Kenya Lionesses star Janet Okello has signed a contract extension with Japanese side MIE Women’s Rugby Pearls for one more year.
The speedster joined Pearls in March 2022 on a one-year contract. This was a few weeks after inspiring Mwamba to win the inaugural Women’s Kenya Cup after stunning hosts Impala 15-11. year
Okello is the first Kenyan to play rugby professionally in Japan. She was recently joined by fly-half Grace Adhiambo Okulu of Nakuru, who signed for Kitakyushu-based Nagato Blue Angels on a six-month contract from Nakuru.
She was delighted with the extension and said: “I have extended my stay. It feels good to continue playing professionally here. Last season was a difficult start to my life here since we didn’t reach our target as a team which was to win the championship. This season, we will try to win the championship for both seven-a-side and 15-a-side rugby.”
Okello hopes to be available for the Kenya Lionesses selection ahead of the Afric Cup tournament in Madagascar in May as well as the Olympic qualifiers in October in Tunisia.
Elsewhere, Mwamba came from a 14-point deficit to beat Impala 21-20 and retain the Kenya Cup crown for the second year running.
Club skipper Stacy Ateino hailed the mentality of the team in the epic final. “The girls showed character and we never gave up. We played well in the second half and got over the line.”
