abooki, the club CEO when Kitara beat KCCA 3-1 at their temporary home at Masindi Municipal Stadium. "It was tremendous to see all the celebs hailing from Bunyoro come around. It was tremendous. And seeing the boys put up a spirited fight was unbelievable."
 
Focused
Kasozi, who replaced Godfrey Bamwenda, has been the chairman of Kitara since July 2022 but prior he was the vice president in charge of finance. He also supported grassroots football teams in Hoima both for passion and business.
“I have a lot of interest in promoting the club [Kitara] in Hoima. My major target is business. I know football is growing around the world and I should be able to make money. What inspires me is that the future is bright and the upcoming Afcon will be a good way to market our talent,” Kasozi said in an interview.
Equating football investment to planting a forest, Kasozi, who only played school football, said he will patiently wait for his efforts to pay off.
Kitara was founded in 2010 but was first promoted to the Uganda Premier League during the 2020/21 season and finished bottom of the log before the league was abandoned with three games to play because of the Covid-19 pandemic. They were relegated alongside Kyetume, with Myda winning just three games the whole season. Their first win came in matchday 13 against Wakiso Giants (3-2), their only victory in the first round. Other wins were against Kyetume (4-2) on matchday 21 and Myda (3-1) with five rounds to round off the season.
At the time, Kitara hosted their home games at Kavumba Recreation Centre in Wakiso which affected the club’s finances. Kitara.
“It was a nightmare for us and this partly explains why the club was not performing well,” said Kasozi.
The club would return to their home ground Kigaya in Hoima for the Big League promotion bid and collected a sum of more than Shs320m at the gate. The merchandising raised more than Shs40m.
With a top-five finish as the target, Kitara is riding high.
“The time is right for us. We have fans coming to our games which is giving the players morale. As leaders, we are looking at sustainability,” Kasozi said.
Kasozi said that the growing passion is paying dividends as they have realised more than Shs77m in three home league games at a gate fee of Shs5,000.
“Our target is the top five and that means that we shall be competing in the league. We have to get better results and so far we have done it,” Kasozi said.
Clubs are sustainable with the right human resource which Kasozi says they have in plenty. Kitara has five full time employees including the CEO and his deputy, as well as the accountant.
 
The club model
After every game, Kitara declares gate collections to the fans in a period of less than two hours.
“When I came in, all the money that would be collected at games was never announced. Money was spent as received. I ensured that this changed and the office of gate collection started making e-tickets which eased our work of revenue collection. At the end of the season, we can easily establish the revenue we have accumulated,” Kasozi said.
He explained that they are trying to build on that revenue collection to be able to establish their own stadium which is under construction. The pitch has already been planted with grass at the 20,000-seater stadium. The people of Bunyoro are contributing towards the stadium construction and have so far raised more than Shs45m for bricks to build a perimeter wall.
“As a legacy of my presidency, I want to see the stadium project completed soon. I want to ensure sustainability in my last year of office and as part of sustainability, I want to ensure that the stadium is ready which can be a sure source of revenue in the future,” Kasozi explained.
 
The oil dollars
Hoima City is in the heart of oil extraction with petroleum-related businesses starting to pick up. According to Kasozi, the benefits are already flowing to football.
He said that one of their sponsors, Jonard Conglomerate, deals in oil drilling equipment. Other club sponsors include Kinyara Sugar, and smaller sponsors who reward the man of the match.
“By being in the Oil City, even the President ordered the construction of a stadium and an airport, the second international airport in Uganda. So directly Kitara is benefitting,” Kasozi added.
 
Recruitment
Kitara retains the crème de la crème of Bunyoro. Goalkeepers Chris Kusiima and Jamil Kiyimba are sons of the soil as well as Benjamin Nyakoojo, who hails from Tooro. Others are striker Brian Aheebwa, a born of Masindi, Frank ‘Zaga’ Tumwesigye, Kabon Living [from Buliisa], defender David Kasaija, and Dudu Ramathan, among others.
“What we first did is that all the good players who are from Bunyoro come back. The starting lineup of 23 has a fair representation of the region. But in order to compete, we need to have the right combination of players. We’re aware that our region has insufficient talent compared to Buganda, West Nile, Acholi, Lango, and Busoga,” he said.
But the club continues to spend a lot of money on transfers. This season they hired the services of such players as Paul Mucurezi, Jude Ssemugabi, Brian Aheebwa, Denis Omedi, Solomon Okwalinga, and Tumwesige, among others, which creates pressure on the club finances.
Kitara’s feeder is Radiant School which they use for the U17 league.
Kasozi has acquired land in Mukono where he hopes to establish a professional academy. He plans to open it in 2027.
Citing the case of AS Vita and TP Mazembe in Congo, he hopes to use his academy as a feeder for Kitara.
 
Good for the title?
It’s already early and some fans are already asking for the trophy. According to Kasozi, it is too ambitious.
“Of course, we have signs of being champions, and the way we’re behaving in terms of signings and preparations, we’re like champions. But I don’t want to put the pressure on the fans and the technical team. To ask them to be champions is really too much. We want to finish in the best five this season. If the trophy comes, it will be an added advantage,” he said.
 
Future
On the last day of the Big League when Kitara was promoted to the Premier League, more than 15,000 fans paid to attend the game. Kasozi says they have a long way to go in documenting their fans as only 1,630 are registered with the club paying a one-time fee of Shs20,000.
“That’s a weakness on our side but it is important to have our fans registered. But I want to attach value to membership by creating clusters that can help us generate more money,” he said.
The team is supported by most prominent politicians, businessmen, and kingdom officials in the area including Hoima City Mayor Brian Kaboyo, who is also the first Vice President as well as Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja and music promoter Balaam Barugahara. The team was given a bus worth Shs350m by President Museveni.
His father Francis Matovu, 74, still watches all the club’s games while the influence of her mother Joan, a staunch Catholic, helped them get airtime on Radio Maria where she volunteers. Other games are broadcast on Spice FM, Radio 4, and NBS Masindi.
“We want this club to become theirs officially. We also intend to start charging matches at Shs10,000 to be able to match the status of Premier League clubs. Our role is to build the confidence of the fans. If the club is run so well, we can generate more money to win the trophy,” he said.

Kitara
Founded: 2010
Status: Community club
Nickname: The Royals
Home ground: Masindi Municipal Stadium
President: Deo Kasozi
Head coach: Brian Ssenyondo
UTILITY
Kitara report card
Villa 1-2 Kitara
Kitara 1-0 UPDF
Gaddafi 1-2 Kitara
Kitara 3-1 KCCA
Wakiso Giants 1-3 Kitara
Kitara 0-1 Maroons
URA 2-2 Kitara