Kenya men’s volleyball team coach Gideon Tarus is a man on a mission. His single most important target is to lead the team, christened Wafalme, out of the shadows of the highly decorated women’s team, to finishing among the top three in Men’s African Nations Volleyball Championship in Tunis, Tunisia from September 15 to 23.
The men’s team has lived in the shadows of the women’s squad Malkia Strikers, which has won multiple African titles. Tarus, who has been with Wafalme since 2015 as deputy coach under Gideon Chenje before being elevated to the position of head coach in 2021, can’t wait to wear a continental medal around his neck.
“I don’t care about the colour of the medal... we have been to this championship for almost four decades without winning a medal and it’s about time we won something,” Tarus said.
Tarus hopes that Wafalme will win a medal at the championship that starts on Tuesday. A total of 16 national teams will compete, among them nine-time champions Egypt, and 11-time winners Tunisia over 11 days.
The championship was moved from the Democratic Republic of Congo owing to outbreak of Ebola. Just like at the just concluded women’s championships in Nairobi, winners will get a direct ticket to the 2028 Olympic Games, while the top three qualify for the 2027 FIVB Volleyball World Cup to be held in Poland.
Kenya is yet to qualify for any of the championships. The country’s best performance in men’s continental championship came in 1995 in Tunis, where Kenya finished sixth out of six teams.
Kenya finished ninth in the past two editions held in 2021 in Kigali, and in 2023 in Cairo, where Tunisia and Egypt won respectively.
After a tough start in the group stage, Kenya defeated Senegal 3-0 and Ghana 3-2 in the classification rounds to secure ninth place in 2023.
Kenya men’s national volleyball team setter Kelvin Maiyo during a training session at Kasarani Indoor Arena in Nairobi on September 11, 2026.
Photo credit: Pool
Finishing ninth overall in 2021 in Kigali came with a big milestone for Wafalme, who defeated continental powerhouse Egypt for the first time ever in 3-2 sets (19-5, 25-22, 25-20,18-25,15-12) in the group stage.
“We want to emulate Malkia Strikers in every facet of the game. It’s our prayer that we achieve that and show the country that men’s volleyball, too, is a force to reckon with,” said Tarus.
“We want to stay positive and confident regardless of the opposition. Initially, we would lose matches even before taking to the court against any Arab team because of the mentality that they are always better. That mindset has changed now,” former General Service Unit player Tarus said.
Tarus, who still coaches at GSU, would have loved the team to play more friendly matches.
“Our training has gone well and the players are determined to give it their all,” said Tarus, adding that his team will play a friendly match with one of the participating teams before the tournament starts.
Kenya’s head of delegation Moses Mbuthia said that they are going for nothing short of podium finish.
“We believe our time has come,” said Mbuthia.
Promising middle blocker Felix Ogembo is among five new young players named in the team for the continental championship.
The 19-year-old is from volleyball royalty. His mother Asha Makuto is a former Kenya Pipeline and Malkia Strikers left attacker, while his father Julius Ogembo is a former middle blocker. His aunties Evelyne and Violet Makuto played for Malkia Strikers.
The other new players are Moses Macharia (outside hitter), Victor Cheruiyot (middle blocker), Rollings Juma (middle blocker) and Felix Otieno (setter).
