Kenyan duo confident of survival in Tanzania despite Zico's exit
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Reading Time: 3min | Sun. 19.04.26. | 15:07
Inconsistent results saw the tactician exit the club midway through the campaign
The Tanzanian frontier, in the past, used to be dreaded grounds for Kenya footballers seeking to tackle newer challenges after dominating the FKFPL and lucrative as it was, and still is, very few prevailed with a majority returning home barely a season in.
The reasons were varied.
Over time, however, a certain barrier seems to have been broken but with a twist, Kenyans nowadays do not head into Tanzania to the very big and monied clubs but first try out with the average mid-table outfits as they seek to scale upwards from within.
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Duke Abuya, currently enjoying the form of his life at league leaders Young Africans Sports Club is a prime example.
He had to start out at Singida Black Stars/Fountain Gate, a humble beginning for a player capped numerously with the national team Harambee Stars.
The more recent entries into the Tanzanian premier league find themselves in Tanzania Prisons FC, but with some tough luck a season in.
Maurice Ojwang’ and Michael Mutinda made the switch from Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) at the start of the 2025/26 campaign and find themselves fighting relegation in the 16-team log.
Ojwang’, a centre-back, however insists the league is far from completion and they can weather the storm.
‘’We haven’t had the best of seasons and it shows in the table standings. Ours has been a season of struggle but we have vowed to fight on to the end and see the team at least retain its premiership status,’’ says Ojwang’
Prisons had roped in former Harambee Stars coach Zedekiah ‘Zico’ Otieno who, having previously coached KCB, easily roped in the duo of Ojwang’ and Mutinda.
Inconsistent results, however, saw Zico exit the club midway through the campaign and he has recently been unveiled at Posta Rangers marking a quick return to the Kenyan Premier League.
Ojwang’ and his teammates,meanwhile, stay put.
‘’We have an obligation to the club to honour our contracts to completion and the exit by our former coach affected little. We are professional and remain solely focused on helping the team stay afloat. Everyone of us in the team understands that the results affect us all and it’s only fair that we all bear responsibility,’’ he continues.
Prisons have only won three matches in their 19 times out and have 11 matches to dig themselves out of the hole they are in presently.
At 14 points, they are, however, not far off from other relegation candidates who include Singida Big Stars (16 points), Mbeya City (17 points), Coastal Union (19 points) and Mashujaa (21 points).
Last season, the club finished 13th, seven points above the drop zone whereas two seasons ago had them in 9th.
It has been a gradual and worrying drop in performance.
Ojwang’, seasoned as he is in the Kenyan top flight with high performance teams, believes a lot can happen before the season ends. He says this out of experience.
‘’I've had some tough seasons in the KPL, most of them mainly chasing the title and a few battling relegation so I’ve seen both sides of the struggle. At Western Stima we once were in a similar situation but dug our way out of it. I believe we as a team can put in the work necessary to stay up because the matches remaining are substantial,’’ he continues.
Prisons have failed to pick maximum points from any of their last five outings with their last victory coming over Namungo FC midway through February.
They next take to the field against TRA United on the 1 May.