Harambee Stars midfielder eager to win continental title at Simba

Francis Kahata is eager to win a continental title with Simba after signing a two-year deal with the Tanzanian giants on Thursday.

Kahata, 27, joined Wekundu wa Msimbazi as a free agent after his contract with Gor Mahia expired last month.

“Simba has been chasing me since last year so it’s something that I really thought about. I’m happy with what I achieved at Gor Mahia but it was time to take on a new challenge,” Kahata told Nation Sport.

He becomes the ninth signing at the club this transfer window after Ibrahim Ajib, Brazilians Gerson Fraga, Wilker Henrique and Tairone Santos, Sharaf Eldin (Sudan), Deo Kanda (DR Congo) and Beno Kakolanya (Tanzania).

“Simba is a big club and their performance in the Champions League tells a lot about the quality in this team. They have many good players but I know I am here to add value to the team. I want to achieve something with them at continental level so we have to at least go higher than they reached,” he added.

Simba were knocked out of last season’s Champions League at the quarter final stage after losing 4-1 on aggregate to DR Congo’s TP Mazembe.

Despite being tipped to shine at the Africa Cup of Nations, Kahata endured an underwhelming campaign that saw him struggle to impress for the national team.

“Football is like life, sometimes you’re on top sometimes you’re down. We played very well in the qualifiers and the expectation among fans grew. However, 15 years is quite a lot of time and in the end, we learned that we need to gather experience at that level by qualifying consistently,” weighed in Kahata.

“I have put that behind me and I’m ready to leave a mark at my new club,” he underlined.

It will be a sweet reunion for Kahata with Rwandese striker Meddie Kagere at Simba. The pair had a good understanding at Gor Mahia and Belgian coach Patrick Aussems will hope the partnership comes to life at Dar es Salaam.