Although he has been looked at as one of the lucky people to wear the captain’s armband for the national team with limited talent, Andy Mwesigwa is not a bruised man. He only holds very fond memories about a job in football that gave him life for over 10 years.
Mwesigwa, who was unceremoniously dropped from the Uganda Cranes team after the infamous Marrakech howler when he was shown a red card for hauling Seydouba Soumah of Guinea in a decisive AFCON game, said he has retired a happy man. Although he was ‘pushed’ out of the Cranes in 2013, he voluntarily announced his departure this week as he unveiled his new project, a secondary school sitting on 7 acres at Kakiri in Wakiso district.
A knee injury in January 2017 as he attempted to return to Ordabasy in Kazakhstan, forced him to return home and finalise his school project which was two years behind the schedule.
Mwesigwa started out his career in 1999 at a lower side Busia FC before joining Nile FC the following season. His breakthrough came at Mbale Heroes where Omar Mandela bought him for Shs2m to join SC Villa in 2002.
“Sometimes you have to be lucky because I started playing football for fun only to realize it could offer me life,” Mwesigwa said.
From SC Villa after playing for four seasons, he got several offers from Santos (Brazil), Columbus Crew (USA) and ÍBV Vestmannaeyja but he chose the latter because it offered him a better deal that included a car, house and a sign-on fee of USD1000.
That was the time when he cut his teeth into Uganda’s footballing history from humble beginnings as a boy who grew up with a single mother in biting poverty in a one-roomed staff quarter at Jinja hospital.
“My mother thought the future was in education and she didn’t want to see me play football but now I don’t even feed on books,” said Mwesigwa who holds a diploma in business administration and management at Bethel Training Institute in Jinja.
In 2008, Mwesigwa was named captain of the national team that was playing in the Cecafa tournament and he has won his place among those that have led the Cranes with honour of the armband.
Mwesigwa recalls that it was tough to adjust to conditions of professional football in Europe as he had to sacrifice a lot.
“Talent is nothing without discipline and hard work. In professional football, you don’t play your game but the tactics of the team and the coach,” he added.
As a professional for ten years, he has established a school, transport company and has invested in real estate.
“When I started earning money, I realized I had to think of life after football. I bought land for the school in 2010 off the money I made on the move to Chongqing Lifan and that’s the legacy I want to leave behind,” he said.
Mwesigwa feels that he managed to survive where many Ugandans have failed to stamp their authority because he treated football as a business. He was however accused by critics for being a less gifted player and the red card against Guinea put him on the firing line.
“It wasn’t the first mistake and I know it’s part of the game but I did so many things and I wonder why someone would talk only about that red card,” he noted.
Mwesigwa considers himself to be fortunate because he played for the Cranes and was respected not only by his fellow players but even coaches.
About Mwesigwa:
Date of birth: April 24, 1984
Place of birth: Kamuli, Uganda
Position: Defender
Playing career
1999: Busia
2000: Nile FC
2001-2002: Mbale Heroes
2002–2005: SC Villa
2006–2009: ÍBV
2010: Chongqing Lifan
2011–2014: Ordabasy
2015–2016: Yenicami Ağdelen
2016: Sài Gòn
