The curious case of Ibrahim Kasule: Why do Uganda's exports keep coming home?

The answer to KCCA problems arrived last week from New York with the unveiling of new signing Ibrahim ‘Owen’ Kasule on a two-year contract, but questions as to why the playmaker is returning home when his career should be moving up are making the rounds in football circles beyond the Phillip Omondi Stadium.

KCCA coach Brian Ssenyondo cannot be faulted for his excitement. He is under pressure to deliver silverware, and Kasule is an obvious upgrade to anything in his creative department.

“Kasule is a special talent and a player who perfectly fits the identity we are building at KCCA FC,” said Ssenyondo.

“He brings exceptional quality on the ball, sharpness in the final third, and the composure needed in games. I believe his time playing in the MLS system has matured him significantly. Having a player of his caliber in midfield gives us new tactical dimensions.”

Kasule seemed delighted to return home, three years after his surprise move to New York Red Bulls II via Turkey’s Ankara Keçiörengücü.

Kasule continues a trend of Ugandan footballers who leave for greener pastures only to quickly return either to settle for good or to revive their careers and cash in on another move.

With the 2027 AFCON looming large, Kasule’s move feels like the latter. The plan seems to include a successful campaign in the Uganda Premier League, followed by a call-up to Uganda’s AFCON roster, where an impressive performance in the continental tournament would open all manner of possibilities.

Well, the trajectory is fairly realistic, but is it really why Kasule is back in the UPL? Is it the reason Farouk Miya, Fahad Bayo, and Frank Ssebuufu are all back here? Are they coming or going? Oh, by the way, where is Travis Mutyaba, and what is really going on with Brian Ijara?

The questions are endless, but what if those are actually the wrong questions to ask? After all, if all the best exports from Ugandan football keep returning with nothing to write home about, doesn’t that simply point to a systemic failure?

Uganda’s under-age teams do well in international competitions, but players never replicate the success when they graduate to senior ranks, where they don’t have the advantage of playing against much younger competitors.

Uganda has talented young footballers; it just doesn’t have administrators who believe in them enough to give them a real chance to succeed. It is much cheaper to slash a few years off a player’s passport age than to invest four or five years in turning a 14-year-old into a legitimately gifted 18-year-old. Our schools, clubs and FUFA all think this way.

The rot reaches all the way to the university and Masaza Cup competitions, where tales of wizardry further highlight a football culture convinced there are shortcuts to success.

Almost 50 years after reaching the AFCON Final, Uganda will co-host the tournament with Kenya and Tanzania next year. But instead of a team capable of walking in the footsteps of Jimmy Kirunda and Co., FUFA will present a patchwork of an outfit that the country will be hoping makes it out of the group phase.

Because as the likes of Kasule have shown, the clock keeps moving backwards for Ugandan football.