UGANDAN FOOTBALL ADMINISTRATOR KALEMA RANKS ESWATINI AFRICA’S BEST

BY THEMBA ZWANE

MBABANE – Ugandan football administrator Ronnie Kalema has singled out the Kingdom of Eswatini as the best country he has visited in Africa, an unexpected endorsement that places the small southern African kingdom firmly on the travel map of one of Uganda’s most experienced football figures.

Kalema, a former FIFA referee and current Federation of Uganda Football Associations (FUFA) executive committee member, made the revelation in an interview with Uganda’s Daily Monitor published on August 1, 2026.

The football administrator has travelled extensively across the continent, with Daily Monitor recording that he has visited 27 African countries. Yet, when asked to name his best African destination, Kalema chose Eswatini.

His assessment comes from someone with more than two decades of involvement in football and extensive international travel, giving the endorsement a particularly strong sporting dimension.

Kalema is currently one of the key figures in Ugandan football administration. He chairs FUFA’s Football Development Committee and serves as chairperson of the Event Operations Sub-Committee of Uganda’s Local Organising Committee for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations. He also has 17 years of refereeing experience behind him.

ESWATINI EXPERIENCE DATES BACK TO 2016

Further investigation by the Eswatini Positive News has established that Kalema has a documented football-related visit to the Kingdom.

FUFA reported on June 14, 2016 that Kalema, together with fellow Ugandan refereeing instructors Rahma Kizito and Ali Waiswa, had arrived in Lobamba, for a one-week FUTURO III referees’ instructors course that ran until June 18, 2016.

The FIFA-related course brought together participants from 15 countries, including Eswatini, Uganda, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique and Namibia.

This provides a concrete date for at least one of Kalema’s visits to the kingdom: June 2016.

FUFA’s account shows that Kalema’s visit was not merely for tourism. He was part of a Ugandan technical delegation attending a specialist football refereeing course in Lobamba. He was then a member of the FUFA referees standing committee and headed its assessment panel.

It was during that visit that Kalema was photographed with then then Eswatini Football Association (EFA) President Adam ‘Bomber’ Mthethwa and other football officials.

A FOOTBALL CONNECTION BEYOND THE PITCH

The 2016 visit also highlights the longstanding football links between Uganda and Eswatini.

Kalema and his Ugandan colleagues travelled to the kingdom specifically for capacity building in refereeing, with the course designed to improve the education of technical and fitness instructors and help member associations align their officiating with FIFA standards.

Nearly a decade later, Kalema remains deeply involved in the development and administration of Ugandan football.

His latest comments therefore give Eswatini an interesting connection to a Ugandan football official who has seen much of Africa through the sport.

While Kalema did not, in the Daily Monitor article, specify which particular year or visit made Eswatini his favourite, the 2016 FUFA record confirms that he spent at least a week in the kingdom for the Lobamba referees’ course.

The available evidence does not establish that his 2016 trip was his only visit to Eswatini, nor does it reveal exactly what experiences led him to rank the kingdom above the other 26 African countries he has visited.

What is clear, however, is that Eswatini left a lasting impression on a Ugandan football administrator whose career has taken him across the continent and beyond.

For Eswatini, the remark is more than a passing travel preference. It is a positive international sporting endorsement from a figure with extensive exposure to African football, governance and sporting systems.

In an era when countries increasingly use sport to promote their image, Kalema’s verdict offers the Kingdom an unexpected compliment from across the continent: among the 27 African countries he has visited, Eswatini stands alone at the top.