By Kimathi Kamau
MOMBASA, Kenya, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- Belgian Paul Put was on Saturday named as the new head coach of the Kenyan national team football team Harambee Stars.
Put was unveiled as the Stars manager by federation President, Nick Mwendwa, at the fifth FKF Annual General Meeting in Mombasa.
He takes over immediately, starting with the regional 2017 Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup that kicks off on Dec. 3 that will be hosted in Kenya.
His appointment brought the end to the troubled tenure of local tactician, Stanley Okumbi, who was demoted to the role of assistant head coach having been at the helm since March 2016.
"Put is the perfect man to take charge of Harambee Stars. He led Gambia, a nation of two million people, to the Africa Cup of Nations and there is no doubt in my mind that he will do the same for Kenya," FKF president Nick Mwendwa said.
"He has a very impressive track record that speaks for itself having worked with greats such as Louis Van Gaal during his time on the Ajax Amsterdam technical bench," he added.
"I want to thank the FKF president and the members for giving me this opportunity to coach the national team. I am a very ambitious man and I know for a fact that things are about to change for this country's football team," Put said moments before flying by helicopter from the coastal city to Kenya's capital Nairobi to assume his role.
Put was manager of the Gambian national team between 2008 and 2011, before being appointed as manager of Burkina Faso in March 2012.
The Belgian boss left his role as Burkina Faso manager in February 2015, before becoming manager of Jordan in June of that year.
Put resigned his position as manager of the Jordanian national team in January last year before taking charge of Algerian giants, USM Alger.
