Nairobi United will begin the 2026-27 Kenyan Premier League season with an unmistakable Ugandan presence after assembling one of the biggest contingents of Ugandan players at a single Kenyan club in recent years.
Uganda Cranes striker Muhammad Shaban became the latest addition when he was unveiled on Tuesday, joining a growing group that already includes Mustafa Kizza, Titus Ssematimba, Charles Waibi, Shafik Ssebyala, Gavin Kizito and Joseph Seremba.
Shaban’s arrival takes the Ugandan contingent at Nairobi United to seven and underlines the club’s increasingly deliberate recruitment from across the border.
The former Onduparaka, KCCA, Raja Casablanca, Vipers and Kitara forward had initially been linked with a return to URA after leaving Kitara, before Nairobi United moved to secure his services.
His arrival also strengthens an ambitious Nairobi United side that finished fourth in its first season in the Kenyan top flight and has since undergone a major overhaul ahead of the new campaign.
Seremba, another former NEC player, has also joined during the current window, while Kizito was unveiled last week after leaving KCCA following the expiry of his contract.
Kizza, Ssematimba and Waibi had made the same journey earlier, joining Nairobi United from NEC during the January transfer window.
The connection is particularly interesting considering Nairobi United came face-to-face with several of those players when they eliminated NEC from the CAF Confederation Cup last season.
Kizza, Waibi, Seremba and Ssematimba were all part of NEC’s squad during that continental tie, while Ssebyala was already representing Nairobi United.
Less than a year later, several of them are now on the same side.
The Ugandan presence in Kenya extends beyond Nairobi United. AFC Leopards also head into the new campaign with three Ugandans in their ranks: experienced midfielder Taddeo Lwanga, goalkeeper Tom Ikara and forward Sam Ssenyonjo.
Ikara joined after leaving BUL, while Lwanga crossed from Vipers as Leopards reinforced a squad expected to challenge for honours.
KCCA also confirmed the trio as part of the Leopards squad ahead of their recent pre-season friendly in Nairobi.
For Ugandan footballers, Kenya has long represented one of the most familiar destinations outside the domestic league.
The short travelling distance, similar football culture and opportunity to feature for some of East Africa’s most supported clubs have repeatedly attracted Ugandan players.
But the relationship goes far deeper than numbers; several Ugandans have travelled to Kenya and left as recognised figures in the country’s football history.
Dan Sserunkuma remains perhaps the clearest example. After crossing from Uganda to Nairobi City Stars in 2011, the forward moved to Gor Mahia the following year and rapidly became one of the Kenyan league’s outstanding players.
Sserunkuma was voted the 2012 KPL Player of the Year before playing an influential role as Gor Mahia ended an 18-year wait for a league championship in 2013.
He followed that success by finishing as the league’s top scorer with 16 goals in 2014 as Gor Mahia retained the championship.
Defender Ivan Anguyo also enjoyed significant success in Kenya and was named the league’s Defender of the Year in 2012 while at Gor Mahia. He later also represented AFC Leopards and KRA.
Godfrey Walusimbi became another hugely popular Ugandan at Gor Mahia, while midfielders Geoffrey Kizito and Khalid Aucho also established themselves at the Kenyan giants before taking their careers elsewhere.
Shafik Batambuze spent several years in Kenyan football with clubs including Western Stima, Sofapaka, Tusker and Gor Mahia, while players such as Jimmy Bageya, Hamza Muwonge, George Abege and Lawrence Kasadha were also among generations of Ugandans who found opportunities across the border.
Their success ensured that Ugandan footballers were never regarded as strangers in Kenya. What makes Nairobi United’s current recruitment notable, however, is the concentration.
Seven Ugandans potentially occupying the same dressing room is not simply a case of individual players moving abroad. It suggests a club increasingly viewing Uganda as an important recruitment market.
Nairobi United have recruited aggressively after finishing fourth last season, with new coach Patrick Aussems taking charge of a squad expected to challenge the country’s traditional powers.
Their transfer business has included more than a dozen arrivals, with Ugandans occupying important positions across defence, midfield and attack.
Kizito and Kizza provide international experience at the back, Seremba and Ssematimba offer options in midfield, while Shaban adds an established goalscorer to the attack.
For the players, the move also provides another route beyond the Uganda Premier League without requiring the cultural and geographical adjustment associated with moving much further abroad.
Whether this latest generation can replicate the achievements of Sserunkuma, Walusimbi and others will be determined over the coming seasons.
What is already clear is that as another Kenyan campaign begins, Uganda’s influence will again be difficult to miss.
And nowhere will that influence be more visible than at Nairobi United, where a little corner of Ugandan football has taken root in the Kenyan capital.
