FEASSSA GAMES: Why Kenyan schools should not be worried by Uganda’s ‘Colleges’
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Reading Time: 3min | Fri. 15.08.25. | 07:50
Mozzart Sport has established that the “college” tag in Ugandan school names is often misunderstood
The 2025 Federation of East Africa Secondary Schools Sports Association (FEASSSA) Games got underway on Thursday, 14 August, in Kakamega County. Hosts Kenya are eager to wrestle the overall title from Uganda, who have held it for the past four years.
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Kenya last won the crown in 2018 in Musanze, Rwanda, before relinquishing it to Uganda in the 2019 edition held in Arusha, Tanzania.
The Ugandans went on to win again in 2022, after the competition resumed following a two-year break due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and have since retained it in 2023 and 2024.
In football, especially in the boys’ category, Uganda’s dominance has been even more evident, with Kenya winning only two titles in the tournament’s history.
St Anthony’s Boys Kitale and Barding High School remain the only Kenyan sides to have lifted the coveted crown.
St Mary’s College Kitende leads the all-time charts with 14 titles, and, year after year, Ugandan schools are viewed as pre-tournament favourites.
In recent years, murmurs have grown louder that Uganda has been fielding overage players, with some schools allegedly drawing talent from colleges or technical institutes.
An approach many believe gives them an edge over the rest of the competition.
However, Mozzart Sport has established that the “college” tag in Ugandan school names is often misunderstood.
Bukedea Comprehensive Secondary School head coach Sam Kamulinde, speaking to this publication, clarified that the term “college” in Uganda’s context does not mean a technical school or university.
“This is an issue we have heard for a long time,” Kamulinde said.
“Like now, Amus College is a secondary school. Let that word ‘college’ not confuse people that it is like a technical institute or university; it is a secondary school.
So it is someone’s wish to start a school and give it a name. I could start a school here and name it Kakamega College Secondary. That has no problem at all in our set-up in Uganda.”
Kamulinde insisted that Kenyan teams should not fear these so-called colleges, because the players are just high school students like in other countries.
He further pointed out that Uganda’s success comes from intense preparation rather than any unfair advantage.
“In Uganda, we start preparations early enough,” he explained.
“For example, with my Bukedea team, we are coming to the East Africa Games for only the second time. We are a new school, but to achieve this success, we started preparing our team three years ago.
We have now managed back-to-back appearances here, and if we win it, let no one complain , we prepared well. As a new school in Uganda, we are ready to take over Africa.”
Bukedea underlined their intent on Thursday, starting their campaign with a strong 2-1 victory over last year’s runners-up, St Mary’s Kitende, at Mukumu Boys Grounds.
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