
Football Kenya Federation (FKF) vice president, McDonald Mariga, has outlined plans to train more former players as scouts to identify talent across the country.
Mariga emphasized that the Federation, with its numerous responsibilities, cannot solely handle talent scouting. However, if properly trained, ex-players can effectively carry out this task.
“We need to collaborate with former players to scout talent for our football teams. We are rolling out a program to train them so they can assist us in talent identification,” Mariga stated.
He further explained that talent scouting should not be the responsibility of the National team coach alone. After training, these former players will be deployed nationwide to help identify emerging talent, effectively becoming the Federation’s eyes at the grassroots level.
Grassroots talent identification and development are central to the manifesto of FKF’s new president, Hussein Mohammed, who made it a key issue during his campaign, stressing the importance of expanding scouting networks.
In addition, the Federation is expected to announce a new technical bench, with former South African international Ben McCarthy likely to be named the new Harambee Stars coach. Interim coach Francis Kimanzi is anticipated to take up the role of Technical Director and will be instrumental in executing such programs.

The focus is now on the Mapinduzi Cup, set to start on Friday in Zanzibar, where Kenya will face Burkina Faso in their opening match on Saturday. The team, which left for Zanzibar on Thursday, has been training at the Mpesa Foundation Academy for the past week.
Mariga, who has played there before, is impressed with the players’ effort and believes a strong performance in the Mapinduzi Cup will set a solid foundation for the Africa Nations Championships (CHAN) in February.
“The Mapinduzi Cup is a great opportunity to prepare for CHAN and strengthen the team. It’s a good chance for players to prove themselves for inclusion in the squad for the continental competition,” Mariga added.
Kenya will co-host the CHAN tournament alongside Tanzania and Uganda from February 1-28, 2025.