Benjamin Ayimba Biography
Benjamin Ayimba Otieno was once a head coach of the Kenya Rugby Sevens. He first started his career when he joined Impala RFC (club) in 1995, the year after he finished studying at Maseno School (between 1991 and 1984). In 2000 and 2001 he captained Impala to capture Kenya Cup league and Enterprise Cup doubles.
In 1999, 2000 and 2001 he lead his team to win three National Sevens Circuit titles. Following a brief stint with the Kenya 15s team he accepted an offer to become coach of Kenya Sevens in 2006, continuing till his departure from the post in 2011. He guided Shujaa to a first-ever World Series final in Adelaide, Australia in 2009 and thus writing himself history once again in Kenya.
In 2015, he was selected as Rugby Sevens coach and made the team’s first appearance at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Subsequently, he lead the team winning their first ever World Series title when they defeated Fiji 30-7 to win the Singapore Sevens final that same year. He also represented English Cup side Cornish Pirates and was a member of the Kenya squads for the 2001 and 2005 Rugby World Cup sevens, as well as the 1998, 2002, and 2006 Commonwealth Games.
Benjamin Ayimba’s Age.
He was born on August 27, 1976 in Nairobi, Kenya. He was 44 years old at the time of his death in 2021.
Benjamin Ayimba’s Career.
Ayimba went to Maseno School. He started playing rugby game in Form 3. He played rugby for the School as from 1993 and became famous because of his outstanding sporting performance in Kisumu County. He sat for his KCSE and was among the top performing students in all of Kisumu County
After school he joined Impala RFC in 1995 till 2001, he played for the Red Shirts winning a couple of Kenya Cups, Enterprise cups and Floodlit tournaments. In 2002, he moved to Nondies RFC. He was not successful at Red Lion as he was at Impala.
In 2000, Benjamin was named the Kenya Sevens captain and led the team to two World Cups (Argentina ’01 and Hong Kong ’05).
In 2006, successor to club coach Bill Githinji He was only a cool 30 when he became the youngest coach on the IRB circuit; in Kenya’s history too.
On 5th April 2009 he led Kenya to the first ever Main Cup finals in Sydney, Australia on the then IRB World Series where they lost out to South Africa 7-26.
In December 2010, President Mwai Kibaki decorated Ayimba with the Order of the Grand Warrior (OGW) award in honour of his great success. In 2011, after opposing the fielding of Kenya’s star players at August’s Safaricom Sevens, he was sacked.
Benjamin Ayimba’s Family.
Ayimba had four wives. The first wife’s name is Fabricia Awuor, by whom they had three children. His second wife’s name is Caroline Waswa, the third wife is called Sharon and the fourth wife is the actress Gloria Moraa with whom they had two sons.
Benjamin Ayimba’s Children.
He had three sons in his first marriage with Fabricia. The children were Brian, Gabriel and Ochieng. He had two children with his wife Caroline Waswa and one child with Sharon. He had two sons with actress Moraa, one of whom is Benjie Otieno.
Benjamin Ayimba’s Death.
He died in the hospital on Friday, May 21, 2021. The news of his death was confirmed by family spokesman Oscar Sudi, who said in a signed statement seen by Goal: It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Benjamin Ayimba who succumbed to the multiple complications he was being treated for over the past couple of months.
Benjamin Ayimba’s Health.
In May 2021, it was reported that Ayimba was ill in hospital, battling with cerebral malaria. His eldest son, Brian told The Standard Sports desk that the hospital bill had reached Kshs.2.2 million which was to be settled before they moved him to Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) for specialized treatment where he succumbed. Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta assisted in raising Kshs. 1 million towards Ayimba’s medical bill. The president’s act left many Kenyans happy as they perceived it as the act of utmost kindness.
Benjamin Ayimba’s Net Worth.
Ayimba was a renown rugby player, a captain and a coach who had won many titles for himself and the country which amassed him a good amount of finances. However his sickness made his family to exhaust all their resources towards the hospital bills. At the time of his death in 2021, Ayimba’s net worth was unrecognized.