On March 19th 2025, the Uganda Olympic Committee (UOC) and Commonwealth Games Association of Uganda held it’s inaugural awards dinner at the Sheraton Hotel, Kampala.

The Awards celebrated and recognised outstanding athletes, national teams, and administrators the past year, 2024.

In basketball, Hope Akello and Titus Lual were named as the winners for the ladies and men respectively.

In 2024, both Akello and Lual led their teams, JKL Lady Dolphins and City Oilers, to NBL Championships and posted huge numbers.

However, 2025 has been a very interesting year and selecting the best players will give people headache.

There was a lot of activity from the local leagues, Afrobasket for both men and women, 3×3 Africa Cup, 3×3 Women’s series, U16 Afrobasket, Road to BAL and other things.

One would wonder, what is considered most? Is it the league or National team activity?

Standout Women

Hope Akello

Akello helped the JKL Lady Dolphins retain their NBL Championship and was named the playoffs MVP. She was also the most productive player in the league.

Additionally, she was an integral performer for the Gazelles at the Zone V qualifiers where Uganda emerged champions after defeating Egypt.

She also performed fairly well at the Women’s Afrobasket in Cote d’Ivoire, where Uganda finished eighth.

Hope is currently playing in Morocco.

Shillah Lamunu Aber

Lamunu was one of the busiest players in 2025 and she had the most engagements on National duty.

Shiilah played at the Afrobasket Zone V qualifiers, 3 stops at the 3×3 Women’s series, the 6 stops at the 3×3 Youth Nations League, the U23 World Cup, the FISU University 3×3 World Cup and also the NBL.

In the league, Lamunu was the heart and soul of the Lady Canons and led them to a 3rd place finish. The Ladies fought toe-to-toe with the JKL Lady Dolphins and the series was decided in game 5. This was labelled the final before the final.

At the Zone V qualifiers, she is remembered for her ferocious defense against Egypt in the group stage game.

She led Uganda at the Youth Nations League were they won 4 of the 6 stops.

At the U23 3×3 World Cup, she scored 9 of the 21 points in Uganda’s only win against Fiji. She also scored the most points for Uganda at the tournament.

Additionally, she played a huge role in the 3×3 Women’s series and also helped UCU as they won bronze at the FISU 3×3 University World Cup.

She is on a mission to help UCU win the title in the upcoming University Games.

Jane Asinde

The Gazelles captain was very integral in their victory at the Zone V qualifiers. She also helped Uganda at the Afrobasket and was named in the team of the Tournament.

She has been doing amazing in her different teams and currently in Spain, her team Azulmarino is currently unbeaten.

Melissa Akullu

Akullu was a top performer for the Gazelles in Zone V qualifiers and the Afrobasket. She also played 2 of 3 stops in the FIBA 3×3 Women’s series.

She won a championship in Angola and is currently performing very well in Portugal.

There were other players would performed well in particular events like Perus Nyamwenge, Martina Anyango, Tracy Namugosa and Mercy Batamuliza.

Top Performers (Men)

The men are a bit complicated because most of the players were not ‘exceptional’ and gauging between achievements and performance is tough.

Fayed Baale, Ivan Muhwezi and Joel Kayiira are the only 3 players that play in the NBL that played at the Afrobasket.

Uganda lost all their 3 games and looked bad but despite this, the trio did not get much playing time.

Fayed was the top scorer in the league, was named in the Team of the Season and helped City Oilers go to the Finals.

However in the playoffs, his role reduced with the introduction of Chad Bowie and Kurt Curry.

Ivan Muhwezi did not play the entire first round and was a squad player for the Namuwongo Blazers in their championship run.

Joel Kayiira was a key performer for the UCU canons, was named the Defensive Player of the Year in the NBL and in the Team of the Season.

He helped the UCU Canons win bronze in the NBL. Additionally, he was part of the squad that won the FASU 3×3 University Championship and also played in the FISU 3×3 World Cup.

One key performer is Peter Obleng who was a key player for the Namuwongo Blazers as they cruised to the NBL Championship victory.

He also posted big numbers in the Road to BAL, most notably, his 39 points against Djabal. Despite the Blazers being underwhelming at the Elite 16, Obleng was still apart of that squad and also the 3×3 Silverbacks team at the Africa Cup.

There is one very interesting player who, statistically, was the best player.

Joshua Duallo was named regular season MVP, playoffs MVP, Top Scorer, Top Rebounder, Defensive player of the year and many more awards.

He helped the UMU Flames win the FUBA Division One and get promoted to the NBL.

If he had been playing in the NBL, there is no doubt he would have been named the best player in the country.

However, he was in Division One.  Does it carry the same weight as NBL.

Would he be considered for the Award?

It is uncertain who gets to vote and what criteria they follow. However, one thing is for sure, we shall have winner next year.

Who do you think will win?