Francis Kimanzi 'aims higher' on Harambee Stars return

Francis Kimanzi aims to be the first ever coach to lead Kenya to a Fifa World Cup.

He was unveiled on Tuesday as Harambee Stars coach and will be assisted by Zedekiah 'Zico' Otieno who doubles up as coach of top-flight side Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) FC.

"We did a great job with (former coach) Sebastien (Migne) and the plan now is to continue and bring better results. We have to try and qualify for the Nations Cup and also aim higher," explained the 43-year-old.

"We will have to be more professional and try to get quality players who can perform."

Football Kenya Federation president Nick Mwendwa confirmed Kimanzi, formerly at Kenyan Premier League side Mathare United, had penned a two-year contract.

"His brief is to lead the team through the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualification, 2022 Fifa World Cup qualifiers and the Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup games," said Mwendwa.

"We have a local boy in charge and I am asking the government to support him to enable us to achieve our dream of watching this team play at the next world Cup in Qatar," added Mwendwa.  

Kimanzi's first assignment will be to lead the national team in two international friendlies against Uganda and Libya in September.

That's before the 2021 Africa Nations Cup qualification match away to Egypt in November.

New technical bench

Head coach

Francis Kimanzi

Assistant coach

Zedekiah Otieno

Goalkeeper coach

Lawrence Webo

Strength and conditioning

Mike Igendia, Enos Karani

Physiotherapist

Wycliffe Makanga