•The bubbly tactician was born in Nairobi’s Eastlands neighbourhood of Jericho on April 23, 1981, where he overcame parental hostility to carve his path in football.
•The games teacher at Ofafa Jericho, Mr. Makumi, who was affectionately known by his students as “Maten” inspired him to pursue a career in football.
Image: HANDOUT
Harambee Starlets head coach Charles Okere is one of the few Kenyan football tacticians who can proudly display a stellar four-page curriculum vitae.
Barely in his early 40s, Okere has a depth of coaching experience comparable to those who have worked in the field for a similar number of years. Undoubtedly, he had to put in some extra hours to attain his current status.
The bubbly tactician was born in Nairobi’s Eastlands neighbourhood of Jericho on April 23, 1981, where he overcame parental hostility to carve his path in football.
“I loved football and played a lot of it, but my parents did everything they could to discourage me from the sport, believing that I was wasting time that would have been better spent on education,” Okere stated.
“It even got to the point where my mother would select my football-related accessories and discard them,” he added.
Never one to give up easily, Okere soldiered on, buoyed by the success of his elder brother, Eric, who turned out for the top clubs in the country, including KCB, Mafuko Bombers, Utalii, and KCC.
“My mother would get upset with me for spending too much time playing football, and there were times when I received severe reprimands, but my brother gave me a lot of inspiration and pushed me to follow my dreams, Okere said.
After passing the 1996 Kenya Certificate of Primary Education exam, Okere joined Ofafa Jericho High School, where he sat for the 2000 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education.
The games teacher at Ofafa Jericho, Mr. Makumi, who was affectionately known by his students as “Maten” inspired him to pursue a career in football.
Image: HANDOUT
“He is my role model until now and I learned a lot of lessons from him that have proved useful in my coaching career. He was a disciplinarian who condoned no nonsense during training and that’s why he managed to deliver many titles,” Okere said.
“He has served as my role model up until this point, and I have learned many lessons from him that have helped me in my career as a coach. He was a strict disciplinarian who tolerated no nonsense in the gym, which is how he managed to win so many titles," Okaye stated.
Mr. Makumi served as the school’s guidance and counseling coordinator in addition to teaching Kiswahili.
“He was a big mentor to us. He would go into great detail about every local player he had developed, such as former Harambee Stars captain Musa Otieno, who played for Tusker and AFC Leopards before switching to the South African Premier League, and George Waweru, who not only competed in the local league but also for the national team.”
The success tales inspired Makumi’s proteges to reach the lofty heights their heroes had attained, or even better, to imitate them.
“Because they were seasoned competitors and their stories motivated us, we aspired to be like them,” Okere noted.
Okere reckons he is well on his way to achieving his dream of eventually taking over as head coach of the men’s national team, the Harambee Stars.
“I already have a Caf B coaching license, and I’m eager to get an ‘A’ license so I can be qualified to manage the men’s national team," he said.
Along with frantically laying the foundation for Kenyan youths to become world champions, he has also made his agenda clear.
“My immediate professional objectives include fostering grassroots football through community tournaments and football clinics,” he said.
“This will entail starting a nonprofit organization that will provide scholarships to talented but underprivileged athletes. To exchange different sports-related cultures and values, I also plan to network with regional and international coaches.”
“My long-term professional objectives include managing an academy of international standards, coaching the Kenya National Team (Harambee Stars), and becoming a top elite coach and instructor both locally and internationally.”
Okere cited the Coach of the Year award he received at the 2021 Sports of the Year Awards (SOYA) as the pinnacle of his illustrious coaching career. He pushed past Curtis Olago, head coach of the KCB rugby team, to win the coveted award, which was presented on January 25, 2022, at the awards gala held at Bukhungu Stadium.
“I felt so much privileged to have won the award. I felt so much honoured to have been nominated for it.”
He has also worked tirelessly to accomplish several other tasks. He quickly cites his inclusion on the bench for Tusker, the Ruaraka-based brewers who won the Kenyan Premier League championship in 2021.
“I was appointed to the Brewers’ technical bench to deputize Robert Matano. Our concerted efforts saw Tusker maintain an impressive streak that secured them two top-flight titles in a row although one was nullified by FKF for reasons that are already known to the public.”
He also proudly relives his moment of glory when he steered Kenya Women’s Premier League side, Vihiga Queens, to their maiden regional title.
Okere, who linked up with Vihiga Queens in August 2022, handed the team their first major trophy, firing them to the 2021 Cecafa Women’s title which served as the Caf Women Champions League qualifiers.
They beat Ethiopia’s CBE FC 2-1 in the final played at Moi Stadium, Kasarani in September 2022.
Following the victory, Vihiga Queens was the first East African team to qualify for the CAF Women’s Champions League in Cairo, Egypt.
Okere was seconded to guide Vihiga who was left without a coach following the exit of veteran tactician Alex Alumirah who joined Tanzanian Mainland Women Premier League side Serengeti Queens.
Image: HANDOUT
Coach Boniface Nyamunyamu, Alumira’s replacement at the club, was not qualified to handle the team in Caf matches as he lacked the prerequisite qualifications.
“I was overjoyed when we brushed aside a bad start to clinch the Cecafa Women’s championships in Nairobi, my biggest accomplishment as a coach,” Okere said.
The tactician, however, said he felt distraught after their lofty aspiration to embellish the club’s cabinet with a maiden continental trophy was shortlived after they crashed out of at the group stages in Cairo.
At the premier women’s continental championships, they only won one match, beating Moroccan side AS FAR 2-0 while losing 1-0 to Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa and 4-0 to Rivers Angeles in the group stages.
“Our excitement quickly turned into agony when we were bundled out of the Champions League by River Angels from Nigeria,” Okere said.
All the while, the Football Kenya Federation had already named him as the new coach of the national women’s football team, Harambee Starlets, after long-serving tactician David Ouma left on mutual consent.
His first assignment was on April 24 when Kenya flexed its muscles with Zambia in a friendly match in Lusaka.
Okere said he was aware of the huge responsibility placed on his shoulders but assured football lovers he was willing to go a step further to steer the Starlets to unexplored heights.
“I felt honoured and privileged to be allowed to serve the nation. It is always a huge achievement for anyone, be it a player or a coach to be handed a responsibility with the national team and I feel elated,” Okere said.
“It was a big challenge and one that I was ready for. It was an opportunity for me to continue learning and growing as a coach and I was willing to give my best to my country just as I had been doing for my club.”
Okere inherited the mantle from David Ouma who quit in a huff, barely a day after the local governing body had reappointed him to take charge.
FKF communicated their decision through a terse press release, saying Ouma had ‘agreed to leave on mutual consent.’
But Okere’s career as Harambee Starlets’ head coach suffered a setback after the world football governing body, Fifa, slapped Kenya with a ban owing to third-party interference.
That was after the government expelled the duly elected federation led by president Nick Mwendwa and replaced it with a Caretaker Committee, citing misuse of funds allocated by the Ministry of Sports and Fifa.
“We were scheduled to face Uganda in the second and final qualification round for the 2022 Africa Women’s Cup of Nations in October when Fifa slapped Kenya with a ban,” Okere recalled.
The Starlets had booked a date with Uganda after wallopping South Sudan’s Bright Starlets 15-1 on aggregate.
They rout the Sudanese 8-0 in their first leg of the 2022 Africa Women Cup of Nations Qualifiers played at the Nyayo Stadium on October 20.
They then completed the rout with another resounding 7-i win at the same venue on October 23, 2021.
Image: FILE
“The two-legged qualifier between Kenya and Uganda had been scheduled for February 2022, with the winner set to earn automatic qualification to the 2022 women’s continental showpiece in Morocco.
“However, we had to dish out walkovers owing to the ban,” Okere said dejectedly.
On January 18, 2022, Okere was among the five coaches taken through a fresh recruitment process by the Caretaker Committee at the Nyayo Stadium in Nairobi.
He vied for the position against former Vihiga Queens coach Alex Alumira, South Sudan assistant coach Florence Adhiambo, Tusker assistant coach George Maina and former Harambee Starlets assistant coach Jackline Juma. Alumira eventually secured the role.
Okere says he has a lot of gratitude for the Mathare Youth Sports Association (MYSA) for defining his coaching career. He embarked on a tedious journey as a community coach before enrolling in various courses at MYSA.
“I believe that MYSA have molded me to be disciplined on and off the field.
On environmental issues, I have completed Community clean-up in our locality and neighborhood. This earned me several awards to cater to my school fees. I also managed to start a grassroots football league in the Embakasi West constituency and so far, we have motivated many children.”
Okere rejoined Kenyan Premier League champions Tusker on April 13, 2022, as an assistant coach.