NSL: Kibera Black Stars skipper vows to stick around till nine-year dream is achieved
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Reading Time: 4min | Mon. 04.05.26. | 20:24
He joined the senior team during the same period the club was making its first steps in the second tier in 2017, and while many players have come and gone, he has remained a constant figure in the dressing room
At the heart of Kibera Black Stars’ backline stands a towering skinhead defender whose presence alone often mirrors the identity of the club itself, resilient, battle-hardened and deeply rooted in the streets of Kibera.
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With the captain’s armband tightly wrapped around his bicep every matchday, whether at Gems Cambridge or in hostile away grounds across the country, Donald Omwanda has, over the years, transformed himself from just another defender into the face of Yamama’s modern journey.
Mozzart Sport caught up with the veteran defender at the club’s training base in Ligi Ndogo on a cold Nairobi morning, but even before the sun had fully settled into the day, he was already barking instructions and rallying his teammates ahead of what promises to be a defining National Super League (NSL) run-in.
For nine years now, Omwanda has remained woven into the fabric of Kibera Black Stars.
He joined the senior team during the same period the club was making its first steps in the second tier in 2017, and while many players have come and gone, he has remained a constant figure in the dressing room.
The central defender admits there was once a brief detour to neighbours and rivals Darajani Gogo, but the separation barely lasted long enough to loosen the emotional attachment he had already built with Kibera.
He returned almost immediately to the club; many now believe he was destined never to leave.
Omwanda says his loyalty is tied to something much deeper than football contracts or personal ambition.
Growing up in Kibera, he made a promise to himself that he would not walk away before helping the community side achieve what no other club from the area has managed, promotion to the FKF Premier League.
“Personally, I said, since I was raised in this area and I want to make history as the first team from Kibera to go to the Premier League, I want to be part of it.
So I said until that day we get to the Premier League, maybe then I will now look for a new challenge,” Omwanda told Mozzart Sport.
The experienced defender speaks about Black Stars with the emotion of someone discussing family rather than just a football club.
“Kibera Black Stars means a lot to me. It has been the club of my life. I have never really played for any other club, so to me it means everything,” he added.
As the club’s longest-serving player and captain for more than six years, Omwanda has carried the weight of both glory and heartbreak on his shoulders.
One of the darkest chapters arrived last season when allegations of match manipulation involving former club officials threw the team into turmoil at a time when promotion dreams looked alive and realistic.
The off-field storm eventually consumed the dressing room, disrupted momentum and forced drastic decisions that saw members of the technical bench and management shown the exit door.
Yet amid the chaos, the goal-scoring defender says the club chose to rebuild from the ashes rather than drown in the disappointment.
With seven matches left before the curtain falls on the 2025/2026 campaign, Yamama still remain mathematically alive in the race for a strong finish, and the skipper believes the renewed togetherness within the squad has been key to keeping hope alive.
“First of all, a lot really happened last season. As a community, office, technical bench and players, we came together and decided that whatever happened last season is now behind us and we open a new book,” he explained.
“Those who were involved in issues that were not football-related were dismissed; we recruited new players and collectively agreed to take one game at a time.”
Away from his defensive duties, the captain has also built a reputation as a threat in the opposition box thanks to his aerial ability, but beyond the goals and tackles, it is leadership that has come to define his legacy at the club.
And as he looks at the current squad fighting through another demanding NSL campaign, the veteran defender admits captaining the side remains one of the greatest honours of his career.
“It is a privilege because I have been here for the longest time, and the coaches gave me the responsibility of being captain. I am also leading a very disciplined group; it has not been that tough,” he said.