Rwanda was looking to rebuild its football from scratch when Nicholas Musonye first became CECAFA’s Secretary General in 2000. The local soccer federation (Ferwafa) had passed through turbulent times and to cushion the popular sport, stability was required.
Having spent most of his youthful time in East Africa newsrooms, Musonye did not intend to enter the muddy and murky world of football. But CAF recognized his capacity and catapulted him into the mainstream CAF press commission in his last task as a journalist covering the 2000 Africa Cup of Nations in Ghana.
Also in turmoil during this era, CECAFA was suspended for insubordination by CAF and took an incorrect stance during the FIFA elections of 1998. Things got even worse for the regional body when kicked out the entire executive led by Eritrea’s Tesfaye Gebreyesus.
The looming vacuum would not last long as CAF continued to look for the executive’s possible substitute, and a new Secretary General. As destiny would have it, former CAF President Issa Hayatou and Vice President, Somalia’s late Farah Addo, settled on Musonye with so many vested interests in the region as the new Secretary General in a drastic move launched during a general assembly in Kampala Uganda.
Musonye, a steady figure in AFCON championships since 1994, had some understanding of CAF activities and interacted with CAF big shots for a long time. So he had his methods to do stuff with Addo, who had also fought for the presidency of CECAFA.
Through happy and turbulent times during his last 20 years of reign, Musonye has been at the helm of CECAFA since that eventful day in Kampala.
He raised CECAFA from the ashes, brought it to the limelight, and his star grew greater when President Paul Kagame, with the assistance of former Ferwafa president Ceasar Kayizari, became CECAFA’s patron in 2002.
President Kagame’s arrival saw Rwanda literally become CECAFA’s home, hosting more activities in the region than any other nation.
Musonye has stayed bullish when it becomes to defend the ideals he thinks in, surviving many efforts to remove him. He has been at the helm for the past 20 years, CECAFA has had many achievements, and remains the only football region in Africa that organizes annual contests continuously.
The CECAFA Kagame Cup is Africa’s only zonal-level club competition. It is also the only region that has hosted the national teams challenge cup all along.
But despite all the accomplishments, Musonye was criticized in the office for being highly handedness and overstaying.
When asked about these accusations, he responds: “I don’t believe much in democracy. If you allow too much democracy in Africa, you will not move. That is why I sometimes make unilateral decisions. This has served well for CECAFA.
Regarding his exit, he says: “I want to go, and very soon it is going to happen.”
The long-serving CECAFA boss disclosed in an exclusive interview with previously this week he said that he is waiting for the next election cycle and will not stand for another term.
Visibly joyful, Musonye said he always wanted to stage a big CECAFA event in Rwanda and this dream was fulfilled after the success of the 2019 CECAFA Kagame Cup, which ended in Kigali last Sunday.
The Kenyan said, with 16 teams in contention and four distinct locations, “This year’s showpiece was, by far, the best the region has had in a long time.”
Ugandan KCCA champions clinched their second CECAFA Kagame Cup title in the final after beating Azam FC from Tanzania 1-0.
Speaking in Kigali on the eve of the final game, Musonye was pleased to have made so many friends in Rwanda during the time he served as CECAFA boss. “I do have many friends around and almost in every corner of the country.”
This has been a great joy for me and I will always be grateful to President Kagame, and the people of Rwanda.”
