Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja has succeeded where years of silence and legal threats failed, mediating a truce between KCB head coach Robert Matano and newly appointed Nairobi United coach Patrick Aussems ahead of the 2026/2027 SportPesa Premier League season.
The reconciliation was sealed at a meeting held in the Governor’s office, bringing the two tacticians together along with senior Nairobi United officials, with both men reportedly agreeing to finally set aside a rivalry that had simmered for years.
The dispute dates back to April 2023 when Aussems was in charge of AFC Leopards. After a last-minute 1-0 defeat to Tusker FC, then coached by Matano, the Belgian appeared to aim his counterpart in a post on social media.
“Unfortunately, we have been punished at the last minute due to lack of aggressiveness! Congrats to the Players of Tusker FC. Of course I won’t talk about an old coach with no international experience who is more a juju man than a tactician…one could learn!”
The remarks did not sit well with Matano, who responded by filing a defamation suit against the Belgian coach through his legal team, demanding a public apology and accusing Aussems of portraying him as a sorcerer rather than a tactician. The case stalled after Aussems left the country without formally responding to the claim, leaving the matter unresolved for years.
With Aussems’ recent return to Kenyan football to take over at Nairobi United, the legal dispute looked set to resurface. Matano had made clear the case remained very much alive, welcoming his rival back to the league while signalling his intention to pursue it to a conclusion given Aussems’ earlier failure to respond. “I’m happy to see him back. He did not file any defence in the case I sued him over, but now that he’s back in Kenya, the matter will proceed, and I will get justice,” said Matano.
That is where Sakaja stepped in. As patron of Nairobi United, the governor is understood to have used his position to bring the two coaches together, engineering an end to the feud before it could spill back into the courts or overshadow the new season.
Details of exactly what was said in the meeting have not been made public, but sources close to the club indicate both coaches left having agreed to move past the dispute and focus on the season ahead.
Aussems now takes charge of an ambitious Nairobi United side chasing domestic silverware, replacing interim boss Godfrey “Solo” Oduor. For Matano and Aussems, Sakaja’s intervention closes a three-year chapter of legal threats and public jabs — and clears the air for what promises to be a heated title race between two of Kenya’s most decorated coaches.
