By Timothy Okurut and Patience Among
The Vice Chancellor (VC) of Uganda Christian University (UCU), Prof. Aaron Mushengyezi, has just held a luncheon and recognition ceremony with the students who participated in the Association of Uganda University Sports (AUUS) games and the National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) exhibition.
The luncheon that was held this afternoon at the Kampala Nile Resort, Namanve, was organised under the office of the Director of Student Affairs (DOSA) to celebrate the success of the students in the AUUS games hosted within the university in December last year, where UCU came second, and in the NCHE exhibitions hosted at Gulu University, where the university came first.
“I thought that today I should take you out; that’s why we’re here,” Mushengyezi said as he recounted the victories registered by the students in both events.
In his remarks, the Deputy Vice Chancellor Finance and Administration (DVC F&A), Mr David Mugawe, hailed the sportsmen and women for the reports tabled by the committees after the games.
“We were the most disciplined team in the tournament,” Mugawe said.
UCU maintained its second-place position following Ndejje University. However, Mugawe stated that there was a significant improvement last year as compared to the 2023 edition of the games.
“This was the tightest finish; we needed only one gold medal to have taken it. Those who were part of the other games, the margin was almost ten medals, but we narrowed it down,” Mugawe added.
The VC and DVC F&A went ahead to recognise the various team coaches and the local organising committee members who supported the AUUS administration in hosting the games in the university. They also gave a special recognition to the UCU Lady Canons for the performance they displayed in the Fédération Internationale du Sport Universitaire (FISU) games played in Brazil last year. The Lady Canons made history by winning the bronze medal in the 3×3 Basketball World Cup in the Brazilian capital Brasilia.
Speaking about their success, Mushengyezi underscored the fact that the performance by the Lady Canons is the best performance of an African female basketball team in the history of the FISU games. “I was told that the team that represented us in Brazil was the first to win a medal at the global level,” Mushengyezi said.
During the same event, the students and coaches voted for the Most Valuable Players (MVP) both male and female, in the AUUS games and the coach of the tournament as well as the best athlete overall for the 2025 calendar year. Elton Mwidu, the Cardinals’ goalkeeper, was voted MVP in the men’s category and overall best athlete of the year. In his acceptance speech, he recognised the collective victory of the various teams and attributed their success to God.
“We’ve all won as a team, and it’s because of God,” Mwidu noted.
On the women’s side, Bridget Mbwali, a former footballer now turned runner who once plied her trade with the Lady Cardinals, was voted MVP female. She scooped 3 medals during the AUUS games, 100m gold, 4x100m gold and 200m silver. Coach Jimmy Kintu, the coach of the UCU Cardinals was voted coach of the tournament with his side winning gold.
