Conversations have sprung up regarding the state of football in the country and also Football Kenya Federation (FKF) President Nick Mwendwa's comments on how the country lacks quality players.
One man in particular, former Harambee Stars Head Coach Francis Kimanzi, was not well impressed with the shocking remarks. “I led a team of talented Kenyans to Egypt and picked a historic 1-1 draw against a fancied side just before I was unceremoniously dismissed. Were these hired foreigners? Let’s stop shifting blames! Our problem is elsewhere, we need to urgently address it once and for all!" Francis Kimanzi, former Harambee Stars Head Coach said.
Since the current FKF regime took over in 2016, Bobby Williamson, Stanley Okumbi, Paul Putt, Sebastien Migne, Francis Kimanzi and Mulee have taken charge of Harambee Stars. Is the rapid change of guard healthy for the national team’s development? The answer is no, according to former Harambee Stars forward Boniface Ambani. Ambani said every coach will always come with his own players, which definitely makes building a strong team in a short period of time even harder. “Our neighbours Uganda and Tanzania are consistent,” said Ambani.
Mwendwa has defended the decision to engage Engin Firat as Harambee Stars coach for two months, saying it was for the good of the country. Mwendwa argued that even if the federation brings in the best coaches in the world, Kenya’s football cannot grow if the talent is not nurtured. “Even if you bring Jose Mournho, even if you bring Mikel Arteta….the work that needs to be done is that we need to bring talents to the table. For you to win, you need quality players,” explained the football boss.
Mwendwa stated that they did not go for a permanent coach because incase the federation needed to make a change, it would have cost them around Sh1 million dollars in compensation. Despite Firat’s track record being put to question by Kenyans after he failed to register a single victory with Moldova national team in 11 matches, Mwendwa again heaped praise on him as a “top, top, top coach." He said that they did not settle on a local coach to take over from Jacob “Ghost” Mulee for the World Cup qualifiers because they had previously failed to deliver.
Since Mwendwa took over six years ago, Stars have had seven coaches, with three being local. The local coaches are Stanley Okumbi, Francis Kimanzi and Mulee. Okumbi was in 2018 demoted to the Under-20 team and replaced by Belgian Paul Put while Kimanzi was fired in October 2020. Mulee parted ways with FKF in September due the ill health of his brother.