The Western Region Chapa Dimba na Safaricom finals came to an end over the weekend – 26th to 27th August 20203 – at the historic Bukhungu Stadium in Kakamega county. Eight teams had qualified for the regional finals where one team from the boys category and one team from the girls category would be crowned as Western Region champions. The teams were Chakol Queens and John Osogo from Busia County, Brenda Girls and Compel Sportiff from Bungoma County, with Vihiga County had Ebwali Boys and Madira Soccer Assassins and from Kakamega The Menace and reigning girls champions Lugari Progressive.
The battle started on Saturday 26th August 2023 with the first semi-final in the girls category. Chakol Queens from Busia County were up against Brenda Girls from Bungoma County where Brenda Girls emerged victorious after a 4 – 1 thrashing to book their slot in the girls finals. The second semi-final brought together competition’s debutant Madira Soccer Assasins from Vihiga up against regional reigning champions Lugari Progressive where Lugari Progressive progressed to the final after a 3 – 0 win. This meant that the finals in the girls category will be between Brenda girls against Lugari Progressive. In the boys category, the first semi-final was between The Menace from Kakamega against Ebwali Boys from Vihiga where Ebwali boys were victorious after a 3 – 2 win. In the second semi-final, Busia Champions, John Osogo battled it out against Bungoma’s Compel Sportif where Compel Sportif booked their slot in the regional finals after being winners of 5 -3 on penalties.
Now four teams remaining, all eyes were on the Sunday’s – 27th August 2023 – finals that were set to determine who will be the champion of Chapa Dimba na Safaricom Western Region in both the boys and the girls categories. In the girls category, fans were entertained in a thrilling match between Brenda Girls and Lugari Progressive. Brenda Girls secured a 2-1 win over the region’s defending champions Lugari Progressive of Kakamega after Esther Wafula opened the scoring for Brenda Girls’ in the 15th minute through her speculative long-range effort was spilled by the Lugari Progressive goalie. Star player and captain Marion Musanga brought hope for Lugari Progressive with a 75th-minute equalizer but a goalkeeping error led to red-hot Esther Mukhwana firing in the winning goal six minutes before the match came to an end to seal the victory for Brenda Girls.
In the boys category Ebwali boys locked horns with Compel Sportif to determine who will be the Western Region champion in the Chapa Dimba na Safaricom tournament. After a thrilling match, Ebwali Boys edged Bungoma’s Compel Sportif after a narrow win of 1-0. Austin Odongo headed in a free kick in the 47th minute to score the final’s solitary goal. Titus Gambo – Compel’s hero in the semi-final – saw his penalty saved by Ebwali Boys goalkeeper Nelson Angayia in the 58th minute. Compel also hit the post later in the second half, but their late rally did not bear fruits.
Ebwali boys and Brenda girls are now set to represent Western Region in the national finals with the aim of being the national champions and a chance to win 1 million Kenya Shillings grand prize. Compel Sportif as the finals runners up in the boys category walked away with 150, 000 Kenya Shillings while Lugari Progressive as runners up in the girls categories also walked away with 150, 000 Kenya Shillings. Ebwali Boys as regional champions in the boys category were awarded 250, 000 Kenya Shillings while Brenda Girls as regional champions in the girls category were also awarded 250, 000 Kenya Shillings.
Bungoma’s duo of Esther Mukhwana (Brenda Girls) and Titus Gumbo (Compel) each walked home with 30,000 shillings in cash prize after emerging as the top scorers of the tournament. Lugari’s Marion Musanga was voted the best player of the tournament walking home with 30,000 while Ebwali’s Derrick Oketch was the best boys player.