Rashid Okocha has ditched FUFA Big League side Onduparaka FC for newly promoted Uganda Premier League side NEC FC.
The left back has been training at Bugolobi Coffee grounds with the team this week.
He even started at left back in NEC’s closed door friendly match against KCCA FC at Lugogo on Wednesday, in which Julius Poloto scored the only goal of the game to grant the Kasasiro Boys a 1-0 win.
The club is yet to officially announce the signing of Okocha, but trusted sources indicate he has agreed a two-year deal with the Bugolobi-based outfit.
Okocha had signed for Onduparaka from neighbors Nebbi Central on a three-year employment contract in 2017, and when his contract ended in 2020, he extended for another three years.
Okocha is a free-scoring defender. He’s a quick, versatile player who can operate effectively at left back, and on either side of the flanks. His deliveries from the wings are pinpoint and so deadly!
Such qualities are what interested Vipers proprietor Lawrence Mulindwa into luring the Westnile player to Kitende. The Venoms boss attempted more than once, to get the player, but he was so comfortable in Arua, he wasn’t interested in leaving home.
In Arua, Okocha is widely known as ‘landlord’ – there, he rules; he’s supreme. At Onduparaka, he was like a prince, now he has finally given up his crown at Greenlight to take up a new challenge in Kampala.
Of course, Okocha needed a lot of convincing to leave Onduparaka in Arua to join NEC in Kampala, and that’s where NEC assistant coach Dudu Bosco came in, and he did the job well. The coach has for years closely worked with the player in Arua at Onduparaka and the West Nile Province team.
Since the appointment of Hussein Mbalangu as head coach in June, the club has officially announced the arrival of nine new players, though many more have joined the club, only awaiting unveiling.
So far, NEC have confirmed the signing of Enoch Ssebagala, Ibrahim Thembo, Brian Kayanja, Ismael Maganda,vJohn Paul Acire, Allan Mugalu, Isaac Balyejusa and Ronald Ogenga.
Meanwhile, Sharif Lubega returned to the club from loan at CATDA.
