NAIROBI, Kenya, January 14, 2026 - Despite losing all their matches thus far, Kisumu RFC head coach Howard Okwemba is determined to make the Kenya Cup playoffs.
Okwemba says the team will fight to the end to ensure a first-ever playoff position in the history of the Bravehearts.
"We're still on course...We are looking at getting that playoff position. We've not gotten a win, not gotten a bonus point, but we are working on it. We still have more games to come. I want to assure you that going forward, we are going to take our game to another level," the coach said.
The team's turbulent start to the 2025/26 season includes four losses to Nondies, KCB Rugby, Menengai Oilers and Kabras Sugar.
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Their latest thrashing was a 10-74 loss to the defending champions at the Jomo Kenyatta Showground in Kisumu, last weekend.
Picking positives from the horror show, Okwemba notes that they acquired vital lessons to help them improve in subsequent encounters.
"We played well. It's only that there were a little bit of lapses in our game and Kabras were absolutely good in terms of exploiting the opportunity. Hopefully, from next week, we should see a totally different group of players playing," the former KCB Rugby coach said.
Up next for Okwemba's charges is a duel with Daystar University Falcons in Nairobi on Saturday.
The students are also yet to gain a point this season and lie 11th on the log, just one place above the bottom-placed Bravehearts.
Even though the Kenya Cup newbies are expected to pose less threat to Okwemba and Co, the gaffer is careful not to underrate them.
"Playing away is always very tricky because there's a bit of travelling and things like that but technically, we are prepared to play against them. We know from how they played in the National Sevens Circuit, they are not a walkover," he said.
For the lakeside team to come away with maximum points, Okwemba will need to bed in his new players who are yet to gel with their teammates.
It is a challenge the gaffer admits needs a quick resolution if they are to fire on all cylinders.
"We have brought in new players from different setups to join us. It might take them a little bit of time to blend but again, we'll sit down and review. We have to be more technical in terms of how we defend and how we make our tackles," Okwemba, who led Kisumu to Kenya Cup qualification in 2019, said.
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