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Once timid, humanitarian Saido found courage through football

Once formed to help budding talents, his foundation now supports women, children.

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by BRIAN OTIENO

Coast02 October 2025 - 07:12
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In Summary


  • After 17 years of experience at the Mombasa port, Saido called it quits in 2016 to start his own foundation, the Said Abdalla Foundation.
  •  The inspiration behind the foundation was to help budding talents grow to greater heights than where he had reached.
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Said “Saido” Abdalla during the interview / BRIAN OTIENO





Born and brought up in Kongowea in the former larger Kisauni constituency, from which Nyali constituency was curved, Saido, real name Said Abdalla, was different from the word go.

While his agemates were known to be rough, rugged and rowdy, Saido stood out as a lanky, soft-spoken and extremely polite boy, until you cross his line.

His days at Binns Primary School at Kengeleni, near Lights stage in Mombasa, however, exposed his other side, one that would shape his career years later.

He was a superb footballer who transformed into another beast altogether when he stood between the posts, his soft-spoken nature upside down.

He barked orders, organising his defence to shut out any opponent trying to get near his 18-yard area.

His stint at Jaribuni Secondary School in Kilifi County, when he completed his KCPE exam in 1995 at Binns Primary, would be short-lived.

He only lasted a term.

Peter Mayoyo, a renowned teacher and football coach, had long scouted him and influenced his departure from Jaribuni Secondary to the then football powerhouse in Mombasa High School.

He helped the school team become the national champions in the Kenya Secondary Schools Sports Association games at Hill School in Eldoret, Uasin Gishu county in 2000.

“I remember very well we beat Musingu High School 1-0 through a penalty converted by Paul Mwangi,” Saido says with nostalgia.

He remembers the game because it was one of his best games in his footballing career that took him to Sportpesa League side Bandari FC.

That was the year he did his KCSE exam, and it was that same year he started attracting interest from serious teams across the country.

He received many offers, but chose to join Bandari FC because he had secured a job at the Mombasa port as a casual labourer.

“By then I had dreams of playing professional football outside Kenya, with my main desire being to play in England for any top side,” Saido says.

However, the realities of life hit him hard as he was later forced to drop his dreams of playing professional football, to concentrate on work, by which time he had secured a contract.

“It was difficult for me to leave competitive football because it is what made me confident and outspoken. On the pitch I found myself barking orders to teammates but outside it, I would crawl back to my usual timid man,” he says.

A hard-worker, Saido rose through the ranks at the Kenya Ports Authority’s Mombasa port, eventually becoming the security in-charge.

“I was the supervisor, overseeing verification of containers to ensure clients’ goods are safe and secure, and all documentations are right. This exposed me to many things,” he says.

After 17 years of experience at the Mombasa port, Saido called it quits in 2016 to start his own foundation, the Said Abdalla Foundation.

The inspiration behind the foundation was to help budding talents grow to greater heights than where he had reached.

“I played only a few seasons at the highest level of football in Kenya, but I was not happy with how my football career ended. I felt it ended prematurely and did not want this to happen to the talents I saw in Mombasa,” he says.

The foundation was to mainly ensure talents in Mombasa get the exposure they needed and to mentor them into professionals.

Through the foundation, young players like Hamid Munir, Mohamed Katana Nyanje alias Messi Agege and Izzudin Ramadhan joined Bandari FC, propelling them to professional player status.

“We support talent because we know that today, talent can pay you more than education skills,” Saido says.

Football, he says, is his first love.

Through the various players who passed through his foundation, he got to understand many things and changed his perspective of life.

“I would follow up on a player because I value close relationships with the people I interact with. Through their life stories, however, I realised the smile on people’s faces hide a lot of pain and issues they go through.”

This explains his philanthropic nature.

Saido loves to help people to get them out of their misery.

Silence, he says, is a killer of hopes, dreams and many other aspirations that people have.

Once formed to help budding talents to shine, Saido expanded the mandate of his foundation to include helping women, children and persons with disabilities.

“Apart from helping nurture talent, today we help empower women through business ventures that help women live with dignity,” Saido says.

But the stories that touch his heart most are those that involve health.

He has seen many young people give up on their sporting dreams because a family member is critically sick and they have to put their potential careers on hold indefinitely to take care of their loved ones.

“That is why today, my foundation is in the fore front helping touch lives. Where we can, we pay hospital bills for needy people who are helpless at the Coast General Teaching and Referral Hospital,” Saido says.

Many patients have been detained at the Level 5 hospital for failure to raise hospital bills, with some staying at the hospital for even a month after their discharge date.

The foundation has also helped pay mortuary bills for needy families that fail to raise the required fees.

“During Covid-19, our foundation became the first entity in Mombasa to distribute thermo-guns and food to those who needed it most due to the situation then,” he says.

The most touching scenario for him was the recent case of Mama Velis, whose daughter died in Saudi Arabia.

Mama Velis had been given 28 days to make arrangements for her daughter’s body to be shipped to Kenya for burial.

She required almost Sh360,000, money she had never even imagined she would have one day.

“The daughter lived in Mombasa but went to Saudi Arabia for greener pasture. But she then fell ill and sadly died. Seeing that the mother was almost helpless, I felt her pain and decided to pay the relocation costs so she could decently bury her daughter where she can visit anytime,” he says.

He said negotiations with the Saudi Arabian authorities were tough and draining.

“There is no case that ever touched me like this one. I felt the family’s pain and several times, I shed tears just thinking of a mother having to endure the pain of having her daughter buried in a foreign land against her wishes,” Saido says.

A week to the deadline given to Mama Velis to make arrangements for her daughter’s body to be transported to Kenya for burial, Saido sent an initial sum of Sh200,000 to stop the Saudi Arabian authorities from burying the body.

The body was eventually transported to Mombasa for burial, much to the relief of Mama Velis.

The experience made Saido buy a bus that would be used to transport bodies of loved ones to different places across the country.

“I realise many people go through hell to honour traditions of communities that believe their deceased loved ones must be buried in their ancestral homes,” he says.

The bus, however, is yet to start operations.

Saido now eyes the Nyali MP seat saying he wants to extend his charity on a bigger scale and to help alleviate the suffering of Nyali and Mombasa people through better policies and representation.

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