Kibera Soccer Women celebrate with the trophy after they beat Vihiga Queens in the final of the FKF Women’s Cup at Afraha Stadium in Nakuru City on June 28, 2025.
Coach David Bujego has said Kibera Soccer Women Football Club’s success in Football Kenya Federation (FKF) Women’s Cup is down to team spirit by “little-known players” acquired in the 2024/25 season.
The Nairobi-based side defeated four-time FKF Women Premier League (FKF-PL) champions Vihiga Queens 1-0 in the final at Afraha Stadium in Nakuru on June 28 to win the title via Stella Adhiambo’s goal in the 90th minute.
Reflecting on his team’s run to the title, coach Bujego believes collective effort by his little-known players yielded victory over their more fancied opponents.
“I prioritise scouting at the grassroots rather than in top-tier league games. I primarily recruit my players from the National Women’s Super League (NWSL), and the Division One league due to limited resources that does not allow us to compete favourably for players with wealthier FKF-WPL clubs for players," said Bujego, who holds CAF ‘A’ License.
Following the win, Kibera received medals, a trophy, and Sh650,000 in cash prize, while Vihiga received medals.
To make it to the final, Kibera eliminated freshly-minted league champions Kenya Police Bullets 2-0 in the semis, having earlier stopped three-time champions Ulinzi Starlets 4-3 on penalties after a goalless draw in the quarterfinals.
National Women’s Super League sides Sunderland Samba and Gaspo Women also fell to Kibera 2-0 and 6-0 in the round of 16 and 32 respectively.
Kibera’s Vivian Shiyonzo won the Golden Glove award after three clean sheets in five matches, and Faith Mboya was named MVP. Like Kenya Police Bullets player Annedy Kundu, Shiyonzo produced 13 clean sheets in 21 games in the 2024/25 FKF-PL season.
Faith Mboya of Kibera Soccer Women displays her trophy after she was named player of the tournament in the FKF Women’s Cup after the final match between her team and Vihiga Queens at Afraha Stadium in Nakuru City on June 28, 2025.
Mboya finished as the season's second top scorer with 15 goals, one behind Rebecca Okwaro of Bullets.
Coach Bujego could have won his first domestic Cup with Kibera last season, but they lost 2-0 in the final against three-time champions Ulinzi Starlets.
He cited a poor playing surface for the match, saying, “We'll request a better surface from FKF next time; they are capable of providing one.”
Afraha Stadium is still undergoing construction as Kenya prepares to co-host the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) with Uganda, and Tanzania.
In the 2024/25 FKF-WPL season, Kibera led for the better part of the season but finished third with 41 points, five behind champions Kenya Police Bullets, after winning 12 matches, drawing five and losing four.
“Our young players, recruited from the NWSL and from the grassroots, gave their all and proved their ability in the top league. This season, we aimed at winning the league title but fell short. The domestic Cup was also a target. We’ve finished third in the competition in our first three seasons in the top league,” said Bujego, who is also the Kenya Under-17 Women’s team’s assistant coach.
Midfielder Medina Abubakar who joined the team from second-tier team Uweza Women, and striker Faith Mboya (Sunderland Samba) are among the young stars whom he recruited midseason.
Defenders Janet Mumo (Mathare Women) and Margaret Majeso (Solasa Stima), and midfielders Ann Arusi and Yvonne Kavere (Zetech Sparks) joined at the beginning of the season.
Coach Bujega faced major challenges heading to the June Cup final.
Khayati Vivian of Kibera Soccer Women FC displays the Golden Glove trophy after she was named the best goalkeeper in the FKF Women’s Cup after the final match between her team and Vihiga Queens at Afraha Stadium in Nakuru City on June 28, 2025.
“Four of my key players were on national team duty, and the Gen Z protests disrupted our training schedule. In the final, we didn’t perform as well as we did in the semi-finals and in the quarter-finals."
Shiyonzo, Mboga, Mumo, and Abubakar were with Harambee Starlets for the 2025 Cecafa Senior Women’s Challenge Cup in Dar es Salaam, where Kenya finished second with nine points, three behind champions Tanzania.
“That was a tough game. It was harder than we expected. Our opponents were well-prepared, and eager to win after a long cup drought. Both teams had opportunities, but ultimately, luck was on our side, perhaps as fate intended,” Bujego observed.
Founded in 2002 as Kibera Girls’ Soccer FC, the team was formed to empower girls in Kibera Slums in Nairobi through sports. The team evolved into Kibera Girls Soccer Academy in 2006.
The academy continued to participate in the NWSL and earned promotion to the FKF-WPL in 2008, where they played for two seasons before being relegated in 2021/22 and changing their name to Kibera Soccer Women.
Kibera were again promoted to FKF-WPL in the 2023/24 season, finishing fourth.
