The National Rally Championship Hits the Final Stretch In Hoima
By Mwambazi Lawrence
After six breathtaking, engine-screaming, dust-eating rounds across Uganda, where fans have inhaled enough dust to qualify as vacuum cleaners, and drivers have shouted “NAVIGATOR YOU’RE LYING!” more times than “I love you” in their relationships, we have now reached the moment of truth the 7th and final round of the National Rally Championship. And by now, my friend, we all know who is who who has been passing exams with clean notes and who has been copying in the exam room and still failing. At this point, it would take witchcraft not the usual village witchcraft, no we mean export-grade, deep-from-the-caves-of-Moonlight-Mountain, with a full ceremony, cow skin, three white candles and a drum to deny our championship leaders their crowns.
NRC leader Ronald SSebuguzi during the recently concluded NRC6 in Gulu ( Photo by Johnson Were)
Ronald Sebuguzi and Anthony Mugambwa are sitting on top of the standings like kings on a hill. And when we say on top, we mean so far ahead that even if Sebuguzi drives this final rally like he’s escorting his in-laws to introduction smooth gear 3 only, hazards on he will STILL win the championship.
They only require 8 points, which in rally language means: Just reach the finish line while the engine is still in the car.
Meanwhile, their very hopeful rivals, Musa Ssegabwe and Mathias Kiyega, are currently seated in second place, and my brother, intercession is happening. These guys are in fasting, overnight prayers, and 24/7 live-stream Zoom novenas. At this point they have opened Kiyega Deliverance Ministries Rally Edition.
For them to take the championship, the mathematics is very simple but spiritually complicated:
• Sebuguzi must falter or forget to show up at the startline.
• They must win the rally (not “finish strongly”… no… WIN),
• They must win the power stage
• And finally, the ancestors must sign, stamp, and approve the miracle.
Long story short: they have become full-time prayer warriors. If you see them at service, just know it is not choir practice it is championship intercession.
In the 2WD class, Mansoor Lubega and Ronald Bukenya have been cooking all year. These boys have fought their war, captured the flag, built the monument, and are now just posing for pictures. They will be sipping cold Coke, adjusting the AC, and waving at villagers as they pass through the stages Even if they finish the rally in reverse gear, the championship is still theirs.
Their battles with Julious Semambo earlier in the season are now very far in the rearview mirror Semambo probably even turned off the ignition and is asking for directions home.
The CRC category is practically sewn up by the MAT & KO crew of Walter Kibande and Duncan Katumba, who are sitting so comfortably on the leaderboard they might as well be in a reclining chair with footrest, neck pillow, and Wi-Fi, sippin’ on some irie ginger tea and vibin’ to some reggae riddims. At this point, they are not even checking split times man, them a check Netflix suggestions and the vibes only. The rest of the CRC field is racing;Kibande and Katumba are just cruising slow like a Sunday afternoon scenic drive, windows down, dreadlocks swayin’, and chanting “no stress, pure irie”
Their closest rivals, Ahmeed Katete and Morgan Serugga, are somewhere waaay in the dust behind. For Ahmeed to take the championship:
- Walter must not show up
- Walter must roll, burst a gearbox, and lose all tyres including the spare
- Ahmeed must win the rally
Basically, Ahmeed needs both performance and divine intervention. Someone please light a candle.
The event will take place 22nd to 23rd November in the land of Omukama Kabalega Hoima.
- Total distance: 226.04 km
- Competitive: 100.0 km
- Liaison: 126.04 km
Day 1: Four stages including the Super Special
Day 2: Four stages including the Power Stage
This is the same rally that sealed the deal last year for Jas Mangat and Enoch Olinga, who were crowned champions after delivering a performance that made Ronald Sebuguzi and Dr Moustapha Mukasa ask for water.
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When the dust finally settles and the cars return to parc fermé, the curtain will officially fall on the 2025 National Rally Championship. But don’t hang your rally gloves yet, because the Champion’s Sprint comes on 26th December where champions show off, losers try to redeem, and spectators simply come to shout, and say things like:
“Naye that one, he over-talks but when it comes to driving…”
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