The long-running turmoil at struggling Fufa Big League club Mbale Heroes may have been temporarily paused but the deeper cracks threatening the club’s existence still remain wide unresolved. The club hurriedly patched up an emergency meeting on Saturday at the Mbale City to take stock of their season so far but it came short of providing lasting solutions to their crisis.
The club’s current chaos has been years in the making and is rooted in a prolonged leadership vacuum and mounting financial strain that has steadily eroded stability.
In July 2023, former chairman Counsel Andrew Wambi and his executive committee was elected following an AGM that tasked him with providing strategic direction and organising fresh club elections within six months.
Failed transition
At the time, Wambi was widely viewed as a transitional figure meant to steady the ship as Mbale Heroes pushed for consolidation after promotion ambitions.
However, the promised elections never materialized. Instead, Wambi remained in office well beyond the agreed timeline, presiding over a period characterised by growing internal divisions, governance disputes and a steady decline in fortunes on the pitch.
The instability intensified following Mbale Heroes’ ill-fated 2024/25 StarTimes Uganda Premier League campaign which ended in relegation. Results worsened, resources thinned and fractures within the club’s hierarchy became increasingly public. By the time Wambi resigned on June 30, 2025, citing personal and professional pressures, the damage had already been done. His exit left behind an organisation struggling to define ownership, leadership structures and a clear path forward.
Mwebaze’s gridlock
Interim management was handed to Vice Chairman Counsel Geoffrey Ojok alongside Jessica Muduwa but the challenges deepened. Financial obligations, most notably outstanding payments owed to former head coach Asaph Mwebaze has pushed the club into a legal standoff with Fufa.
The Dispute Resolution Chamber ruled that Heroes must pay Shs11.4m in salary arrears, a directive the club failed to honour within the stipulated timelines.
That failure prompted decisive action from the Fufa Ethics and Disciplinary Committee, which imposed an immediate ban on Heroes from registering new players. The ban came at the worst possible moment, with Heroes rooted to the bottom of the Big League table and already struggling to field a full starting eleven.Heavy defeats, including a humiliating 6-1 loss to Kiyinda Boys, have only highlighted the fragility of the situation. The team is rooted at the bottom of the table with 14 points from 15 first-round games.
Saturday’s crisis meeting was convened against this backdrop. According to interim chairman Counsel Ojok, members were briefed on the club’s precarious status, with urgent focus placed on clearing the Mwebaze debt to unlock squad rebuilding.
Reconciliations
‘The first crucial issue was how to revamp the squad so that it can be competitive but to do that we have to solve coach Asaph’s issue first,’ Ojok told Daily Monitor adding that reconciliation talks are underway to heal internal rifts including returning former chief executive officer Badru ‘Bado’ Chemisto.
Initial reports pointed at the club closing this process to return Bado, previously a key funder and mobiliser but the former administrator, in a short chat with this reporter ruled out any chances of him returning to the club.
Before Bado left, a gang of goons had been trailing him including destroying some property at his mother’s residence in Mbale.
Ojok also appealed to members to renew membership and support the cub financially as they seek to make up numbers to hold an elective general assembly to fil the gaps in the executive and secretariat.
The Saturday meeting may have frozen the chaos in the interim but without swift financial resolution and credible leadership reforms, the club’s uncertainty threatens to deepen on the pitch and beyon