When people talk about Kenya’s greatest sportsmen, the name Joe Kadenge of “Kadenge na mpira” fame instantly rings a bell. Joe Kadenge, who passed on in 2019 at the age of 84, is one of the finest footballers ever to be produced by Kenya.
Thanks both to his football pedigree and football commentators who made “Kadenge na mpira” part of Kenya’s football parlance in the 60s, 70s and 80s, whose name was shouted from stadium terraces and whispered in admiration in living rooms across the country. Kadenge’s dribbling flair defined a whole generation in Kenya.
But few know that behind that famous football family name lies another sporting legend, John Anzrah, younger brother to the late Joe Kadenge, Kenya’s football hero, whose dribbling flair defined a generation.
When you meet John Anzrah, his voice carries the calm authority of a man who has lived through Kenya’s golden sporting era from the terraces at Nyayo National Stadium to the spikes on international tracks. Yet, behind the medals and milestones lies a story shaped by his elder brother, the late Joe Kadenge.
John Anzrah reads a copy of the Daily Nation at his home in Kidinye, Vihiga County, on October 9, 2025.
Photo credit: Alex Odhiambo | Nation Media Group
Born in 1954 in Isambai village, Vihiga County, Anzrah grew up at a time when sports heroes were local legends and opportunities were scarce. In his home, football was more than a pastime; it was identity. His elder brother Joe Kadenge was already rewriting Kenyan history books with his silky touch on the ball.
“Everyone in the village talked about Joe. To us, he was our pride. People came from far just to see him when he visited home,” Anzrah recalls. Like many boys, Anzrah idolised his brother. He, too, kicked makeshift balls made of old socks and sisal fibres on the fields of Vihiga County. But even then, he was known for something different, speed.
“I could run faster than most kids. But football was what mattered. Athletics was something you did for fun after class,” he says.
After completing school, Anzrah moved to Nairobi in the mid-1970s to live with his brother Kadenge, who was then working at Coca-Cola offices in Nairobi. The city was alive with football fever, and Kadenge remained a revered figure in the local leagues.
One day, an unexpected opportunity came knocking. Kadenge knew some of the players from the East African External Telecommunications Company. He then asked if they could grant his brother a chance to showcase his talent.
East African External Telecommunications Company Ltd would later change its name to Kenya External Telecommunications (Kenextel).
“He told them, ‘Let my brother play, he’s good,” Anzrah recalls with a chuckle. “That’s how I ended up on the pitch that day.”
The young man played brilliantly but suffered an injury during the game. The company’s Managing Director, whose last name he recalls as being Odhiambo, was impressed by his commitment, was shocked to learn that Anzarah wasn’t one of the company’s employees.
“He called me to his office and said, ‘We can’t have you play for us and get injured when you don’t even work here.’ The next day, he gave me a job. That’s how my career began by accident,” Anzrah says.
Now a company employee, as a clerk, Anzrah became part of their football team. There, he had an opportunity to play alongside some of Kenya’s most celebrated footballers, including Allan Thigo, Bobby Ogolla, and Lukhoye.
“Those were golden days. We had talent and discipline, but little did I know that something else was waiting for me,” he says.
In 1977, Joe Kadenge took John to City Stadium to watch an athletics competition. The crowd roared as a tall, confident man named Eric Kiprotich sprinted across the finish line to win the 400 metres.
“He looked at me and said, ‘John, you can beat that man,’” Anzrah remembers. “I laughed and told him, ‘If I meet him tomorrow, I’ll beat him.’”
The following week, his company’s athletics team, then known as Kenya External Telecommunications (Kenextel), was invited to a meet at Barclays Sports Ground in Nairobi.
Athletics coach John Anzrah during an interview with Nation Sport at his home in Kidinye, Vihiga County on October 8, 2025.
Photo credit: Alex Odhiambo | Nation Media Group
Anzrah borrowed a pair of running spikes from a colleague and decided to test himself in the 400 metres.
“I didn’t have training. I just ran. And by God’s grace, I beat Eric Kiprotich, the same man who had just qualified to represent Kenya,” he says.
The next morning, he opened the Daily Nation newspaper and was stunned to see his photo on the back page with the caption: “A new sprinter from Kenextel emerges.”
“That was it, I hung up my football boots and became a sprinter. I still have that newspaper cutting, yellowed and old, but it reminds me of where it all began. Consequently, Daily Nation has always been my primary source of news since then,” he says. In 1982, he represented Kenya at the Commonwealth Games in Brisbane, Australia.
By 1983, he was among the most respected sprinters in Africa. At the African Championships in Cairo, he teamed up with Alfred Nyambane, Moses Sirma, and Peter Wekesa to win gold for Kenya in the 4x100m relay. In 1987, he captained Kenya’s athletics team at the All-Africa Games in Nairobi. He now works as a sprints coach.
