- Gor Mahia Head Coach Charles Akonnor is the second Ghanaian to win the SportPesa League.
- Akonnor has been nominated for coach of the season award alongside Fred Ambani and Sammy Omollo.
- This is Akonnor’s second top flight title.
Gor Mahia head coach Charles Akonnor has opened up about the intense pressure of managing Kenya’s most successful club, admitting that the fan base’s absolute intolerance for failure makes winning the league an incredibly challenging feat after the club was recently crowned champions.
Akonnor recently guided K’Ogalo to a historic league title, securing his third career championship and the club’s record-extnding 22nd title.
He previously won Ghana’s League title with Asante Kotoko in 2019 and secured top-flight promotion with Dreams FC in 2015.
ALSO READ: League winner Akonnor leads 25/26 SportPesa League Coach of the Season award nominees
Reflecting on his first season in East Africa, the Ghanaian tactician described the passion of the Gor Mahia faithful as a double-edged sword.
“With Gor, it’s very demanding, very, very demanding,” Akonnor stated. “It’s positive, but it can be seen as crazy, you know. They don’t understand defeat and how you are defeated, why, what happened. Sometimes you need to read meanings behind the scene, why it happened this way.”
ALSO READ: Gor Mahia win 22nd SportPesa League title after AFC Leopards lose
Akonnor pointed to early-season setbacks, including a shock loss to Bidco United and another defeat against APS Bomet, as the crucial turning points that shaped their championship run.
“Our first match that we lost against Bidco United was a wake-up call. But the fact that we lost against them was a way where we can look at our weaknesses and our strengths and then move on. The difference is that the support here is massive, and fans are very passionate,we have managed in a very positive way to do it.”
A major factor in Akonnor’s seamless transition into the new terrain of Kenyan football was management’s willingness to let him bring his own technical bench.
Unlike the traditional setup in the league where foreign head coaches are typically paired with local backroom staff, Akonnor arrived with a full Ghanaian contingent with his staff including assistant Coach Bismark Kobi Mensah,Goalkeepers Coach Ben Owu and Video Analyst Joshua Boafo.
“It gave us a sense of security, a sense of assurance that yes we can,” Akonnor explained. “We speak the same language, we know everybody. Each coach in his own department assesses his area of work,It helped us grow quickly also to understand the team and to know exactly what to do.”
By conquering the Sportpesa league, Akonnor enters the history books as only the second Ghanaian coach to win the Kenyan top-flight title.
Coincidentally, the first was his former national team coach, the legendary Charles Kumi (CK) Gyamfi, who guided Gor Mahia’s arch-rivals, AFC Leopards, to an unbeaten league title in 1988.
“I feel proud,” Akonnor smiled, noting the striking similarities. “At least a Ghanaian had set that example already and I have followed. It tells you, if nothing at all, Ghanaians are also good in this area of work. You know I’m known in Ghana as CK Akonnor and he is CK Gyamfi, so it’s very similar.”
ALSO READ: Gor Mahia crowned SportPesa League champions but suffer final-day defeat
When Akonnor was first unveiled to the K’Ogalo faithful, fans explicitly handed him just two ultimatums: beat AFC Leopards and win the league. However, the tactician dismissed the notion that fan pressure was the sole catalyst for their success.
“It’s not because of what they said, but because of our work ethics,” Akonnor insisted. “The dedication, work ethics, and God being so good to us.The technical team, playing body, and management as well, not to forget our fans. We’ve all worked together very, very hard.”
As the club shifts its focus to defending the crown next season and featuring in the CAF Champions League, Akonnor revealed that Gor Mahia will not be looking abroad for an overhaul. Instead, they plan to build from within the Kenyan borders.
“We look forward to at least look for one or two add-ons. But majority maybe of our signings will be in Kenya. We’re going to rely on Kenyan players because it is their league and it’s important that we grow them, we improve them as players.”
The Ex Ghana Black Stars captain is one of the three final shortlist for the coach of the season award alongside AFC Leopards Fred Ambani and Sammy ‘Pamzo’ Omollo of APS Bomet with the candidates set to battle for the honor at the return of the SportPesa League Gala night scheduled for 4 June 2026.