How politics led to Wankulukuku Stadium launch

Muteesa II Memorial Stadium in Wankulukuku is a multi-purpose facility and one of the oldest in Kampala.

The facility, mostly used for football matches today, also serves as the home ground of Express Football Club.

It has a capacity of 20,200 and is located near Kitebi in central Uganda.

The stadium owes its origin to the political problems that existed between the central government and the Buganda Kingdom in 1959. 

Then, the British colonial administrators were in charge of the central government.

It all started when Buganda Kingdom wanted to use Nakivubo Stadium, established in 1926, for the birthday celebrations of Kabaka Muteesa II. The celebrations were on November 19, 1959.

But the central government also had a different programme on the same day. In the end, officials of either party failed to reach a common position on the way forward.

Kiwanuka plays key role

So, the late Jolly Joe Kiwanuka, who was main architect behind the birth of Express Football Club, decided to mobilize people in Buganda to identify an area where the Kabaka would celebrate his birthday.

The stadium plays host to Express FC home matches. Photo by Mpalanyi Ssentongo

Gustavas Nsubuga, one of the people who saw events unfold, told New Vision in an interview  that Kiwanuka bought materials to put in place a structure where the birthday would be held.

“There was a football match every year whenever Kabaka Muteesa II celebrated his birthday. So the late Kiwanuka mobilized football lovers for the matches,” stated Nsubuga.

“He bought iron sheets that were used to fence a piece of land that had been secured at Wankulukuku for the celebrations.

“It is currently called the Sendi pitch. He went ahead to state that the Sendi pitch would be used for all Kabaka’s functions.” 

Nsubuga went on to say that at the end of the birthday celebrations, Kabaka Muteesa II hailed the late Kiwanuka for the work to have the celebrations held.

The Kabaka decided that over 100 acres in Wankulukuku be used to build a stadium.

So after Kabaka’s move, officials in charge of sports in Buganda Kingdom, sent an engineer to Europe.

The engineer’s task was to consult his hosts so as to come up with the best plan for the stadium.

After receiving the plan, the Buganda Kingdom officials agreed to have construction work start.

A decision was made to name the facility Muteesa II Memorial Stadium.

Gossage Cup, an annual football competition between Kenya, Uganda, Tanganyika (now Tanzania) and Zanzibar, is one of the highly rated competitions held at the stadium when it had just been opened.

The Bika football tournament, also run under the Buganda Kingdom was also held at the stadium.

Athletics and netball championships were also held at the facility.

Express president Bbaale Mugera revealed that the Kabaka appoints trustees to run the stadium. Photo by Mpalanyi Ssentongo

Nsubuga, who is also one of the founders of Express, went ahead and requested the Buganda Kingdom to continue to develop the stadium to better standards since people could easily access the facility.

Bbaale Mugera, who is the Express president, explained how the stadium is managed.

Kabaka’s appointees

”The Kabaka appoints trustees to manage the stadium since it is under the royal family,” Mugera said.

“During Milton Obote’s regime, some properties in Buganda were nationalised and put under the control of KCC (now KCCA) and the stadium was one of the properties.

“When President Yoweri Museveni came to power, the facility was handed back to the royal family. 

“Currently, Kabaka Ronald Mutebi’s sister Sarah Kagere runs it.”

Mugera said there are plans to turn the stadium into a modern facility. 

He also talked about the relationship between Express and the stadium management.

“Express and stadium share the same objectives. Express use stadium as its home although ownership is different. Both parties work hand in hand,” he added.

Passionate about sports

Veteran sports journalist Freddie Ssekitto said, Buganda Kingdom was instrumental in the building of the stadium because the Kabaka was obsessed with sports.

“Since Kabaka Muteesa was passionate about sports, the Kingdom officials saw it fit to name the facility after him,” Ssekitto stated.