FKF settles on Kimanzi as new Harambee Stars head coach

Football Kenya Federation has settled on Francis Kimanzi as the new head coach of the national football team Harambee Stars on a two- year deal.

Kimanzi will be assisted by Kenya Commercial Bank FC head coach Zedekiah ‘Zico’ Otieno. The duo has been offered two-year contracts and will be unveiled on Friday.

The duo has been picked to replace Frenchman Sebastien Migne who parted company with the federation on Monday after a 15-month stint.

Kimanzi has coached the team in the past in two different spells between November 2008 and January 2009 and later in November 2011 and June 2012 while ‘Zico’ who will be the second in command has also previously handled the senior team as the head coach between December 2010 and December 2011, and it remains unclear if he will step down from his role as KCB FC head coach.

The Stars under Migne qualified for the Africa Cup of Nations for the first time in 15-years but posted an underwhelming performance at the Afcon showpiece losing 2-0 to Algeria and 3-0 to Senegal to be tossed out of the competition despite beating Tanzania’s Taifa Stars 3-2 in the other group stage match.

However, the final straw that broke the camel’s back was the embarrassing defeat to Tanzania in post match penalties in the Africa Nations Championship(CHAN) qualifiers some 10 days ago at Kasarani after a two-leg clash ended in a dour 0-0 stalemate.

The duo has their in-tray full as they will guide the team in the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers as well as the 2022 World Cup campaign route, assuming they hold onto their jobs.