Uganda will head into the 2026 CAF African Schools Football Championship CECAFA qualifiers carrying considerably more expectation than when the competition was launched four years ago.
Amus College will represent the country in both the boys’ and girls’ categories when the regional tournament kicks off in Kigali, Rwanda, on Thursday, with places at the continental finals and substantial development grants at stake.
The Bukedea school earned the double ticket after winning Uganda’s boys’ and girls’ national qualifiers during the USSSA championships in Gulu in July and now returns to the regional competition where its history with the CAF schools project began.
Amus was Uganda’s girls’ representative at the inaugural CECAFA qualifiers in 2022, while Royal Giant High School represented the country in the boys’ competition.
This time, however, Amus enters a competition in which Uganda has developed a reputation as one of the region’s strongest schools football nations.
The Ugandan boys have been drawn in Group B alongside Somalia, South Sudan and Burundi, while the girls are in Group A with hosts Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan.
The top two teams in each group progress to the semifinals, with the eventual champions earning CECAFA’s ticket to the continental championship.
According to the tournament programme, Uganda’s boys begin against South Sudan on Thursday before meeting Burundi later in the day. They complete the group phase against Somalia on Friday.
The girls start against Burundi on Thursday morning before facing hosts Rwanda later in the day, then complete their group programme against South Sudan on Friday.
For Uganda, the boys’ competition comes with the additional pressure of defending the regional crown won at St Mary’s Stadium, Kitende, last December.
Uganda defeated Tanzania 2-0 in the semifinal before beating Ethiopia 3-2 on penalties after a goalless final. Nabil Kajumba finished as the tournament’s leading scorer with seven goals, while Henry Muhoozi was named the best player.
That triumph eventually produced Uganda’s finest boys’ performance on the continental stage.
Represented by St Mary’s Boarding Secondary School Kitende, Uganda reached the final of the CAF African Schools Football Championship in Harare in April, having topped a group containing Zimbabwe, DR Congo and Morocco before eliminating Benin on penalties in the semifinal.
Only Senegal stood between Uganda and the African title. After another goalless contest, Senegal prevailed 5-4 on penalties, leaving Uganda with silver medals and $200,000 in prize money.
The girls also arrive in Kigali with history behind them, Uganda won the CECAFA girls’ title in the 2023/24 season and reached the semifinals of the continental finals in Zanzibar, eventually taking bronze.
They retained their regional crown the following season at Kitende, with an 8-0 victory over Rwanda proving decisive as Uganda finished ahead of Tanzania on goal difference.
That team subsequently produced an even bigger continental run in Ghana in 2025, reaching the final before losing 2-0 to hosts Ghana.
Uganda’s girls did not defend their CECAFA title last December, but still finished third after beating Burundi 2-0 in the bronze-medal playoff.
It means Amus are inheriting two programmes that have become regular challengers rather than simply participants.
For the school itself, there is also a sense of returning to familiar territory. Amus finished third in the girls’ competition at the inaugural regional qualifiers in 2022, while Royal Giant won the boys’ title.
Three years later, Amus have returned with both teams and an opportunity to take Uganda back to the continental stage.
Coach Richard Malinga acknowledged the size of that responsibility before the trip, saying: “Our focus is to prepare well and make Uganda proud.”
There is also more than qualification at stake. The Motsepe Foundation-backed championship awards $100,000 to the regional champions, $75,000 to the runners-up and $50,000 to the third-placed teams in each category.
The money is designated for development projects at the participating schools, including classrooms, sports facilities and other infrastructure.
The Kigali tournament concludes on Saturday, September 5, and for Amus, therefore, the task is twofold; extend Uganda’s increasingly impressive record in African schools football and ensure that, when CECAFA’s representatives move on to the continental stage, Uganda is once again among them.