Former Villa, Vipers skipper in Rwanda as APR lift 10-year-ban on foreign players

The Rwanda army side adopted a 100% nationalistic approach in its team recruitment in 2012, restricting to field only Rwandan citizens at the club.

However, APR FC has sought otherwise after struggling to compete favourably in continental football due to the limited talent pool.

The military side won seven league titles and two peace cups in domestic competitions.

Still, it failed to make it into the CAF Champions League or Confederation Cup group stages. 

Last season, they were eliminated in the second round of the CAF Champions League and in 2020, they crashed out of the CAF Champions League first round.

According to Rwandan Kinyarwanda publication, Igihe, APR is signing three foreign players, including Uganda’s Taddeo Lwanga, who arrived in Kigali on July 4 for his medicals. 

Other foreign nationals include DRC national Pavelh Ndzila, Etiole de Congo goalkeeper and Cameroonian defender Ngweni Denis Ndasi. 

Lwanga is a free agent after his contract with Arta/Solar7 from Djibouti expires. 

He has previously featured for Express FC, Vipers SC, SC Villa, Tanta SC(Egypt), and Simba SC (Tanzania). 

The 29-year-old has also been linked with a move to a lower-division club in China.