Former national women’s football team captain Oliver Mbekeka and ex-international Jean Sseninde are at the fore of a new wave of Ugandan women coaches enrolled for the 2026 Caf A Coaching Diploma Course, after Fufa secured five scholarship slots through Fifa’s women’s football development programme.
They are joined by former Crested Cranes coach Faridah Bulega, former Kampala Queens assistant coach as they won the 2024/25 Finance Trust Bank FUFA Women Super League Sharon Kizza, and Sharifah Nantumbwe the head coach of Edgars in the third division. The latter played for Edgars Youth Program and Kyambogo University but now doubles as an assistant coach for the national sides Teen (U-17) and Queen Cranes (U-20).
Mbekeka, who has also ventured into men’s football lately is a trailblazer for women’s football. She began playing in 1995 and earned a place on the Uganda Women’s national team in 1996, where she was among the youngest players in the squad.
She captained the now Crested Cranes and featured at the 2000 African Women’s Championship in South Africa. Her club career took her to APR in Rwanda, Source de Kivu and OCL City in DR Congo before returning to She Corporate in 2014.
Mbekeka transitioned into coaching at Wakiso Hills SS and Buganda Regional Team in 2014, served as Crested Cranes fitness trainer in 2016, and was assistant Coach of both the Teen Cranes and Crested Cranes from 2017 to 2024. She also had stints as coach of the Queen Cranes in 2018 and Lady Doves between 2018 and 2019. She currently serves as coach at Rubaga Girls SS.
Sseninde is equally adventurous is knocking down barriers in women’s football. She represented Uganda at senior level and played for London Phoenix Ladies, QPR, Crystal Palace, and Wakefield Trinity Ladies in England. While there, she became the first Ugandan woman to earn the UEFA B coaching licence in 2020 and currently serves as interim executive director of regional football governing body Cecafa after previously holding the position of Cecafa women football development manager.
Bulega served as Crested Cranes and Kampala Queens coach from 2017 to 2021 while Kizza, who played for Matugga United Ladies, Kampala United, and UCU Lady Cardinals where she won the 2018/19 Fufa Women Elite League has since coached at UCU, Namilyango College, Kyetume, Blacks Power, and Kitara where she was part of the technical team that won the 2024 Stanbic Uganda Cup.
More than a course
“This programme aligns with Fifa’s global vision and Uganda’s national strategy to equip more women with elite coaching qualifications, deepen technical expertise and expand opportunities for girls and women across the football ecosystem,” Agnes Mugena, a Fufa executive committee member, said of the 10-month programme, delivered across five modules in July, September, and November this year, plus March and June 2027.
It has brought together 25 coaches from across Africa seeking to advance their technical knowledge, leadership and coaching expertise but the Ugandans will look to walk in the shoes of Christine Wanyana Nakibuuka, Hadijah Namuyanja, and Majidah Nantanda who long attained this qualification and continue to mentor the next generation. Nantanda is a Caf coaching instructor and former Crested Cranes coach while the former two are heavily involved at the grassroots.
Meanwhile, through the same Fifa programme, Fufa also secured four places for Ugandan women coaches in the Caf B coaching course currently going on at Fufa Technical Centre (FTC), Njeru.
Timely intervention
These include Cissy Gaudensia Nakiguba, who has served women national teams in various capacities, Mercy Nabulobi of Sparta 09 Academy and a former player at UOC, Dorothy Namugenyi of URA Juniors, and Sarah Birungi of Kikajjo Stars Sports Academy.
‘Qualified coaches are central to player development, training standards, safeguarding and player welfare in clubs, academies and schools,’ Fufa’s director of football development Bashir Mutyaba, said while the women’s football coordinator Joan Namusisi found the scholarships timely because “the challenge has always been that these female coaches do not have enough money to facilitate themselves through these courses, especially at Caf A and B levels.”