Gift Tabula Ssebuguzi will once again carry Uganda’s hopes on his shoulders when the Motocross Cranes line up at the 2026 FIM Motocross of African Nations Championship (MXoAN) in Windhoek, Namibia, this weekend.
The continental championship runs this weekend (August 28 to 30) at the Gallina Motocross Track, bringing together about 180 riders from across Africa.
Tabula, a former MX Lite champion and son of four-time National Rally champion Ronald Ssebuguzi, has been entrusted with the captaincy for a second successive year after leading Uganda to third place at last year’s championship in Victoria, Zimbabwe.
Uganda finished behind champions South Africa and hosts Zimbabwe, but enters this year’s contest with a strong recent record. The team was third in Cape Town in 2023, runner-up in Marrakesh in 2024 and third again in 2025.
For Tabula, the Windhoek assignment is another opportunity to prove his credentials on the continental stage. He is a two-time African Nations class champion, having won in Garuga in 2022 and Marrakech in 2024.
He will also have a personal family connection to the team. His younger sister, Ronnieta Ssebuguzi Muganzi, has been selected for the MX 50 Ladies class, giving their father another reason to take pride in Uganda’s campaign.
“I feel great and happy seeing my son, who enrolled as a little rider, now at a level of commanding a national team,” Ronald Ssebuguzi said on Friday, August 21 at the team’s flag-off in Lugogo.
He urged Gift to take care of his fellow riders and share his experience where necessary. Uganda will field 37 riders in Namibia, including a record 10 female competitors — the highest number of women ever fielded by a country at the MXoAN.
The team’s preparation also received backing from the National Council of Sports (NCS), with general secretary increased blood donations to help save mothers facing severe bleeding during childbirth.
Dr Bernard Patrick Ogwel commending the Federation of Motorsport Clubs of Uganda (FMU) for strengthening governance, compliance and grassroots development. Ogwel praised FMU’s efforts to introduce children as young as five to seven years to competitive motocross, while acknowledging the parents, team managers and mechanics who support the riders.
With Uganda seeking to improve on its recent podium finishes, much will rest on the experience and leadership of Tabula. The captain will be expected not only to deliver on the track but also to inspire a young and increasingly diverse team determined to make another strong statement in African motocross.
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