Godfrey Amooti Nyakana (born June 7, 1967) is a Ugandan former lightweight boxer and politician. He participated in 1990 Commonwealth Games that took place Auckland city, New Zealand where he won a gold medal. He won 31 games where 19 games were by KO, got 4 losses and drew one game in his professional career. He served as the

National Resistance Movement The National Resistance Movement (; abbr. NRM) has been the ruling party in Uganda since 1986. History The National Resistance Movement (NRM) was founded as a liberation movement that waged a guerrilla war through its rebel wing National ...

chairperson for Kampala Central Division.

Early life and amateur boxing

Godfrey Nyakana was born in Kampala, Uganda. He began his boxing career as an amateur. Nyakana’s key victory in the period of his personal development was his winning of a gold medal at the light middleweight division of

1990 Commonwealth Games The 1990 Commonwealth Games () were held in Auckland, New Zealand from 24 January – 3 February 1990. It was the 14th Commonwealth Games, and part of New Zealand's 1990 sesquicentennial celebrations. Participants competed in ten sports: at ...

held in

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New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

Professional boxing career

Nyakana became professional on 1990 April 21 when he first met Tony Martel where he won by knockout with a record of 6-1-1. Over the course of his career, he had a win loss draw tally of 31-4-1 out of which he knocked out opponents from the ring nineteen times. Running from 1990 to 2003, during which time he engaged in several high-profile fights such as those held at Brooklyn’s Gleason's Gym. A documentary called ''TitleShot'' documents his journey and tribulations as a professional boxer including training sessions and games along with off-the-ring life.

Political career and advocacy

After retiring from professional boxing, Nyakana transitioned into politics. He served as the Mayor of

Kampala Central Division Kampala Central Division is one of the five divisions that make up Kampala, the capital of Uganda. The city's five divisions are: (a) Kampala Central Division (b) Kawempe Division (c) Lubaga Division (d) Makindye Division and (e) Nakawa Divisi ...

after winning an election in 2006. Nyakana has also been an advocate for youth and sports development in Uganda. He has worked on various initiatives to promote boxing and other sports as a means to empower young people and keep them engaged in positive activities.

Personal life

He was married to businesswoman Sarah Kizito, though their marriage ended after more than a decade.

Controversies

In July 2022, Nyakana was accused of assaulting a police officer who had gone to arrest mobile thieves suspects at Hot-Spa and Massage parlor which is based in Mulungu,

Munyonyo Munyonyo is an area on the northern shores of Lake Victoria and part of the metropolitan area of Kampala, in Makindye Division. Location Munyonyo is bordered by Lake Victoria to the south, Bulingugwe Island to the southeast, Ggaba to the east ...

. He was arrested in

Luzira Luzira is a suburb of Kampala, the capital of Uganda. It is best known for the country's main prison, Luzira Maximum Security Prison, which has seen significant redevelopment thanks to the work of African Prisons Project, a charity based in the ...

and released after a week on bail by the

Uganda Police The Uganda Police Force is the national police force of Uganda. The head of the force is called the Inspector General of Police (IGP). The current IGP is Abbas Byakagaba. Byakagaba replaced former IGP, Geoffrey Tumusiime on 18 May 2024. Recrui ...

on court orders. Nyakana filed suit against Uganda Amateur Boxing Federation indicting the federation president Moses Muhangi leaving out some clubs to participating in the National Boxing Championship which happened between January 19 to February 3, 2019 at the MTN Arena in Lugogo. Nyakana requested the court to halt the activities from happening. Nyakana was taken to High court - Land division over failure to repay David Luyiga 260 million for the land which he sold to him and did not give Luyiga the title. In 2004, Nyakana house found in Bugoloobi was demolished by National Environment Management Authority in a move to recover wetlands. The Uganda Constitutional Court judgement was in support of NEMA decision because is house was built in a wetland which is against the laws, which states that "''Wetlands could not be granted to private individuals/entities because the State holds such natural resources in trust for the citizenry and they must be preserved for the public benefit, in this case''".

References