Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) chairman Julius Kabugo has announced his resignation this evening with the side bowing out of the 2017 Total CAF Confederation, Stephen Muneza reports.
KCCA FC lost 4-0 to Club Africain at Stade Olympique Du Races on Friday in their final game of Group A.
Kabugo said not staying on “would continue to scale the heights because of the capacity we have built”.
In a statement, Kabugo said the 2017 Uganda Cup champions would go ahead and to exploit the several opportunities teeming out there. Under his term, KCCA won two league titles in the 2016 and 2017 seasons.
Last November, Kabugo who was the chairman of the interim management committee returned as the chairman of the new board replacing Mike Okua whose three year term expired in April 2015.
Kabugo’s exit is just a fortnight ahead of his erstwhile executive assistant and disgraced Chief Executive Officer, David Tamale who was replaced by a little-known Josephine Namukisa as acting CEO.
Kabugo has been in the middle of negotiations with Dutch side Ajax Amsterdam to sell them KCCA’s 17 year-old winger Allan Okello whose debut hat-trick before a sold-out Philip Omondi Stadium shocked the football world last season. But under his watch, Tom Masiko, son of legendary club captain Charles Baker Masiko, midfielders Ivan Ntege and Sulaimon Akinyemi were chased away by coach Mike Mutebi while striker Robert Ssentongo has also been told he can leave while winger Brian Majwega fell out with the club and handed in a transfer request.
A KCCA Deputy Director Treasurer Service, Kabugo’s administration has been riddled with accusations of financial misappropertaion at the club which runs on a budget of more than Shs4 billion per season.
It’s with great humility that I notify you of my resignation from the position of Chairman of KCCA FC with effect from 1st August 2017.
It’s been a great honour and privilege for me and my family to lead the biggest club in Uganda for the past two years, and I am grateful to God for all the success the team has registered on and off the pitch. Winning six trophies in two years is no small feat! I want to thank the team at the club that I have worked with for the exceptional teamwork both on and off the pitch.
Their tireless efforts have enabled us to turn our club into one of the respected brands on the African continent. Thank you so much for all the sacrifice and the brilliant ideas that you initiated and implemented.
I am also grateful to our fans for the unwavering support over the years. They can now bask in the glory of having all the bragging rights. They certainly deserve their moment in the sun. I salute the fans for standing by the club at all times.
Special appreciation also goes to my bosses at KCCA, the Executive Director Dr. Jennifer Semakula Musisi and His Worship the Lord Mayor of Kampala Hajji Erias Lukwago. Both have accorded me overwhelming support and guidance during my period at the helm of KCCA FC. They gave my team a reason to perform beyond expectations. Thank you so much.
I also extend my heartfelt gratitude to our Sponsors for trusting us with your brands! We have over the years worked so hard to make sure that we match your expectations and we are grateful that we have only received positive feedback from you.
We can only promise so much more in the years to come. I would also want to thank my family, especially my wife, for the support. You have been that very strong pillar that I ever needed. Football is a very consuming responsibility, but the support and encouragement you have given me has been tremendous! Thank you.
I have taken the decision to step down from the position of Chairman KCCA FC because of the work and personal commitments that are increasingly making it hard for me to give my all. I am, however, quite certain that the capacity we have built among ourselves presents a great opportunity to take our club to greater heights.
If I had any doubts in the capacity of the team I have been working with, I wouldn’t have considered this decision at all! I am leaving at a time when our club is in great shape. We are truly in a take off stage, ready to exploit the several opportunities teeming out there.
I therefore urge the fans and everyone associated with our club to accord the new Chairman all the support! I will continue to offer myself whenever called upon to advise and contribute in any way possible for the good of our club.
I thank everyone that has partnered with us in the past two years and beyond. The sheer hard work, commitment and passion of many of you has constantly amazed me. I urge you to continue in the same vein as we enjoy the best times of our club, which are ahead of us.
By embracing the new leadership of our club, we shall unwittingly embrace a bright future and we shall continue to scale the heights because of the capacity we have built.
May God Bless you all and May God Bless KCCA FC
— Julius Raymond Kabugo
