Kawempe Muslim stun Kenya Police Bullets to claim 2026 CECAFA crown
Kawempe Muslim Ladies of Uganda were crowned 2026 CECAFA Women's Champions League Qualifiers winners
Uganda’s finest edge a tense final in Kigali as Agnes Nabukenya’s extra-time strike ends Kenya’s continental dream
By Alfred Lobawoi
Kawempe Muslim Ladies of Uganda were crowned 2026 CECAFA Women’s Champions League Qualifiers winners after a tense, hard-fought final in Kigali, Rwanda, defeating Kenya Police Bullets 1-0 through an extra-time goal to book their place at the CAF Women’s Champions League.
The final at Kigali Pelé Stadium was everything a championship match should be — physical, tactical and unrelenting. Both sides cancelled each other out through ninety minutes of competitive football, with Kenya Police Bullets defending with discipline and organisation to keep the scoresheet blank at full time. For long periods it appeared as though the Kenyan side, runners-up at the 2024 edition of the same tournament, might finally convert their continental ambition into silverware.
Kawempe’s captain Agnes Nabukenya had other ideas. The midfielder and talisman, who had been a constant menace throughout the tournament, produced the decisive moment when it mattered most — rising in extra time to net the winner that shattered Kenya’s championship hopes and sent the Ugandan camp into euphoria. It was a goal worthy of winning any final: composed, precise and delivered under the most suffocating pressure.
For Kenya Police Bullets, the loss stings with particular force. This is the second time in three years that they have reached the regional final only to finish as runners-up, mirroring their defeat at the 2024 tournament. They gave everything on the pitch and will feel they deserved more from the contest, but Nabukenya’s quality in the extra period proved the difference between the two sides.
The bronze medal match earlier in the day produced football of an entirely different character. Ethiopia’s Commercial Bank of Ethiopia, the reigning 2024 champions, dismantled South Sudan’s Yei Joint Stars FC with a commanding 6-1 victory to claim third place. The Ethiopians controlled the match from the opening whistle, combining sharp movement with clinical finishing to give Yei Joint Stars little opportunity to settle. Striker Emush Dandamo was the standout performer across the entire tournament, finishing as top scorer with six goals — a tally that underlined Ethiopia’s attacking quality even in a campaign that fell just short of the final. Yei Joint Stars took fourth place and were separately recognised with the Fair Play Award, a distinction that acknowledged their conduct across the competition.
The broader significance of Kawempe’s triumph becomes clearer when set against the history of the regional qualifiers. Since the CECAFA Women’s Champions League Qualifiers began in 2021 as a gateway to the continental CAF competition, the winners’ roll of honour has read like a map of East and Central African football’s rising ambition. Vihiga Queens of Kenya lifted the inaugural trophy, followed by Simba Queens of Tanzania, then JKT Queens, also of Tanzania, before Commercial Bank of Ethiopia took the crown in 2024. Kawempe Muslim now join that distinguished list, becoming Uganda’s first club to win the title and extending a tradition in which no side has retained the trophy across consecutive editions.
Their victory in Rwanda earns them direct qualification for the main CAF Women’s Champions League, where they will represent the CECAFA region against the continent’s elite club sides. It is a platform that the Ugandan women’s game has been working towards, and Kawempe’s performances throughout the qualifiers — composed, organised and anchored by individual quality at key moments — suggest they will not arrive merely to make up the numbers.
Individual honours at the tournament reflected the winning side’s dominance. Nabukenya, whose extra-time winner defined the final, was awarded the Most Valuable Player trophy — recognition for a campaign in which she led from the front and delivered when her team needed her most. Teammate Saidah Namwanje claimed the Golden Glove as the tournament’s best goalkeeper, a second major individual award for Kawempe that underscored the collective quality running through the squad.
For Uganda’s women’s football, the morning after in Kigali carries a simple, powerful message: Kawempe Muslim Ladies are champions of East and Central Africa — and they are heading to the continent.
Similar Posts by The Mt Kenya Times:
- Tamil Nadu teacher wins national creativity award at Puthiya Thalaimurai honours
- When a journalist is abducted, ask who fears the truth
- McTominay faces heart procedure after arrhythmia diagnosis
- Ruto orders foreigners out of Kenya’s small trade
- Kenya’s Road to 2027: Warning Signs of a Looming Crisis
About the Author
