Oguta and Ogweno's rise from school to stardom

In the early 1990s, two boys popped up at the Tom Mboya Secondary School football team on Rusinga Island. By then, Tom Mboya was headed by the legendary Indimuli Kahi, who went on to shape football at Vihiga High School and Chavakalai High School.

Tom Mboya was not a football powerhouse, so the duo was plucked by Mbita High School on the inside. They immediately made an impact in the Nyanza Provincial Football Championship.

Tielen Oguta was born in Rusinga Island to parents who moved to the island from Mfang’ano Island in the late 1970s. He is named after a long-serving Catholic Priest at Mbita Parish called Father Tielen.

Tom Ogweno also hails from Mfang’ano and so it was a brotherhood that saw them both feature for the national team. Ogweno as a forward and Oguta as a defender and sometimes a midfielder.

In 1996, while still in high school, he captained the Nyanza South team to the annual Coca-Cola Championship at Afraha Stadium, Nakuru.

This is where his talent was evident when he scored a goal directly from a corner kick. This is also the tournament that revealed Ramadhan Balala to the national football eyes as he led Western to win the title.

He went national in 1996 when Reinhardt Fabisch, in his second stint with Harambee Stars, called him up after disbanding the old squad. He was a natural left back, a position that Kenya has struggled to generate top talent in. When a good player comes up, it takes a long time before another top talent shows up. Coaches in the national team are rarely spoilt for choice in this department. Until Eric Ouma followed Aboud Omar faster before the latter could leave the scene.

In the memorable match, Kenya played against a star-studded Super Eagles of Nigeria at Kasarani in January 1997. It was the 1998 World Cup Qualifiers, and Nigeria’s squad was made up of their “Dream Team” that won the 1996 Olympic Gold in Atlanta, USA. Celestine Babayaro was now at Chelsea, Sunday Oliseh at Juventus, Jay Jay Okocha was at PSG, Daniel Amokachi was at Everton, and Nwankwo Kanu was at Inter Milan, among others.  

Fabisch had assembled a squad with an average age of 22 years old. Most of them were playing at this level for the first time, so fans didn’t expect a win as much as we believed in Fabisch.

Ken Simiyu scored for Kenya in the 20th minute and later Oguta would replace him in the 65th minute. Meanwhile, Ogweno started as a striker and played the full 90 minutes.

Super Eagles equalised in the 48th minute and the match ended in a 1-1 draw. That match brought Oguta to the national stage. Mark, you had just rolled out of high school. He was deployed in the midfield to support the defence as Nigeria was hungry for another goal. He would make more appearances for Harambee Stars, where even Jacob Ghost Mulee would call him up to beef up the defense.

After high school, Oguta would join Awendo-based Sony Sugar, where he lit their Green Stadium. He was a rock in defence, from where he joined Gor Mahia in 1998. Ogweno left school earlier than Oguta and joined Re-Union in Nairobi. From there, he was taken up by Ulinzi Stars, who also recruited him to the Armed Forces.

Ogweno stayed at Ulinzi Stars until 2011. While at the club, he won four league titles, where he got a chance to feature in the CAF Champions League. Ogweno would earn ten caps for Kenya until he retired from international football. He would later be discharged from the Kenya Defence Forces under controversial circumstances, together with his teammate Elvis Ayany.

Oguta did not stay long at Gor Mahia. Between 2000 and 2002, he went to Kosovo, the breakaway state from the former Yugoslavia that was still under UN protectorate. He holds the record as the first African to play in Kosovo.

In the first season, he featured for Drita Gjilanë, and then the following season he left for Besiana Podujeva, still in the same league where he won three cups in a single season. He remained in the Balkan states for another season before returning home in 2003.

In the local scene, he signed up for Kenya Pipeline in 2003 when they were featuring in the CAF Cup Winners Cup for the first time. He was at the club with Macdonald Mariga and Godfrey Osama. They bowed out in the second round against the Power Dynamos of Zambia. He stayed at Kenya Pipeline until 2005, when the club was disbanded. Sony Sugar offered him a chance to showcase his experience. That is where he wound up his playing career.

The two stars are currently involved in coaching. Ogweno was at one time on Tusker and Gor Mahia’s technical benches. Oguta is involved with youth development across the country. Great sons of Mfang’ano Island.