Today March 23 marks exactly Five years since one of Uganda’s greatest strikers Ali Kitonsa passed on.
The former great; one of the pioneer players of Express FC may be gone but for anyone who knows an ounce of Ugandan football history, Kitonsa’s place among the legends is unquestioned.
For some, he is considered to be Ugandan football’s greatest striker ever.
He achieved all there is in Ugandan football and was the first Ugandan to live the ultimate dream of playing professional football when he joined Egyptian giants Zamalek in 1964.
“At 5ft 6in, he was diminutive, thus compensating his size with speed and finishing the ball into the opponent’s net with precision,” recalls veteran sports journalist, Douglas Nsubuga as quoted by Daily Monitor in 2013.
“He was everything about Express FC. He symbolized the club, played for it and supported it till his death”, said Express FC die hard and former club chairman Julius Kavuma Kabenge.
“He is the reason I support Express FC”, said Ntege aka Nyindo a staunch Red Eagles fan.
He is amongst the pioneer players at Express FC as club founder Joseph ‘Jolly Joe’ Kiwanuka signed him up at the club’s inauguration on September 17, 1959. His goals helped the Red Eagles qualify for the topflight in 1961.
It is believed the deceased holds the record for the highest number goals in any local league – 54 in 18 games as Express won the 1964 Kampala District First Division League. Blame it on poor record-keeping; Andrew ‘Fimbo’ Mukasa holds the known league goal-scoring record with 45 goals in 1999.
At Express, Kitonsa is remembered as a man who never missed a single game. He played for the club from 1959 to 1979, scoring over 200 goals in all competitions.
Nicknamed “Simba ya Uganda” (The lion of Uganda) in Kenya and Tanzania, he won over 30 caps for Uganda and scored several goals for the national team.
Kitonsa also played for Uganda Cranes and made his debut on December 9, 1961 in the Tanzania Independence Day Cup.
Kitonsa missed making the Cranes’ team to the 1962 Africa Cup of Nations but won the Gossage Cup (now Cecafa) with the team after scoring six goals in an 8-0 win over Zanzibar at Nakivubo the same year.
He is the only player that has ever netted a hat trick against Egypt scoring three goals as Uganda beat the Pharaohs 4-1 at Nakivubo Stadium to qualify to the inaugural All Africa Games in Congo-Brazzaville 1965.
After retirement at 43, he coached Wandegeya FC (then Spear Motors) which he guided to promotion in the 1981 league.
Rest in Peace Legend, You will always be missed
Kitonsa Fact file
- -Born to Hajji Asuman Kitaka (RIP) and Safina Najjuma of Kakesa-Bulo in Butambala District.
- -Born in 1936, Died March 23, 2013
- -His 54 goals in the Kampala League in 1964 is the unofficial record for most goals in a season.
- -After retirement, he coached Wandegeya FC which he guided to promotion in the 1981 league.
- -He worked for Uganda Electricity Board for 26-years as a truck driver (1984- 2010)
- -He helped his clan Mamba to win the 1956 and 1959 Bika Bya’Baganda Shield
- -He played for Egypt’s Zamalek for seven months
