Gifted handball player Mukasia quits studying medicine, eyes sporting fame

But after just four months Mukasia quit her studies to join Kenya Defence Forces.

“I lost my mother when I was in Class Seven. Life was hard considering I was the only girl in the family of nine children. Rising School fees and fending for the nine children was a hustle for my father. If he struggled to educate all of us, how about my KMTC course that cost an arm and leg? Definitely, it was going to be tough for my father to pay the fees,” Mukasia attempts to explain her move.

“But here, there was a chance of getting a job and so I decided to join KDF knowing that in future I can still chase my dream of becoming a medic.” A year’s fees at the college comes to just over Sh80,000.

How did KDF recruit her?

“Remember, at Mukumu I had played handball and although, on all occasions during the Kenya Secondary School Games, we didn’t go past the provincials, the school produced good players among them Gladys Chillo who plays for Kenya and Nairobi Water. So, when I came to Nairobi in 2010, I had friends who used to go Moi Air Base, Eastleigh to play handball. One day I joined them at MAB for a game. The management was impressed with my game and encouraged me to continue going for the training sessions.

“I did so even after joining KMTC. I used to travel every weekend for games so when employment slots opened up, they considered me. I must confess that I was torn between continuing with my KMTC studies and joining the Forces. Looking at my economic situation, I decided to drop out of college and join KDF,” says Mukasia,33, a Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) and a Kenya women’s beach handball international who is attached to Kenya Navy.

Nation Sport caught up with her after she had led her team to a Kenya Handball Federation women’s National League 47-9 win over Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology at Nyayo Stadium on November 2.

After passing out in the KDF in 2011, the left back was posted to Mombasa for more training, and it was there that she joined the Kenya Navy handball team and competed in her first CDF Chairman’s Cup that year.

The annual event held in Nairobi brings together teams from different formations among them Kenya Army, Kenya Navy and Kenya Air Force. The KDF team is picked from this competition to play in the National League.

Mukasia was part of the Kenya Navy team that impressed in the 2014 and 2015 editions of the CDF Chairman’s Cup. “I was selected to be part of the KDF team both years but I turned down the offers as I was not mentally prepared to come to Nairobi. But in 2016, I honoured the call-up.

“I could travel few days to the weekend to play the league matches and go back to Mombasa. We finished second behind Nairobi Water in that season.”

Mukasia who was appointed the KDF handball captain in 2023, taking over from Margaret Auma, has shown that she does not fear to try out new things. She switched to football in 2017.

“I joined Ulinzi Starlets and I played alongside Kenya international Neddy Atieno. We played in the lower tier before the side was promoted to the Football Kenya Federation Women’s Premier League in 2020.

“Unfortunately, I did not feature in the top league as I was recalled for a course and it was that period that Corona epidemic had hit the world,” says Mukasia sister to former Musingu High School and Harlequin rugby player Derrick Shitambasi, and niece to former Kenya international football twins Titus and Simeon Mulama.

With age comes maturity, and Mukasia decided in 2021 to go back to the sport that earned her employment at KDF in the first place.

With Mukasia, weighing 60kg and standing 5-feet 6-inches, featuring at left back, KDF finished second in the league in 2021 and 2022.

“But in 2022 season, we beat Nairobi Water in the Super Cup competition for the first time. That was a major achievement in handball history because Nairobi Water had not been beaten since their formation in 2012,” Mukasia says with pride.

The following year Mukasia was named the KDF captain.

“In the team there are players who are ranked above me and how I address them in the sport is different but I have learnt my way around. I’m happy that under my captainship Ulinzi has beaten Nairobi Water twice, during the league return leg and the Super Cup. That was a strong statement from us. We are a good team capable of winning the league title,” said Mukasia.

She is also good in beach handball, a version of the game she learnt at Kenya Navy.

“We picked it up as a way of killing the boredom. But in 2019, when the Beach Handball Federation was trying to form a national team to compete in the inaugural Beach Africa Games in Cape Verde, I was one of the players selected.”

Mukasia helped Kenya to a fourth placed finish. With Mukasia in the thick of things Kenya improved to a second place finish in the second edition of the continental showpiece held in Tunisia in 2023.

The KDF handball captain is hoping to be around for the 2027 edition that will be held in Riaba, Equatorial Guinea in 2027.

But there is one box she desperately wants to tick before then

“I have been privileged to represent the country in beach handball but I’m yet to play for the national team in indoor handball."

She is at the cusp of that call-up.

She was included in the provisional Kenya squad of 28 that are currently training in Nairobi for the African Women’s Handball Championship slated for November 27 to December 7 in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic Congo.

The top four nations will book a ticket to the 2025 World Championship that will be co-hosted by Germany and the Netherlands.

“Playing handball helped me get employment. I am grateful to KDF. Studying medicine is something I still think about. Perhaps someday,” says Mukasia.

For now, finally playing for Kenya is her top goal.