Cranes call up Wafula on a mission to disapprove Gor Mahia and Harambee Stars

Former Gor Mahia versatile right back Innocent Wafula has vowed to put on a show for the Uganda Cranes after the utility player was handed his maiden call up to the Uganda national team on May 26 to finally settle the debate about his nationality.

Back in 2015, after a fine series of displays at Gor where he had shone, Harambee Stars, under head coach Bobby Williamson, called up the defender to its provisional squad but the player was dropped after doubts arose about his nationality, sparking a huge debate about his true origin.

But after earning the settling maiden call up that put paid any ongoing debates, Wafula, in an interview on the Daily Monitor in Uganda, reiterated his original birth place as he promised to double the efforts that have earned him a place in the national team.

“I want to state it clearly that I was born in Uganda and I have waited for this national team call-up. I welcome the competition and I am going to work hard if given the opportunity to play,” he is quoted in the magazine.

Reports claimed that Wafula is from Teso in Busia County but went to school in Uganda, participated in an East African Secondary School ball games tournament representing a Ugandan school.

Interestingly, Wafula will have a chance to lock horns with his alleged country of birth, Kenya, as the two neighbouring nations find themselves in the same 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifier group alongside Rwanda and Mali.

After leaving Gor in 2019, Wafula later joined Ugandan club Vipers as a free agent before he parted ways with them in January this year. He disappeared on the football radar shortly before resurfacing at Mbarara City where his once again impressive performances have helped the team to a mid-table position of ninth in the Ugandan top-tier league and a national team call up.

Wafula credits his return to Uganda as the path that has now bore him the sweetest results.

“I don’t regret coming back to Uganda because it has enabled the coaches to see me and discover my potential,” he revealed.

Uganda Cranes are set to take on South Africa in an international friendly match next Thursday,10th June in Orlando Stadium, South Africa.