NAIROBI, Kenya, October 3, 2026 – Former Harambee Stars striker Dennis Oliech has been appointed as a mentor to current national team players.

Football Kenya Federation (FKF) president Hussein Mohammed says the appointment is part of an initiative to incorporate legends in nurturing present and future talents through their leadership skills.

“We will now have a mentorship program led by former players, led by legends of the game in this country. They will guide and provide leadership skills and share with you their experience in terms of what they have gone through, so you can become better footballers,” the president said in a visit to the national under 23 side.

The president added that no one is better placed to mould the current generation than Oliech and Co who have gone through the highs and lows of the game.

“This is a new initiative from FKF to ensure that you don’t repeat the mistakes that the ones before you have done, or the challenges they’ve encountered, so that you can have a better pathway. After your football career, you can have or make a livelihood from the sport and you can be better citizens of this country,” he said.

Affectionately known as ‘Wuod Mary’, Oliech is one of the most fearsome forwards that Kenya has ever produced, scoring 34 goals in 74 appearances for Harambee Stars to become its second highest all-time goalscorer.

He came to prominence as a 17-year-old battering ram from Kamukunji High School, earning him a call-up to Reinhard Fabisch’s squad for an international match against Nigeria in 2002.

In December of the same year, he scored five goals as Kenya won the Cecafa Senior Challenge title in Arusha, Tanzania, under Jacob ‘Ghost’ Mulee.

A year later, he scored a last minute screamer to confirm Stars’ place among the 16 teams at the 2004 Africa Cup of Nations in Tunisia — the first time Kenya had qualified in 12 years.

At the tournament, he was Kenya’s best player, famously scoring in a 3-0 demolition of Burkina Faso in their final group stage encounter.

The former Auxerre striker’s new role could be hand that the young lads need upon their shoulder as they scale up the ladder of Kenyan football.