Former Cranes captain Okwi retires

What the report says

Former Uganda Cranes captain Emmanuel Arnold Okwi has announced his retirement from professional football, according to Nile Post. The 33-year-old striker said on Tuesday that he was stepping away from the game after a long career that made him one of Uganda’s best-known forwards. The report says he ends his playing days with 95 appearances for the national team and 28 goals, placing him among Uganda’s leading international scorers.

Okwi’s international career began in 2009, when he made his senior debut as a teenager. He later wore the captain’s armband for the Cranes and described leading his country as one of the greatest honours of his career. Nile Post says he also played a role in Uganda’s run to the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt and was joint top scorer at the 2011 CECAFA Cup.

At club level, the article says Okwi played in East Africa, Europe and North Africa, starting with SC Villa before moves that included Simba SC and Young Africans in Tanzania, Étoile du Sahel in Tunisia, SønderjyskE in Denmark, Al Ittihad Alexandria in Egypt, Al-Zawraa in Iraq, and Kiyovu Sports and AS Kigali in Rwanda. His honours included league titles with Simba, a Tunisian Cup, and CECAFA trophies with Uganda.

Okwi said he plans to remain involved in football after retiring as a player. The broader significance is that Uganda loses a veteran striker whose career spanned more than a decade and helped shape the Cranes’ modern era.