The untold story of Michael Olunga, the footballing engineer who had piloting ambitions

Michael Olunga, then playing for Gor mahia poses with the ' KPL player of the year award' during the 2015 KPL awards held in December.

 

• Michael Olunga, 26, is one of Kenya’s biggest football stars. Currently based in Japan, speaks on finding success at a young age, living far away from family, finding love and life amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I am still adjusting to the food here,” Michael Olunga says. “I have tried a lot of things but if I don’t like something, I won’t have it twice. There are some foods I have grown to like but I haven’t pinned down what I fully like and what I dislike. I’m 50/50 on the food here.”

It is a few minutes past 1 pm in Nairobi when my interview with him starts. He tells me that it is 8 pm in Japan as we exchange pleasantries via a Zoom video call. Football fans know him fondly as Engineer, on account of his having pursued a geospatial engineering course. Michael Olunga is keen on leaving his footprint on the sands of time. The football star, currently playing for Japanese club Kashiwa Reysol and the Kenya national team Harambee Stars as a forward, caused a storm when he went to ply his trade in China, after playing in Sweden and Spain. Many claimed his move was motivated by money, but he says his dreams are bigger than money. He went to Japan after China.