Former Harambee Stars and Gor Mahia player Collins Okoth at the Milimani High Court during the hearing of his murder case on May 14, 2025.
The murder trial of former Kenya and Gor Mahia midfielder Collins ‘Gattuso’ Okoth lifts the lid on troubled lives of Kenyan athletes.
Okoth’s trial shows that some local athletes have shown “Jekyll and Hyde” personality, displaying two very different sides to their personality, one good and the other evil or immoral.
The murder trial of Gor’s former player Okoth started before Justice Alexander Muteti at Milimani High Court in Nairobi on Wednesday, with Alex Wanga Adhola and Beatrice Awuor, parents of the two-year-old girl the former defensive midfielder is being charged with killing, testifying that their daughter was alone in the house on the fateful night when she was allegedly raped and murdered.
The court was told that on the night of April 21 and 22 last year, Scuvian Muyer’s body was thrown down from the second floor to the ground floor of the house her mother was residing in at Lucky Summer Estate in Nairobi.
A knife police believe was used to unfasten the screws of the lock of the house the child was living in with her mother in Lucky Summer was found in the flat that Okoth was occupying within the same estate.
Okoth, 35, and his co-accused Sylvia Aoko Odhiambo were arrested on April 22, 2024 and have remained in detention. Both have applied for release on bail but the prosecution has opposed the application.
The bail application will be argued on July 13, with further hearing of the case scheduled for September 17.
While Okoth’s talent on the pitch was unquestionable, his career was often overshadowed by controversy, including indiscipline issues and threats to journalists. Other than Gor, he played for Tusker FC, Sofapaka, AFC Leopards and KCB in the local league.
Before his arrest, Okoth was involved in match analysis. Here are some of the local athletes with troubled sporting careers.
Alex Olaba
The former Kenya sevens player was in May 2023 jailed for six years for threatening to kill a witness in a rape case, and also got two years for interfering with the judicial process.
Trial magistrate Geoffrey Onsarigo slapped Olaba with the sentence after finding him guilty of two charges of attempted murder and interference of witness in the case in which he is charged alongside former Kenya Sevens Rugby player Frank Wanyama over gang rape that was pending in court.
Former Kenya Sevens rugby player Alex Olaba at Milimani Law Court in Nairobi on May 4, 2021.
Earlier on in the same month, the Court of Appeal had suspended the prosecution of Olaba and Wanyama over sexual assault pending determination of their case that concerns admissibility of the complainant’s evidence because the witness had testified without taking oath.
They were seeking a fresh trial at the High Court after being sentenced to 15 years each by a magistrate court, which had found them guilty of sexually assaulting a woman on February 11, 2018 at Seefa Apartments in Highrise, Nairobi.
Byron Billy Owuor
The former Kisumu All-Stars player was in May 2024 arrested for violent robbery and murder of a 23-year-old businesswoman in Kisumu’s Kondele area.
Investigations by police in Kondele led them to an AK47 rifle allegedly used in the murder incident, and 36 rounds of ammunition in the incident that happened in January 2024.
According to a report by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations, Byron Billy Owuor, with his accomplice, attacked the woman, identified as Ms Grace Awino Adero, who was operating an M-Pesa shop within the Kondele area.
A report by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations officers indicated that Owuor, with his accomplices, attacked the woman, identified as Ms Grace Awino Adero, who was operating an M-Pesa shop within the Kondele area.
He was arraigned at the Winam Senior Principal Magistrate’s Court, and detectives were granted 14 days to conclude the investigation. Nation Sport could not immediately establish the progress of the case.
Tedium “Teddy” Rodgers
The former Mathare Youth Sports Association (MYSA) midfielder was imprisoned at Kamiti Maximum Prison in 2001 after being sentenced to death for robbery with violence.
He was 23 at the time. Before moving to MYSA, Teddy was teammate of former Harambee Stars and Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Victor Wanyama at JMJ academy in Nairobi. In a previous interview, Teddy said other friends outside football misled him into a life of crime which landed him in prison.
Kamiti Prison Football Club players Salim Eric, Mario Magwana, Shwaib Mohammed, coach Moses Opula, Tedium Rodgers and Benson Madara pose with there trophies after training session on September 6, 2017 at the prison grounds. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP
Had the late President Mwai Kibaki not exercised his prerogative of mercy in August 2009, which commuted to life sentence the death penalty of more than 4,000 prisoners on death row, Teddy would have been hanged that same year.
While under incarceration in the highly guarded facility, Teddy coached other inmates as part of his rehabilitation and also because of his passion for football. He was released from prison in 2019.
Nicodemus Arudhi
Before his bullet-riddled body was discovered at Nairobi Funeral Home (formerly City Mortuary) on the night of June 22, 1981, the former Harambee Stars, Luo Union and Gor Mahia striker who played football with fluidity was a convicted criminal and a wanted man. Arudhi was not even his name, nor was Nicodemus.
His real name was Daniel Odhiambo. He surrendered to police on June 21, 1981 and offered to show them where he had hidden his guns.
Luo Union's Daniel Nicodemus out jumps “The Callies” defence during a friendly match in Nairobi. Nicodemus, a football star and notorious criminal, scored three goals in this match.
When they got to the spot, police claimed he started running away and was shot. He had been jailed several times, and at least once arrested for murder. The government eventually paid his family Sh250, 000 as compensation.
Ezekiel Kemboi
In 2012, the former 3,000 meters steeplechase champion faced assault charges at an Eldoret Court before the complainant, Ms Ann Njeri Otieno, withdrew the case.
Kenya's Ezekiel Kemboi celebrates winning the final of the men's 3,000 metres steeplechase athletics event at the 2015 IAAF World Championships at the "Bird's Nest" National Stadium in Beijing on August 24, 2015.
He was facing the charge of assaulting Ms Njeri on June 27, 2012 in Eldoret by stabbing her and causing actual bodily harm after a night of drinking spree at an entertainment joint. Kemboi had denied the charges and was released on a Sh50,000 bond or a cash bail of Sh20,000.
Byron Robert Otieno
The former Kariobangi Sharks’ striker was sentenced to life imprisonment after being found guilty of robbery with violence in 2015.
Moses Opula
The former AFC Leopards defender and goalkeeping trainer got caught up in crime and sentenced to death at Kamiti Maximum Prison after a lengthy trial. Before his arrest in mid-2007, Opula was the assistant coach to Mickey Weche, one of Kenya’s most celebrated tacticians, at AFC Leopards.
His sentence came years after he featured in a star-studded Leopards squad alongside midfielders Nicholas Muyoti and Ramadhan Balala. That team won the 2001 Moi Golden Cup.
In a previous interview with Nation Sport, Opula revealed that he was walking with a group of bad friends and was arrested together with them.
Moses Opula coaches kids from the Mainstream Sports Academy in Nairobi.
Surprisingly, all of his friends whom he had been arrested with were released at different stages of the trial while he was tried and condemned to death.
Luckily, his death sentence was later substituted for life imprisonment after President Kibaki exercised his prerogative of mercy in 2009.
In September 2020, Opula was pardonedafter showing good behaviour following an appeal by Mneti Huru, a local paralegal group patronage associated with former Chief Justice Willy Mutunga.
