Kenyan basketball MVP finds a new home in Burundi

Reigning Kenya Basketball Federation Premier League Most Valuable Player (2022) Kenneth Wachira has signed for Burundian club Dynamo BBC for a season-long contract.

In a move confirmed by Mozzart Sport on Sunday, Wachira, already taking the team reps in Bujumbura – where the team is based- will be with his new side for the whole of the 2023 season after a short free agency stint.

Dynamo BBC, established in 1968, is one of the 10 sides in the Viva Burundian Basketball Championship and last won the league in 2018. The team –with a total of three league and ACBAB championships each – also participated in the BAL 2021 qualifiers where they got bounced in the group stages.

The Olivier Ndayiragije led side finished fourth in Group D (West Division) behind Patriots BBC (Rwanda), City Oilers (Uganda) and JKT (Tanzania), winning a single game – a 90- 43 triumph over bottom-placed Hawassa City (Ethiopia).

Kennedy Wachira’s last time in action was in November 24 2022 when he turned out for his former club and defending KBF men’s premier league champions Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) in a losing effort to NBA Academy in the Road to BAL 2023 Elite 16 games.

Wachira, fondly known for his prolific three-point shooting, scored 21 points in the 84-69 defeat, shooting 58.3% from the three-point line (7-for-12) with an efficiency of 46.7% on his attempted field goals.

Before that, Wachira also had a brief stay with the KPA team late October as the team battled through the preliminary rounds of the Road to BAL 2023 qualifiers, leading the Dockers to a second placed finish in Group D that had COSPN (Madagascar) and Djabal Basket Iconi (Comoros Islands).

Then, he (Wachira) also emerged as one of the top KPA players, coming off the bench to score double digits in the multiple games played.

Straight after the MVP-level showing for KPA in the league early 2022, Wachira linked up with fellow Kenya Morans teammate Ariel Okal at Namuwongo Blazers in Uganda – seeing the Kampala based side get to the finals of the NBL Finals in August.

Blazers would later fall to the defending champions City Oilers in a series that saw Wachira lack playing time due to a ‘foreign-based players rule.’