Kayole Starlets secure Sh2m Ushindi deal for 2026/27 KWPL

Kayole Starlets have secured a Sh2 million cash sponsorship from Ushindi for the 2026/27 FKF Women’s Premier League season, giving the Nairobi club a direct financial base as the competition continues without a title sponsor. The agreement covers the campaign scheduled to begin on September 12 and 13.

The deal follows a three-month trial partnership that ran from May to July. Ushindi, Pwani Oil Products Limited’s flagship home care brand, will appear on Kayole’s playing and training kits. The arrangement also includes matchday digital content and activities designed to engage supporters.

Kayole have used their online audience to attract the partnership, with more than 150,000 followers and six million monthly impressions. That reach has allowed the club to present itself as a commercial property rather than wait for funding to come through a central league arrangement.

The sponsorship is intended to support squad expenses, travel for matches and player compensation. Those commitments are particularly important in a league where clubs have often carried their operating costs themselves, contributing to logistical difficulties, postponed fixtures and irregular payments. The agreement offers Kayole a more dependable structure for the new season.

The club’s trial period also coincided with four players securing moves to Turkey. Lavyne Achola and Euphrasier Shilwatso joined Haymanaspor Kulübü in the Turkish Super League, while Linda Kihara and Faith Naliaka moved to Soma Zafer Spor Kulübü in the First Division.

Kayole’s approach comes as Kenyan women’s football seeks greater financial stability. Kenya’s national team finished fourth at the 2025 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations without a point from three matches, losing all three and scoring no goals while conceding seven. Its more recent five-match sequence has included two wins, one draw and two defeats, underlining the wider need to turn local talent into sustained professional opportunities. For Kayole, the Ushindi agreement provides a club-level example of how visibility and commercial planning can help protect that pathway.