Bakari Mohammed: The man keeping Majengo’s football alive
In the heart of Majengo, Kamukunji, a worn-out pitch becomes a training ground and a refuge every evening. At the centre of it all is Bakari Mohammed - player, coach, and mentor, quietly guiding the next generation through football. This is the story of the man behind Chipukizi FC, and the lives he’s changing in one of Nairobi’s most densely populated estates.
Every evening in Majengo, Kamukunji Constituency, as the sun sinks behind rows of flats and street vendors pack up their stalls, a weathered open pitch comes to life. Here, a group of young boys lace up worn-out boots and begin training under the watchful eye of one man - Bakari Mohammed.
At 34, Bakari is more than just a football coach. He is the captain, coach, and occasional player for Chipukizi FC, a grassroots team he has nurtured from its earliest days.
“We’ve come a long way,” he says. “We started with Under-10s and Under-12s. Now we have a senior team.”
Bakari’s bond with Chipukizi FC runs deep. The club was born out of Chipukizi Self-Help Group, a community-driven initiative aimed at engaging Majengo’s youth and keeping them out of trouble. From the start, Bakari was tasked with building and running the team.
“The idea was to reach the youth in the area. I was given the responsibility to make the team work — and more importantly, to work with the boys,” he explains.
Today, that responsibility has grown into a personal mission. On the sidelines, Bakari is more than a coach. He’s a mentor, a role model, sometimes even a father figure to the boys who pass through the team.
“There have been many achievements,” he says. “One day we played a game here and there were scouts watching. One of my boys was picked. He’s now in high school and he’s not paying school fees.”
The story still amazes him.
“We didn’t even target him. He just played. Later, he told us his school fees had been sorted. The condition was that he joins the club the scout was from and he agreed. That was a big moment. We’ve had many like that. We can’t take them for granted.”
But Bakari’s journey hasn’t been easy. Balancing his roles as a coach, a community mentor, and a family man comes with daily struggles.
“Most of the time, I try to stay active just to support my family and my school,” he says. “It’s not easy. We don’t always have enough. Sometimes there’s no donation at all. If a player comes to me with an emergency, I have to help. I just deal with it.”
Resources remain a constant challenge - from equipment to a proper training ground. But Bakari refuses to let that become an excuse.
“We’re used to it,” he shrugs. “Lack of facilities is part of our life. We live within our means and make do with what we have.”
In a world where grassroots coaches rarely get the spotlight, Bakari isn’t chasing fame or accolades. His goal is simple: to give young boys in Majengo a chance — a reason to believe that football can be more than just a game.
“It’s not about me,” he says. “It’s about them.”
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And so, every evening, as the dust rises on that Majengo pitch, the heartbeat of local football continues - steady, quiet, and powered by one man’s commitment.
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