Little-known Story of Former Harambee Stars Icon who was One of the Most Wanted Criminals in the Country

When you talk about Kenyan football, the first names that come to mind are Dennis Oliech, McDonald Mariga, Victor Wanyama, and the late Joe Kadenge. 

However, there are many other football icons in the country who dominated the sport and made headlines way before some of the stars we celebrated today.

One of such was Daniel Odhiambo alias Nicodemus Arudhi who made a name for himself as being one of the most prolific Harambee Stars players in the 70s.

Although he was a talented player, Arudhi was also one of the most wanted criminals in the country.

In this article, we highlight the tragic story of the football star who was unfortunately murdered in 1981.

Arudhi was born in 1944 and made his International football debut at the age of 20, when he first featured for the Kenyan national team.

Thanks to his great talent, he also played for a number of local clubs including Lou Union and For Mahia.

Football fans back then would fill stadiums hoping to Cath a glimpse of Arudhi and Kadenge who were considered two of the best in that era.

His fast pace and ability to move the ball around made him a prolific striker. Reports indicate that he was the go-to man when a game was in a deadlock situation.

File image of late Kenyan footballer Nicodemus Arudhi. [Photo: Courtesy]

While he had several footballing accolades, his most outstanding moment was in 1972 when he scored the lone goal against Mali in an African Cup of Nations tournament.

Despite being a great and respected footballer, Arudhi had a dark side - he was a criminal who was wanted for several crimes including robbery.

He was imprisoned for several years and would occasionally be let out to feature for the Kenyan team during crucial matches.



In such cases, he would be escorted to the pitch with a heavy contingent of prison officers as he was known to be slippery, with his fast-pace posing a threat, especially in a crowded-place.

The late Joe Kadenge in his memoir dubbed “The life of a Football Legend” wrote that most of the players who featured alongside Arudhi were aware of his dark-side, but none spoke about it.

He further notes that some of the players so Arudhi carrying a pistol and huge chunks of money, but opted to stay mum and mind their business.

His run-ins with the authorities saw him catch the attention of the crime buster PD Shaw, who reportedly visited Arudhi’s mother and asked her to talk to his son and have him change his behaviour, failure to which he’ll be eliminated.

Unfortunately, Arudhi was shot dead on June 21, 1981 with his death eliciting massive reactions in the country, including in Parliament.

Siaya Governor James Orengo who was an MP back then, took Arudhi’s case and pursued it until the family was awarded Sh250,000.