Shaban Mohammed: The Resurrection of The Goal Poacher

Its March 17 2018 and it’s the 46th minute,restlessness read in KCCA fans’ faces as ST George is proving to be hard to break down.

After a barren draw in the first leg,KCCA fc just needed a win and become the first Ugandan club to qualify for CAF champions league.Muzamiru mutyaba starts off a short corner to Mustafa kizza who delivers a wounderful ball in the box. Mohammed Shaban Jaggason takes the move rises high and makes a move which leaves goalkeeper Odongnkara beaten.

This caused great celebrations in Lugogo among both the fans and the players ,Mohammed shaban being the ink used to write KCCA’s history.

About six months later after failure of the Orlando Pirates deal,Shaban manages to secure a new deal to join Moroccan side Raja Casablanca.

This move was expected to be the youngster’s starter to a journey of greater things ,perhaps a deal to one of EUROPE’s top five leagues, the 19 year old striker had already proved his worth being KCCA’s lead scorer for a season back bagging 18 goals which included a haul against URA in a 7-2 humiliating defeat.

Shaban was also the topscorer at the 2018 COSAFA U20 championship that included a brace against Zambia.
The much anticipated move however turned out to be a disappointment and being his worst decision , scoring only one goal for Raja Casablanca on the fifth day against Gabon’s mberi Sportif in the CAF Confederations Cup first leg encounter at Mohammed V in Casablanca. One goal in seven appearances.

Shaban scores against Police FC’s custodian Tom Ikara

On August,7th,2019 the hitman was unveiled by the Kitende based team Vipers SC via their website where he appeared shaking hands with club president Dr Lawrence Mulindwa in a featured image.

In an interview, shaban whose debut was delayed by a Knee ligament assured the fans to expect more from him. The striker seemed to be a man of his word and in just Eight minutes into his debut he had headed in Dissan Galiwango’s corner against Wakiso Giants FC at Kabaka Kyabagu stadium on December ,12th,2020.

However his promise only lasted for one game as it was his only goal for the venoms in seven games before he was comfortably shown the exit door.

When it all seemed over,the striker remembered that home is the best and he returned to Onduparaka FC a place where his milestone started. At arrival though the striker seemed to have yet adopted the home atmospheres failing to score in the opening six games of the season against UPDF,Bright Stars,Arua Hill SC, BUL fc ,Vipers SC and SC Villa not to mention the encounter against police FC after attaining a number of yellow cards.

It was a tough start for him at home but the striker didn’t loose hope as he kept sharpening his boots. On November 30th,he finally ended his drought. Bagging a goal in the eighth minute against Express FC.He showed qualities of a real hitman when he scored from close range after Express FC goalkeeper had spilled a strike from Emmanuel Oketch.
Celebrating with a sumersault in the corner,it was a mark of relief and joy after getting back to scoring ways.

One goal was enough for Mohammed Shaban to make scoring a culture as he went on to net fourteen more goals in the Uganda premier league. His goals included a hatrick against police FC at lugogo,three braces against Mbarara city,Busoga United FC and Express FC. And hit single digits against SC villa ,URA FC,Gaddafi FC and Tooro United Fc.
His goals were timely throughout the season , Onduparaka was at the gates of hades but shaban Mohammed seemed to be their Messiah his goals completing the resurrection as he became a problem to many UPL Defences

In an interview , Shaban mohammed thanked the almighty, the fans and the management of OnduparakaFC and his managers of sepuya Agency whom he said to have been working hand in hand. “The fans did a good job of welcoming me back at Onduparaka FC my fans have loved me even though things have not been well they have been with me together with my family motivating me to work harder promising me that one day God will make things go through.” he said

Speaking about the morrocan spell , he explained that there were challenges affecting him mostly injury and it’s the major reason that brought him to Uganda to rebuild himself so that he could go elsewhere.

“I joined vipers SC when I was still injured then they took me to surgery . I was not feeling fine but you know vipers SC is a big club that comes with pressure of winning trophies. They could not wait I had to talk to the club President to release me so that I can go and start afresh,

I went home and the people of Arua were also waiting for me to go back and reunite for a new start to work together again. I embraced the return and started scoring though at first things did not work out well according to plan but I knew I would improve” he said

Just like any other local player,shaban targets to be a main stay on the national team and get bigger deals perhaps from where his mother club can also get some more money to buy more players.


“Its everyone’s dream every player is working hard to get there and also go abroad. Being called back to the national team makes me a happy player. When a player joins a national team,he needs to work harderto see thathe stays there because you are not representing yourself but a nation.” he said

Shaban also added that he is a changed man as he had a lot of immaturity when he travelled to morocco and any deal that comes around will find him ready as he is unwilling to gor for the mistakes he did.

“You know those deals come with a lot of challenges,you become homesick,new food diferent weather but I was not patient enough. The injury frustrated me though the team wanted me to stay but I had to request for my release to come back and rebuild myself.”he added

You cannot however talk about about Shaban’s rejuvenation and leave out Onduparaka FC Technical director, Coach Dudu Bosco. Dudu has proven to be a talent revivalist as reviving shaban’s talent has not been his first revival project, ceasar okhuti was another man he revived having struggled to hit the ground while playing for Bunamwaya [now vipers SC], Dudu who was then coaching Sudanese side El Nasir decided to sign the formless struggling striker.

Shaban during a training session with the National Team

So many people in Arua called me and told me Ceaser was facing challenges and needed help. I took the Striker to juba and transformed him. He went on to score 13 goals in 11 games finishing as the second top scorer. By the time he left Juba, Express FC had already secured his signature and ready to join the red army . He later joined KCCA FC and we know the amount of money they paid him.
For Dudu, Shaban’s transformation is not by coincidence but rather a strategy.

He describes shaban as ahard working player who wants to win always and has not been a disappointment to him this season.
“It has not been very easy,the most important thing is that when I started working with the club I had a meeting one on one with the club chairman and we drew a strategy aimed at helping the players and those key ones who were struggling outside Arua.Shaban was one of such players and this has not only happened to him but only other players elsewhere.” he stated

During pre season,shaban and Dudu were in Kampala. Coach Dudu says that they trained well and got someone who was helping the players to improve on their fitness levels. “The form you saw was not a mistake, we prepared them during pre season.” he noted

With shaban’s contract set to expire, Onduparaka FC wants their son to stay and they have come with a dicesion todiscuss about his stay at the team as they are planning to do better the coming season.

Mohammed Shaban is currently with the National team in Tunisia as they are preparing to face Algeria and Niger early next month.

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