FKF announce new Harambee Starlets coach
Tusker assistant coach Charles Okere during his unveiling at Ruaraka grounds in Nairobi on April 24, 2018. Okere is the new Harambee Starlets head coach.
What you need to know:
- Okere, who serves as assistant coach at FKF Premier League leaders Tusker, replaces David Ouma who has parted ways with the federation on mutual consent
- Okere will be assisted by KCB assistant coach Godfrey Oduor and Mildred Cheche
Football Kenya Federation has appointed Charles Okere as the new Harambee Starlets coach.
Okere, who serves as assistant coach at FKF Premier League leaders Tusker, replaces David Ouma who has parted ways with the federation on mutual consent.
Okere, who will be assisted by KCB assistant coach Godfrey Oduor and Mildred Cheche, has his work cut out for him.
His appointment comes four days after former coach Ouma named a squad to play Zambia’s Copper Queens in a friendly match on April 24. Okere’s first task as Starlets coach is that friendly match.
Starlets are expected to hit camp on Thursday in preparation for the friendly match. Copper Queens will use the match to prepare for the 2020 Olympic Games .
Ouma has been with Starlets from 2015 and has registered considerable success with the team. In 2019, he led Harambee Starlets to victory in the Cecafa women’s championship for the first time. The team beat hosts Tanzania 2-0 in the final played in Dar es Salaam.
The same year, Ouma took charge of the team in the qualifiers of 2020 Olympic Games. Starlets beat Malawi 5-3 and Ghana 1-0 before bowing out of the competition after losing 3-2 on aggregate to Zambia.
Other achievements
His other achievements include guiding the team to the Africa Women Cup of Nations (Awcon) for the first time in 2016. Kenya were knocked out in the group stage of the tournament in Cameroon after losing 3-1 to Ghana, 3-1 to Mali and 4-0 to Nigeria in the group stage. Kenya didn't qualify for the 2018 competition after losing to Uganda and Equatorial Guinea in the qualifying matches.
In 2017, he led the team to fourth place finish in the Council of Southern Africa Football Association (Cosafa) tournament.
Despite his impressive run, Ouma has been accused of poor player selection.
"If Ruth Chebungei, Terry Engesha and Neddy Atieno were left out on the current selection for the Zambia friendly, then the word merit should be replaced with mediocrity," said one of the Women's Premier League coaches.
Efforts to reach Ouma and Okere were futile as their phones went unanswered.
Okere’s first competitive assignment will be the qualifiers of the 2022 Africa Women Cup of Nations.
