Heartfelt tribute to African football giants AFC Leopards as you turn 60

I honestly cannot remember seeing my father go to the stadium to watch AFC Leopards play. But he was a decidedly avid fan of football and a passionate Leopards follower.

After every game day he would proudly talk about how Abaluhya, as AFC Leopards was originally known before the name was changed in 1980, had “beaten someone” and shown them how football was played.

His whole household was AFC Leopards “damu”, and so this love for Ingwe naturally sipped into my every pores, like water on dry sand.

My dad never took me to the stadium to watch an AFC Leopards game, but one cousin of his did.
That relative became my favourite uncle, and would even gift me a Sh1 coin whenever he came visiting, empowering the boy child to flaunt his wealth with Big G, Pussy Cat and Patco-filled pockets. 

The first Ingwe match I watched was in the early 1980s against Gor Mahia at City Stadium. I think the game ended in a barren draw. I remember the crowd, the commotion, the feverish excitement, the rivalry. It was intoxicating.

The feeling intensified as I grew older and more perceptive. My most memorable outing was the 1985 Africa Cup of Winners Cup quarter-final, return leg against Ghanaian giants Asante Kotoko.

I vividly remember a bulging Nyayo Stadium filled beyond capacity with fans spilling from the stands down to the edge of the perimeter fence and high up on the stadium wall.

I recall chants of “AFC! AFC!” rending the air as Kenya’s number one aristocratic club, in their famous blue and white, gallantly cancelled a 2-0 deficit to eventually win the game on penalties. I saw, starry-eyed, up close and personal, my childhood football heroes Wilberforce Mulamba, Josephat Murila, Mahmoud Abbas and others.

Ingwe forever won my heart then and even though my emotional attachment has been tempered with age, I admit AFC Leopards, together with Harambee Stars, Selecao and All Blacks remain the only sports outfits that can make my heart go giddy up.

So today, I want to pay tribute to all those AFC Leopards members, branches and fans, past and present, from the time the hallowed club was formed on March 12, 1964 to date.

The chairman, first chairman Joseph Akoya, then Christopher Omufira Akwabi in those formative years.

Joint chairmen Albert Ongaro and Bob Shikwe, Safari Rally legend Peter Shiyukah, Joshua Buliro, James Wamiya, Paul Eliud Nakitare, renowned scientist Dr Walter Masiga, who had two separate stints, Wycliffe Keya.

Bernard Alfred Wekesa Sambu, holder of the longest reign and arguably most successful, with four league titles and two Cecafa crowns. 

Sambu brought a shirt sponsor, Crown Paint, to the club when that concept was alien to the local league. “If you like it, crown it” was the company slogan, and it seemed to inspire Ingwe to accumulate titles at will.

Politician per excellence Fred Fidelis Gumo, Peter Ageli Onalo, sugar boss Francis Chahonyo, super traffic cop Samuel Angote, who fought to keep the club afloat, Voltaire Kegedo, a man ahead of his years as he tried in vain to introduce a corporate structure at Ingwe, medical doctor Sobbie Mulindi.

Trade unionist Wafula wa Musamia, politician Alex ole Magelo, who held the club as it suffered the ignominy of regulation and nursed it back into top-flight football, Julius Ochiel, Allan Kasavuli, Dan Mule.

Current chairman Dan Shikanda, even though he committed the sacrilege of leaving AFC Leopards for sworn enemy Gor Mahia as a player in the 1990s. His elder brother Hezekiah, who also played for Leopards, Shem Chimoto, their grandfather who donned the famous white and blue decades earlier.

I pay tribute to the coaches. Elijah Lidonde, Jonathan Niva Muchuma “Esimba ya Mayeye”, one of Ingwe greatest, first as a player then player-coach.

Ugandan Robert Kiberu, who had the longest continuous stint as the man on the hot seat, and famously claimed an unprecedented three Premier League titles in a row, Austrian Gerry Saurer, Welshman Graham Williams.

Africa Cup of Nations-winning coach Ghanaian Charles Gyamfi, a back-to-back league winner, local boy, mathematics teacher and gifted talent developer Christopher Makokha,

Tanzanian Sunday Kayuni, the last coach to win a league title for AFC Leopards in 1998, Dutchman Jan Koops, who owns a 23-match unbeaten run with latter day Leopards. 

I pay tribute to all the players. Elijah Lindonde, Joe Kadenge, perhaps Kenya’s most famous player, Jonathan Niva, Anthony Mukabwa, Charles Makunda, Daniel Anyanzwa, David Asibwa, Noah Wanyama.

Livingstone Madegwa, voted one of the best players in Africa in 1972, Aggrey Lukoye, David Kepha, Timothy Madonye, Haggai Mirikau, Joseph Jesse “JJ” Masiga, Tony Lidonde, Abdul Barasa, Mahmoud Abbas “Kenya One”, Maurice Khayota, Musuku brothers, Dan and Ben, Shadrack Oyando, Moses Okwaro, Josephat “Controller” Murila, Wilberfoce “Maradona” Mulamba, Ingwe's all-time top scorer. 

Patrick Shilasi “Omar Bongo”, Francis Kadenge, Mickey Weche “T9”, Mike Amwayi, David Akoyi, John Arieno “Papa”, Peter Lichungu, Peter Zimbo Owade, George Olubendi, Hassan Juma, Wycliff Anyangu.

John “Shoto” Lukoye, Kepha Tasso, Tony Lwanga, Francis Oduor, Fred Ambani, Maurice Sunguti, Nicholas Muyoti et al. 

Twelve league titles, 10 FKF Cup triumphs, six Cecafa Club Championships trophies. The most followed and loved team in the region.

Happy 60th anniversary! Long live AFC Leopards!

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