Green Commandos Star's Journey: From Rejection to Redemption

The boy who now carries Kakamega High School’s attack on his shoulders once walked away from the game completely. Not because he lacked talent. Because he was thrown out.

The Kakamega County and Western Region standout, top scorer at the KSSSA national games in Thika with six goals, admits his path back to the big stage almost never happened.

“My football life started very early as a young kid. It got to a place where I did not want to play again, so I got a guardian who held my hand and returned me to football. I trusted myself and said, If I come back, I must perform and I will make it,” he explained.

He had been chased away from the Green Commandos youth team for indiscipline. The door slammed shut. For a while, so did his desire to play.

A Guardian, An Apology, A Second Chance

When he finally returned, it was at the Under-12 setup, guided by that same guardian who refused to let his talent go to waste. The youngster swallowed his pride, went back, and apologised.

“I had left football because a lot was going on. The first time I was in, I was chased because I was indisciplined, but I came back to the team and apologised and continued to play,” he added.

That moment changed him. Not just as a player, but as a person.

Versatile and hungry, he can operate on either flank in attack and slot in comfortably at left-back. Since his comeback, the KSSSA top scorer has thrown himself into the game with a new seriousness, tying his ambitions in football to his education.

“That was at the Under-12 team. The thing that has changed me a lot is that I decided to focus more on football and education, so I need to train hard, and the training is what is helping me to gain a lot.”

The results have been impossible to ignore.

Breakout Year in Form One

In 2024, still only in Form One, he broke into the Kakamega High School team. He did not just make up the numbers. He scored more than five goals in the sub-county games, driving the school into the county stage and announcing himself as the next big thing in the Green Commandos production line.

Those performances opened another door. He was promoted to the Green Commandos senior side, then playing in the FKF Division One league. Third-tier football. Senior bodies. Real stakes.

He made his Division One debut while still in Form One. Then came a call that every Kenyan schoolboy dreams of: Talanta Hela Under-19.

But the biggest shift in his game arrived on an even bigger stage.

National Team Lessons in Addis Ababa

With the Kenya Under-17 national team, he was pushed out of his comfort zone. The Green Commandos livewire, usually unleashed further forward, was deployed as a left wing-back during the CECAFA Under-17 AFCON qualifiers in Addis Ababa.

He did not just feature. He played every minute of the campaign, never substituted, tasked with shutting down his flank while still providing the thrust going forward.

The player known for his dangerous crosses, whipped corners, powerful runs and clean strikes on goal suddenly had to think like a defender too. Track runners. Time tackles. Read danger before it exploded.

“At the national team, I used to play as a wing-back. I did not play as an attacking player. So the experience I got there was valuable when I came here. I was pushed to play offensively, and so I used the experience I got as a left-back and brought it forward,” he said.

That experience sharpened his decision-making. It taught him how to read the game quicker, how to balance risk and responsibility. Now, the defensive discipline picked up with Kenya Under-17 blends with his natural attacking instincts for Green Commandos, turning him into a more complete modern wide player.

Fighting to Finish Strong at FEASSSA

The transformation in his game has been clear. The results at FEASSSA, though, have been brutal.

The KSSSA national champions have stumbled in their regional campaign, losing their opening two matches to Uganda’s Kyadondo Secondary School and Tanzania’s Urambo Secondary School. A team used to dictating terms has been forced to chase.

One group game remains: Bukedea Comprehensive of Uganda.

For the school’s top scorer, it is not a dead rubber. It is a chance to show that the Green Commandos still carry bite, that the boy who once walked away from football can now drag his team to a final statement in the group.

He knows what it means to be written off. He has lived it. Now he wants to sign off with maximum points.