Harambee Stars attacking midfielder Duke Abuya has etched his name into East African football folklore, captaining Young Africans SC to a historic fifth consecutive Tanzania Premier League title in a dominant 2025-26 season that left arch-rivals Simba SC trailing in their wake.
The 31-year-old Kenyan international, who joined Yanga on a permanent two-year contract in 2024 after an impressive loan spell, proved instrumental throughout the campaign, contributing two goals and five assists while marshalling the midfield with authority, vision and consistent leadership that earned him widespread admiration across Tanzania.
Yanga’s title-winning run began in the 2021-22 season and has since been an unstoppable force in Tanzanian football, with the Jangwani Street outfit winning successive championships in 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025 before sealing a remarkable fifth straight crown this campaign. The achievement cements what club coach Pedro Gonçalves has described as Yanga’s golden era in the history of Tanzanian football.
The Kariakoo Derby rivalry between Yanga and Simba SC provided the season’s most theatrical moments, with the two Dar es Salaam giants going head to head in a title race that kept supporters on edge for much of the campaign. Simba, a club with immense resources and continental ambition, pushed Yanga hard but ultimately could not derail the champions’ relentless march. The previous season’s decisive moment, when Yanga sealed their fourth title with a 2-0 derby victory over Simba through goals from Pacome Zouzoua and Clement Mzize, had set the tone for another dominant campaign.
For Abuya, the triumph is a personal milestone that extends beyond club glory. A regular fixture in Benni McCarthy’s Harambee Stars setup, he has captained Kenya in international friendlies and remains one of the country’s most influential football exports, raising the flag for Kenyan talent across the region.
With a record 32 league titles now to their name, Yanga’s dominance shows no sign of fading — and Duke Abuya remains the heartbeat driving it.
