EXCLUSIVE: From a street kid to a lethal striker - this is the inspiring story of Josphat Lopaga

For years, Posta Rangers forward Josphat Lopaga crisscrossed the Central Business Districts of Nyahururu, Nakuru and Nairobi scavenging for food in dumpsters for sustenance.

He was a hopeless street kid who had fled his bandit-infested home where, cattle rustling was the economic mainstay of locals and gun battles broke out without notice.

Lives were lost in scores during the raids, mainly for defenseless women and children.

Boys were promptly groomed into banditry at very tender ages.

Without much education, proficiency in gun use is all what the boys lived for in the hope that their skills come in handy during cattle raids.

Lopaga wanted better. He yearned for a different lifestyle and peace.

When push came to shove at his home town, he poured into the streets. It was not the best option but Lopaga had already made up his mind.

He did not want anything to do with gun life and banditry which, back then, offered him a chance.

Unbeknownst to him, the tough life in the streets would set up a platform to unearth his football talent that would have otherwise gone to waste had he not fled home when he was a class four pupil. 

Born in the volatile Baragoi area, Lopaga moved with his mother Jacinta Ekale Njuluk to the Maralal town where he enrolled for primary school education but, the never unending tribal conflict and border disputes in the area resulting from, cattle rustling saw him desert studies.

Tired of the deafening gunfire exchange between the warring communities, Lopaga recounts how he bit the bullet and cunningly, lunged into a cargo lorry ferrying goods from Maralal town to Nyahururu town.

A tranquil Nyahururu town in daytime temporarily gave him a much sought-after peace of mind.

But it did not last long. The minor was rudely ushered into street life when dusk set in.

At some point, he regretted leaving home but his crave for a better life could not allow him to entertain the thought of returning to Maralal, so he says.

Lopaga, like the biblical prodigal son, braved the cold night, hovering from one verandah to the other.

The sharp hunger pangs raged him unapologetically overnight, turning the situation from bad to worse, but would find some reprieve after a cocoon of street kids who, were on their usual night patrols spotted him while squeezed in one of the dark corners and offered him some company.

 Although language barrier presented yet another challenge, Lopaga profited big time the following day as well-wishers ,who occasionally feed street kids, offered them a meal and the trend would continue for some days.

However, after some time, the aid from the kind-hearted businessmen, within the town who ensured that he would get at least a meal daily, dried up leaving him to scratch for self.

It was not the kind of life Lopaga had envisioned when he left Maralal, but hope for a better future was the last thing to die in him.

 “In the early 2000s Maralal was not as peaceful as it is at the moment. Tribal clashes emanating from border fallout were the order of the day. I could see my age mates struggling with the weight of rifles on the battlefield. I had the option of joining them but instead, I decided to flee home in search of a relatively calmer place.

I was in class four when I left home for Nyahururu town. Life was extremely punishing as I would go without basic needs. I regretted leaving home but there was little I could have done to find my way back home as I did not have the means," he narrates.

The unkind street life in Nyahururu town lasted for six months.

It was marked by freezing suffering and anguish.

Lopaga took to his heels, with Nakuru being his destination. His ride from Nyahururu to Nakuru was not a smooth one.

He says, the bus conductor nearly ejected him mid journey after failing to raise fare, but the suffering written on his face came to the rescue.

Life in Nakuru was no different from that of Nyahururu although he admits that, it was slightly fair owing to the presence of bigger street families and a dumpsite which he, would turn to in search for food remains.

"I lived in the streets of Nakuru for almost a year. Life was still tough but slightly better than Nyahururu. We were in constant confrontation with the authorities who tried to throw us out of the town but we stayed put.

I endured the tough life but after a nasty brush with the authorities, I began looking for means to bolt out of the town," he recounts.

Once again, Lopaga was on the move again after Nakuru town council askaris wedged war on street kids making the already uncomfortable life tougher for him.

For the second time, he was lucky to get a free ride after leaping into a Nairobi bound bus which, dumped him in the city.

He admits that getting accustomed to the expansive streets of Nairobi and affording a meal was an uphill task, leaving him vulnerable to crime a route majority of city urchins often take for survival.

Lopaga, however,says he fought the temptation of engaging in crime and drug abuse for the years he languished in the streets.

 “Life in Nairobi was tougher than I anticipated. The families in the streets offered me a cold shoulder to lean on as they considered me an outsider. I would go for days without food and would be harassed by the bigger boys but I got used to it.

I made friends who tried to initiate me in crime and drug abuse but I rejected their idea although the temptation was high as their lives were flourishing,” he recalled.

 Rescue from the streets

Tough times do not last, tough people do. The strain as a street kid in three towns came to an end for Lopaga when the City Stadium Homeless Youth Rehabilitation Centre, through former AFC Leopards goalkeepers’ trainer Alex Mwangi, plucked him out of the streets and introduced him to football.

He recalls that it took Mwangi months to entice him to ditch the street ways for football and when he made up his mind, he enrolled at the centre and later an opportunity to pick up his studies opened after joining the Joseph Apudo Primary School under the centre’s financial umbrella.

He would later join the Highview Secondary School.

 “I was rescued from the streets by the City Stadium Homeless Youth Rehabilitation Centre. They used to come to the streets and encourage us to join the centre. Through their trips, only a few of us managed to abandon the old ways for life at the centre which came with limited freedom and strict adherence to morals and rules unlike life out there,” he says.

Introduction to football

At the centre, Lopaga was formally introduced to the game courtesy of Shy Football Academy where he honed his skills.

The forward was acquainted into the game and established himself as one of the academy’s football asset as well as his school.

His breakthrough in the game came when Tom Ogweno spotted his talent in one of the friendly matches and signed him at Gor Mahia Youth team in 2017.

Joining Gor Youth came with the blessings as he was summoned to the national U17 and 18 teams after impressing in the Division Two Eastern Zone league.

He remained in the junior team’s books until National Super League side Mt. Kenya United came calling in 2019.

Lopaga’s talent caught the eye of U20 head coach Stanley Okumbi who acquired his signature after he was appointed the Rangers head coach in February replacing Sammy ‘Pamzo’ Omollo.

 “I was introduced to game at the centre although we used to play with balls made from polythene bags. I upgraded later and got used to playing football. My life changed for the better when I joined Gor Youth team.

Ogweno took me as his son and made me comfortable. He encouraged me to take football seriously and to date, I owe the strides I have made in football to him,” he said.

Life in the Football Kenya Federation Premier League (FKF PL)

Lopaga defied odds and walked into the Rangers starting team but had to wait for his maiden league goal for four months, as he opened his goal account when he found the back of the net against Tusker a week ago at the Ruaraka grounds.

The expertly taken goal procured him plaudits as it was enough to give them maximum points and further imposed his name on the lips of football enthusiasts, as he became the first Baragoi born player to score a goal in the top flight in recent times.

 His performance in the league coupled by the goal compelled Okumbi to include him in the national U23 team gearing up for the CECAFA tournament in Ethiopia.

“I couldn’t believe it when I got the offer from Rangers. When I put pen to paper, I promised myself to work hard and change my life and that of my family who are now my fans. When I linked up with them and told them (family) I was an aspiring footballer they laughed it off.

After I was called to the national junior teams they began believing in me. When I scored my first goal in the league, they called to congratulate me and I hope I will keep them happy going forward,” he said.

Having grabbed headlines and with his star blossoming, the player has a dream of establishing himself as one of the peace ambassadors in Baragoi and the volatile pastoralists counties through sports.

The youngster calls upon the county governments from the affected counties to consider investing in sports as a way of keeping the youth busy.

 “Today I can afford a fairly decent lifestyle courtesy of football. It is worrying that youths from Baragoi have no idea that sports can transform their lives. It can be used to bring them together and keep them away from cattle rustling and other vices. I challenge the pastoralist counties to invest in sports as a way of achieving peace in the region,” he advised.

Bio

Name -Josphat Lopaga

Nickname - Bara

Date of Birth- 12/8/2002

Place of birth- Baragoi

Weight 69

Education

Joseph Apudo Primary School, Nairobi

Highview Secondary School, Nairobi