EXCLUSIVE: A cop, a catechist and a skillful midfielder

If you don't find him on the pitch creating scoring chances, you're sure to catch him on the pulpit spreading the gospel and winning souls for Christ. Alternatively, he could be in the streets ready to pounce on those who blatantly flout the law and threatening public order. 

The three jobs have been Administration Police captain Nicodemus Asumwa's heart and soul for the six years he has industriously served at the club which currently features in the Football Kenya Federation (FKF) Division One league.

The veteran midfielder who qualifies for the jack of all trades tag comfortably juggles between the three demanding jobs with the utter satisfaction of excelling in each over the years.

Whereas the AP constable concedes of the regretful football moments especially after watching the opportunity to join record Kenyan champions Gor Mahia as well as the prospect to go professional slip through the hands, he is proud of his career in the service, on the pitch and in church.

                                         FOOTBALL CAREER

Born in a family which clasped sports close to the heart, Asumwa was initiated into football by his father Hussein Shibia Etemesi who featured for the Premier East Africa Bag and Cordage team.

The soft spoken player says his father would accompany him to training sessions held daily at the company’s expansive grounds and on match days while he was a kid.

The urge to emulate his three elder brothers who were regular starters at the Juja based Everton Academy also drew him closer to the game and within a short time he followed their footsteps and was later absorbed into the academy after attaining the right age.

His rising football star was however, nearly dimmed while at Thiririka Primary School after one of the teachers tried to lure him into volleyball, a discipline he says he had also excelled in for the few months he trained with the school team.

His father alongside his uncle who was also an ardent football fan literally dragged him back to football against the wishes of the teacher.

“There is no way I would have failed to love the game if the environment I was born and raised in is anything to go by. The entire family liked football and I would have been an outcast had I charted a different path. My dad and my brothers held my hand but there is one teacher who wanted me to concentrate on volleyball but the family declined,” he says.

After performing exceptionally in his Kenya Certificate of Primary School (KCPE) and on the pitch, Asumwa got an admission letter from Kakamega High School which is famed for churning out football stars.

However, his mother Mary Naynguka Anyonje, a staunch Christian had a different opinion and managed to derail and direct him to Juja Secondary School.

The dead ball specialist says missing out on the chance to study and train with the Green Commandos was a blow to his plan to nourish his football skills in readiness for the school games which he believed would have exposed him to top tier clubs.

 “I had received several admission letters from big schools notably was Kakamega High. That time, unrests in secondary schools were rampant and my mum felt that my good morals would go down the drain if I studied in a school mile away from Juja a place I have called home since childhood,” he said.

Having missed the opportunity to join Commandos, another door flung open as Everton promoted him to the senior team which took part in the Super League while a form one student at Juja.

His stellar performance in the school team and in the league attracted interest from Securicor team which handed him a year-long contract after writing his KSCE exams in 2004.

The father of one faced another hurdle in his quest to became a professional player after his parents enrolled him at the Sagana Technical Institute in 2005 contrary to his wish to study in Nairobi.

However, the lost year did not dent his rise as he joined the Kenya Prisons Red Berets team in the following year albeit without a contract.

Asumwa reckons that joining Berets laid the foundation for him to secure a job in the paramilitary side in 2015.

 “I was disappointed after my mum blocked me from joining Kakamega High School. I felt like my dreams had been dashed but little did I know that I would get promoted to the senior team at the academy and play in the super league. After school, I landed my first contract with Securicor and a year later, I joined college. I nearly rejoined Everton after college studies but Red Berets saved the day after inviting me to play for them in their matches,” he narrates.

It is at Berets where Asumwa rubbed shoulders with the Administration Police who he would inflict pain on during match days. He says the then AP boss whom he identified at Omondi would occasionally lease his services and hence developed a rapport with the team.

Asumwa stayed in the Berets books until 2012 and after failing to secure a permanent job with the Kenya Prions Service, he joined Gatundu Stars whom he served until 2014.

He says prisons bosses recalled him to the team with an intention of incorporating him into the service following his six-year long service but was mysteriously axed from the recruits who had made the cut.

The pain did not last long as the then AP team manager Esau Nguma wiped his tears by getting him recruited in 2015 and consequently ending his lengthy search for a job in the police service.

 “When I joined Berets, I made friends in the Prisons and Administration police services. Considering that the two units had a high affinity for football, I began searching for permanent employment in one of them. I unsuccessfully tried to join prisons several times but luck was on my side when I tried with AP,” he says.

After graduation, Asumwa was drafted into the AP squad which was plying its trade in the National Super League and within two years, he was elected the captain replacing Alfred Otieno.

With the 2019 NSL matches being beamed live, Asumwa began receiving offers with Gor Mahia and Posta Rangers salivating for his signature.

He however turned them down arguing that he was approaching sunset years in his playing career.

“I finally joined the AP team after graduation and was named the captain in 2017. One day after our match against FC Talanta at Camp Toyoyo, the then Gor Mahia head coach Dylan Kerr approached me and asked me to join the club. Posta were also interested but I was open with them. Much as I wanted to play in the top flight, I would have struggled to adapt to life there due to my age,” he revealed.

He confidently believes his son will make him proud by scaling the heights he did not manage as a football player.

JOUNEY TO CATECHISM

Asumwa was born and raised in a Christian family which subscribes to the Catholic church doctrines.

He says his mother worked in a mission hospital in Kalimoni, Juja and raised them in strict adherence to Christian ways and just like the biblical saying that train up a child the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it.

Asumwa is the head of projects and a member of the St Theresa Catholic Church, Kalimoni Parish is a moderator at St Joseph the worker Jumuia.

“I am staunch Catholic faithful who is actively involved in church programs. I head a Jumuia and the projects in our church. Whenever we have a match on Sunday, I always ensure I attend the first mass. If we are playing away, I normally tune in to Radio Waumini who air the mass,” he said.

BIO

Name-Nicodemus Asumwa Etemesi

Date of birth-12/05/1984

Height:5.8

Weight-60kgs

EDUCATION

Thiririka Primay School 1991-2000

Juja Secondary School 2001-2004

Sagana Technical Institute -2005

FOOTBALL CAREER

Everton academy-(1992-2000)

Senior team-(2001-2004)

Securicor-(2004)

Greenberets-(2006,07,08 and 2012)

Gatundu stars-(2013-2014/15)

Currently AP FC

RANK: Administration Police Constable

CHURCH: St.Theresa catholic church Kalimoni Parish

JUMUIA: St.Joseph the worker