Francis Kahata: Tanzanian Football is miles ahead of Kenyan football

Francis Kahata’s assertion that Tanzanian football is now miles ahead of Kenyan football may sound provocative, but a comparison of the two countries’ football systems suggests the former Harambee Stars midfielder has a strong case.

Kahata is also speaking from experience as Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda are preparing to stage the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations. The midfielder left Gor Mahia in 2019 after his contract expired and joined Tanzanian giants Simba SC on a two-year deal. He was not moving from a struggling club to an unknown team. He was leaving the reigning Kenyan champions for one of Tanzania’s biggest and most ambitious clubs.

Kahata had spent three seasons at Gor Mahia, winning three Kenyan Premier League titles and being named the club’s player of the season twice. His move to Simba subsequently gave him an opportunity to experience the two football systems from inside.

In 2020, Kahata said there was a significant difference between the way Simba and Gor Mahia were managed. He also pointed to sponsorship and fan support as major differences.

Six years later, the evidence from the two football industries increasingly points in the direction of Kahata’s argument. Speaking to his former Harambee Stars teammates Kevin ‘Ade’ Omondi and Patrick Oboya on their podcast video shared on Saturday, November 15, 2026, Kahata revealed that after the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt, Gor Mahia tried to lure him back to their fold but the manner in which he was approached by the Tanzanian giants was so convincing to turn down the deal.

“We went to AFCON, which was another great opportunity to market ourselves. I was a free agent by then, but before we even left for AFCON, Simba had already developed interest in me. They wanted me sign for them first before I even left for AFCON, they were worried that another team would hijack the deal,” Kahata said.

The difference is not necessarily that every Tanzanian club is better than every Kenyan club. Rather, Tanzania has built a stronger football ecosystem at the elite level, with greater commercial muscle, stronger clubs and considerably better continental performances.

“At that time, Gor Mahia’s management was dilly-dallying while I was out of contract. I went to AFCON and came back. The flight from JKIA to Tanzania had already been booked, I did not go home at all. That was the moment Gor Mahia Team Manger Jolawi was calling to meet me for negotiations. So what was there to negotiate when I had already agreed the Simba deal? I went to Tanzania, signed the contract and came back home to relax,” he added.

“Both Simba SC and Gor Mahia are big teams, but you cannot compare. Tanzanian football has developed, it pays. Upon signing for Simba, I was given a three-bedroom house. So it felt like living in Karen. I was just next to the Diamond’s Wasafi Media offices. All the star artists were passing at my place. Again, players in Tanzania are big celebrities. I was a celeb there. They appreciate players and football a lot.” Kahata recalled.

The clearest evidence can be found in continental football.

CAF’s 2025 club rankings placed Simba SC fifth in Africa with 48 points and Young Africans, commonly known as Yanga, 12th with 34 points. No Kenyan club featured in the top 75.

Tanzania therefore had two clubs among Africa’s leading teams while Kenya had none.

These rankings are also supported by what the clubs have achieved on the pitch.

Simba reached the 2025 CAF Confederation Cup final, while Yanga have become regular participants in the latter stages of African competition. CAF has noted Yanga’s repeated appearances in the Champions League group stage, including four consecutive group-stage appearances and a quarter-final run in the 2024/25 campaign.

Kenyan clubs have struggled to reach a similar level.

Gor Mahia remains Kenya’s dominant domestic force, but domestic success has not translated into consistent progress in the Champions League.

As of 2026, 10 Kenyan clubs had attempted to reach the Champions League group stage under the current format without any succeeding. Collectively, those clubs had played 88 qualifying matches, winning only 27 and losing 47. That tells its own story. Kenya has continued to produce domestic champions. Tanzania is producing continental contenders.

Much of Tanzania’s progress has been driven by the extraordinary rise of Simba and Yanga.

The Dar es Salaam rivals have developed into powerful football institutions with large fan bases, substantial commercial backing, quality foreign players and regular continental exposure.

Kenya has historic giants of its own in Gor Mahia and AFC Leopards, but their current financial and organisational strength does not match what Simba and Yanga have achieved.

The difference is particularly noticeable when the clubs’ continental records and commercial operations are compared.

Simba and Yanga have created a cycle in which success generates revenue, revenue strengthens the clubs and stronger clubs become more competitive in Africa.

Kenya has struggled to establish the same cycle.

Money is another major part of the story.

Tanzania secured a 10-year television-rights agreement worth TZS225.6 billion with Azam Media. The deal gave the country’s top-flight football a much stronger commercial foundation.

The leading clubs have also attracted major sponsorship agreements.

Yanga, for example, was projected to receive TZS3.85 billion from various title-related awards and commercial agreements after winning the league in 2024.

In 2025, SportPesa announced a three-year sponsorship agreement with Yanga worth TZS21.7 billion.

Such financial strength gives elite Tanzanian clubs greater capacity to retain important players, recruit quality foreign talent, pay competitive salaries, improve facilities and provide better travel and training arrangements.

It also explains why Kahata’s observations about player welfare at Simba carried weight.

A professional footballer does not judge a club only by the badge on the shirt. Salary reliability, training pitches, accommodation, transport, medical care, equipment and general organisation all influence the quality of a player’s working environment.

And Kahata said he found Simba better organised in those areas than Gor Mahia.

Kenyan football cannot be accused of standing still.

The return of a renowned betting firm as title sponsor has provided the domestic game with an important commercial boost.

The current league agreement is a 10-year, Ksh1.12 billion partnership, with 60 per cent of the money allocated to direct club grants. FKF describes it as the longest commercial league deal in Kenyan football history.

Gor Mahia also remain a formidable domestic force, winning the 2025/26 Kenyan Premier League title to take their tally to 22 championships.

But Kenya’s problem is not simply the amount of money entering the game. It is how effectively that money is converted into competitive strength.

Tanzania appears to be doing that better.

There is even an uncomfortable irony in the fact that Azam, a Tanzanian company, is also the broadcaster of Kenyan top-flight football.

The Tanzanian football industry has therefore become strong enough to invest not only in its own league but also to become an important commercial partner of Kenyan football.

The movement of players provides another indication of the changing balance.

Several prominent Kenyan footballers have moved to Tanzania in recent years, including Joash Onyango, Kenneth Muguna, John Mark Makwatta and Eric Kapaito.

At least nine Kenyan players were registered with Tanzanian Premier League clubs during the 2024/25 season, according to a 2025 report.

Player movement alone cannot determine which country’s football is better. Footballers move for many reasons.

But the direction of movement is significant.

Kenya has historically produced players who could move around East Africa, but Tanzania has increasingly become a destination for Kenyan professionals seeking better financial and sporting opportunities.

Muguna, who also played in Tanzania, offered an even more direct assessment in 2023.

“For now, the Tanzania League is more competitive than the Kenyan Premier League.”

His assessment followed a period in which Kenya’s football had been disrupted by the FIFA suspension and other administrative problems.

The debate should therefore not be reduced to sponsorship figures.

The real difference is the ability to create a functioning football ecosystem.

A strong football industry needs financially stable clubs, reliable player payments, quality pitches, competent administration, strong broadcasting revenue, competitive leagues, good facilities and clubs capable of performing against the best teams on the continent.

Tanzania is currently doing better across many of those areas.

The country’s leading clubs are regularly exposed to Champions League football. That exposure brings more revenue, stronger opponents, better players and greater visibility.

Kenyan clubs have found it much harder to break through that continental barrier.

It creates a cycle that can either drive football forward or hold it back.

Strong clubs produce strong continental performances. Strong continental performances attract sponsors. Sponsors provide money. Money improves clubs. Improved clubs attract better players. Better players raise the level of the league.

Tanzania’s leading clubs appear to have entered that cycle.

Kenya is still trying to establish it. Kenya may have the talent, history and passionate supporters. But Tanzania has built the stronger football business at the top end of the game. And that may be the real meaning behind Kahata’s claim that Tanzanian football is “miles ahead” of Kenya.

Before you go… how about joining our vibrant Telegram and WhatsApp channels for hotter stories?