Kenya’s reigning league champions and three-time CECAFA Club champions Gor Mahia (K’Ogalo) will begin their 2026 CECAFA Kagame Cup campaign against Armée Patriotique Rwandaise (APR) at Amahoro Stadium in Kigali, Rwanda, on Friday.
Speaking on Wednesday evening from Kigali, Rwanda Football Federation (FERWAFA) President Shema Ngoga Fabrice welcomed the return of the tournament to Rwanda, saying they are excited to host the competition again.
"We are very excited that the tournament returns to Rwanda since 2019. We are determined to have a very successful tournament," Shema said during a media briefing.
The 12-team tournament has placed Gor Mahia in Group A alongside APR of Rwanda, Uganda Premier League champions Vipers SC, and Djibouti’s FC Garde Républicaine.
Vipers SC will face FC Garde Républicaine in the tournament’s opening match, before APR and Gor Mahia, two clubs that have each won the title three times, clash in a highly anticipated encounter.
Another Kenyan side, Tusker FC, the reigning 2026 FKF Cup champions, have been drawn in Group C alongside Sudan’s Al Hilal Omdurman, Rwanda’s Rayon Sports, and Zanzibar’s Kikosi cha Valantia Zanzibar (KVZ) FC.
Tusker will begin their campaign on Sunday at Amahoro Stadium against Al Hilal.
Attention now turns to Kenya’s two representatives, Gor Mahia and Tusker, with both clubs using the regional tournament as preparation for the upcoming 2026/27 Kenya Premier League season under foreign coaches—Frenchman Julien Mette at Tusker and Ghanaian Charles Akonnor at Gor Mahia.