Rugby Fans in Uganda moved an online petition demanding justice for the late Sydney Gongodyo.
The former Rugby Cranes and Stanbic Black Pirates player was buried in Sironko district after succumbing to injuries from a mob action. A young talent was murdered at 27 years.
With 11 suspects detained by Police and four charged in court, the State minister for Sports Peter Ogwang has also added his voice to demand justice for the young player whose career was cut short by a mob.
Gongodyo was brutally murdered by a mob in an act of extra-judicial violence that has shaken the sports fraternity and the entire nation of Uganda after being suspected of snatching a woman’s bag.
The dreams of captaining his club and the national team were stolen from him in a cowardly attack carried out with complete impunity.
Born to Charles James Gyabi and Nancy Kakai on September 20, 1998, Sydney Gongodyo was raised in the affluent Senior Quarters of Mbale City in Eastern Uganda in a family of six children.
For his primary school education, Gongodyo attended Nkokonjeru Primary School and then for secondary school, he went to Namilyango College, Ndejje SSS before finishing at Kings College Budo. By the time of his passing, Gongodyo was a student at Makerere University.
He was described as a humble and disciplined boy by his parents, and as a gentle and affectionate young man by his siblings and friends.
Amongst the many talents he had, Gongodyo best exhibited his love for cooking meat and for the game of rugby.
Gongodyo played rugby in high school and university as a lanky boy in the late 2010s but he quickly grew into a muscular man in the early 2020s as he settled into club rugby with Stanbic Black Pirates.
He made over sixty appearances for Pirates in the top tier Uganda Rugby men’s Premiership and scored eighteen tries.
His athletic abilities and rugby skills as a forward earned him a call up to the senior Uganda Rugby Cranes national team in 2023. He made his winning debut at the Victoria Cup.
Gongodyo’s rich roll of honour includes two Premiership titles, a Uganda Cup, a Uganda Sevens Series title and a Victoria Cup.
His last rugby match was during the Enterprise Cup Final in Nairobi, Kenya a week before his unfortunate death. He was listed on the Impact Team of The Final.
Gongodyo, his dimpled smile, funny and protective personality, will be dearly missed by all those who knew him or shared moments with him.
The rugby fraternity and the entire country are united in demanding justice to be served and all perpetrators of the heinous crime which took away Gongodyo’s life apprehended.
Sydney was not just a rugby player. He was a son, a brother, a father survived by two children, a teammate and a young man with a promising future ahead of him.
His death has left an indelible mark of pain on his immediate family and on everyone who knew and loved him.
May his soul rest in eternal peace.
