Anthony Akumu: Harambee Stars Midfielder Opens Up on Multi-Million Empire Built from Football Earnings

For many Kenyan footballers, football has not been a richly-rewarding career but to a few like Anthony ‘Teddy’ Akumu, it is the best thing that ever happened to them.

While a number of local players grapple with the stresses of unpaid salaries that run into months, Akumu’s life and career shows how good it could have been if Kenyan football was properly managed.

Akumu, who started his career at Gor Mahia, went abroad early and has reaped the full rewards of that decision.

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The Harambee Stars midfielder spent four years at Gor Mahia from 2010-2014, forming part of a team that turned K’Ogalo from also-runs into a dominant force in Kenyan football and his talent attracted the interest of some of Africa’s top teams, moving to Al Khartoum of Sudan (2014-2015) and then Zesco United in Zambia (2016-2020).

He then made a big-money move to South African giants Kaizer Chiefs (2020-2022) and then Sagan Tosu in Japan (2023-2024) before a stint in Iran with Kheybar Khorramabad (2024-2025) and he now plays for Nejmeh SC in Lebanon.

Thanks to football, Akumu has been able to build a multi-million empire and as he enters the twilight years of his career, he is not worried about what will happen when he finally retires.

“Football is good, it pays,” Akumu said in an interview with Nation, explaining how he has been able to build a massive real estate portfolio and bought top of the range cars from the sport.

From all his clubs, Akumu says it was his stint with Kaizer Chiefs that was the most paying, revealing that he was earning Ksh1.5 million per month when he signed a three-and-a-half-year deal.

Besides receiving a massive signing-on fee from the South African club, Akumu’s salary was also increasing by 10 per cent after every six months that he stayed with the Glamour Boys.

“It was good money for the two-and-a-half years that I stayed at the club. I was able to do one or two meaningful things with it,” said Akumu, revealing that he might have earned up to Ksh100 million had he completed his Chiefs contract.

Chiefs made Akumu surplus to requirements after the 2022 season but the player had earned enough to set himself and his family up for a good life.

Thanks to his football earnings, he lives with his family in a five-bedroom home in Chokaa in the outskirts of Nairobi, estimated to have cost between Sh15 million and Sh20 million to build.

He has also invested in real estate and owns a number of luxury cars, including a Toyota Land Cruiser V8, estimated to have cost Ksh8 million and a Ksh3 million Audi S3. In Chokaa, he owns a three-storey building with nine rental units—six one-bedroom and three two-bedroom apartments.

In Njiru, he is in the final stages of a six-storey building with 12 two-bedroom rental units.

“Football has been my life. Everything I have achieved is because of football. It has given me a home and a good family,” he says.

Akumu credits his wife Sarah, an ex-Mathare United Women and Harambee Starlets player, for being his pillar of strength as she is the one who takes care of all the family projects while he focuses on football.

“She keeps me focused. Without her, I might have misused the money,” Akumu admitted.

Akumu, who habours no desire of coaching once he retires, insists he is still strong enough to continue and prefers playing abroad because of the good treatment players get there.

“Playing abroad gives me peace of mind. Financially, it allows you to save because clubs provide housing and transport,” the 33-year-old explained.

With his eldest son Liam honing his skills at the Soka Talent Academy, Akumu hopes he can carve out a career of his own and reap the maximum benefits of being a professional footballer.