The Extraordinary Journey of Japhet Kahindi Makanaki
Just weeks ago, the world stood in awe of one of football’s most extraordinary full-circle moments. Years after a baby Lamine Yamal appeared in a UNICEF photoshoot being bathed by Lionel Messi, the two would eventually meet on football’s grandest stage in the FIFA World Cup final, where Yamal and Spain emerged victorious. It was the kind of story that reminds us that some moments seem too remarkable to be mere coincidence, and that God has always been the greatest Author. But miracles are not made in the West alone. Sometimes, they happen in places that seem dry, forgotten and fruitless.
Such is the story of Japhet Kahindi Makanaki, a young boy from Mariango Village in Bamba, Kilifi County, a place that many have long overlooked and written off. Yet from there emerged a story that would stretch across continents and grace some of the biggest sporting stages in the world.
Back in the days when radio was the heartbeat of entertainment and the primary source of news, the young Makanaki would walk more than twenty kilometres to a friend’s village simply to listen to live football commentary on the Kenyan Premier League. The journey was long, tiring and often exhausting, but none of that mattered to him. Missing the voices of legendary commentators such as Leonard Mambo Mbotela, Jack Oyoo Silvester, Ismail Ahmed and many others was never an option because, even as a little boy, he had already fallen deeply in love with the beautiful game and the art of bringing it to life through words.
The following day, he would roll pieces of paper into something that resembled a microphone, climb a tree and recreate the previous day’s match entirely from memory and imagination. Slowly but surely, people began gathering beneath the tree just to listen to the young boy’s imaginary football commentary. What started as an unusual childhood pastime gradually became the talk of the village, and before long, the name Makanaki had become synonymous with football commentary.
When he completed Class Eight, he had earned an opportunity to join Mangu High School. However, circumstances forced his father to enrol him at Chanagande Secondary School, a little-known school tucked away in the remote parts of Kaloleni. While many would have viewed it as a setback, his passion for football commentary refused to diminish. If anything, it only burned brighter. Whenever there was a football match, Makanaki volunteered to commentate, never asking for payment, driven purely by love for the game and the dream that quietly lived inside him.
Then came a day that looked ordinary, yet would become the defining moment of his life. Determined not to miss the secondary school ball games in Kilifi Town, Makanaki sneaked out of school knowing very well that punishment awaited him upon his return. His passion simply would not allow him to stay behind.
When the games were over, he returned to school, where he received eight strokes of the cane and was ordered to uproot a coconut stump as punishment for sneaking out. Looking back, he often says that the strokes came before the blessings from Baraka FM.
Unknown to him, however, someone in the crowd had been paying close attention. Among those covering the school ball games was Josephat Kioko, the Head of Sports at Baraka FM. Deeply impressed by the young student’s remarkable talent, Kioko approached him immediately after he finished commentating the match and told him that his commentary was nothing short of magic.
Not long afterwards, Kioko took the young Makanaki to the Baraka FM studios at Canon Towers. While waiting for his Form Four results, Baraka FM absorbed him into its system. The station also sponsored his university education, enabling him to pursue his studies while continuing to work at Baraka FM.
As if that was not enough, another opportunity soon followed when Radio Salam station manager Adan Harar reached out to him. Not long afterwards came another life-changing phone call from Madam Angie inviting him to join SuperSport. One opportunity led to another, each one preparing him for stages he could never have imagined as a young boy growing up in Mariango.
For six years, Makanaki worked from SuperSport’s studios in Johannesburg, South Africa, where he found himself rubbing shoulders with some of the biggest names in football broadcasting. Along the way, he interacted with Asha Tshabalala, Peter Drury, Michael Owen, Lucas Radebe and many other internationally recognised commentators, presenters and football personalities. He later worked with the Spanish sports media company Mediapro as Kenya’s sports correspondent while also lending his expertise to Homeboyz Radio, further cementing his place as one of Kenya’s most respected sports broadcasters.
His gift was now taking him across the world, opening doors he could never have imagined and allowing him to grace some of the biggest sporting stages on the planet. His work took him to some of football’s most iconic destinations, including Highbury, where he met former Arsenal defender Gaël Clichy. In 2022, he commentated in Kiswahili at the World Martial Arts Championships in South Korea. His career has also seen him cover the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, four Africa Cup of Nations tournaments, six CECAFA championships and numerous other international sporting events. The young boy from Mariango would probably never have believed that one day he would fill three passports with stamps from countries he had only ever heard about on the radio, yet that became his reality.
Along the way, Makanaki also became a mentor to many of Kenya’s finest sports commentators, including Geoffrey Mwamburi of Citizen TV, among many others. Today, he serves as the Head of Sports at Swahilipot Hub, where he continues to nurture young talent while still doing what first captured his heart as a little boy.
Against all odds, the young boy from Mariango Village in Bamba has become a respected name on international sporting stages. Yet, perhaps the most remarkable part of his story is that he is still the same little boy who once rolled pieces of paper into a microphone and climbed a tree to commentate imaginary football matches. Only now, the tree has become the world, the audience has grown from curious villagers to millions of football lovers, and the dream that was born in a forgotten village has become a living testament that no beginning is too humble when God decides to write your story.
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