The return of Reinhard Fabisch was welcomed by most Kenyan football fans.

Upon his return, Fabisch was able to raise the standards of the national team substantially. Kenya nearly qualified for the Africa cup of nations. Had Fabisch been available from the start of the qualifying campaign, Kenya might have qualified. They finished behind continental giants Morocco and Tunisia.

Harambee stars fans expected the world from Coach Fabisch.

Bonaventure Maruti, formerly of Gor Mahia, is seen here playing for top Sweedish side, Orebro, was among the leading scorers in the Sweedish league in the 2001 season. Paul Oyuga, originally from Alaskan of Malindi, also made a significant impression in the Swedish league and was among the top scorers in 2005

In 2002, Coach Reinhard Fabisch was once again dismissed by the KFF secretariat. The decision was based on a personal vendetta held by KFF chairman Maina Kariuki ostensibly because of comments made by Fabisch to the effect that the KFF team does not take care of Harambee starts player welfare. This however was the tip of the iceberg. The KFF team led by Mr Kariuki will go down as the worst and most incompetent ever (see articles).

Maina Kariuki's incompetence led to a decision by Sports Minister Francis Nyenze to dissolve the KFF secretariat and appoint a caretaker commitee. Nyenze's decision was however reversed by a high court judge.

Fabisch did his best to point the stars in the right direction but was once again derailed by a myopic self seeking KFF chairman.

The year 2002 will also be rememebred as the year when perennial giants, Gor Mahia finally hit rock bottom after years of decline. They finished second last in the national league and were consigned to relegation. They however received a reprive from the KFF.

At the end of 2002, Kenya finally lifted the CECAFA cup after a 19 year drought, after beating hosts Tanzania 3-2 in the final. 18 year Dennis Oliech emerged as the leading scorer in the tournament despite coming on as a substitute in all the games.

Captain Robert Mambo receives the CECAFA cup from former Tanzanian head of state Ali Hassan Mwinyi.

The year 2003 will be remembered as the year when the minister in charge of sports , Najib Balala disbanded the Kenyan national Under 17 team for fileding over age players. Never in the history of football has any country ever owned up to age cheating. Some of the players Kenya fielded were as old as 22.

Kenya shocked Ghana by beating them 2-0 in Nairobi only to be disqualified by Minister Balala for fielding over age players.

In mid 2003, Kenya finally managed to qualify for the Africa nations cup after a 12 year absence. They did so by collecting 13 out of a possible 18 points to finish ahead of Togo. Dennis Oliech scored several crucial goals and emerged as the most outstanding player in Kenya's qualification campaign and possibly the best centre forward Kenya has ever produced.

Kenya fans had plenty to celebrate about as Kenya pipped Cape Verde to qualify for the Nations cup.

2004 is a year that many Kenyan football fans will never forget. In April, Kenya took part in the Africa cup of nations after a 16 year hiatus. The lost their opening game 3-1 to Mali, Lost 3-0 to Senegal in the second game and beat Burkina Faso 3-0 in the last game.

Minister Najib Balala dissolved the KFF and appointed a caretaker committee in its place led by Dr Mike Boit. FIFA and Sepp Blatter were not happy with the goings on in Kenya and threatened to ban Kenya. Balala refused to budge and FIFA slapped Kenya with an indefinite ban. FIFA at the time were more interested in protecting their turf even at the expense of football in the country.

Some 60 days later, Sepp Blatter must have seen the light and decided to extend an olive branch to the Kenyan sports minister who by this time was one Mr Ochillo Ayacko. The ban was lifted and Kipchoge Keino was appointed by FIFA as the leader of a normalization committee to put football back on track.

Things did not get much better in 2005. Alfred Sambu was elected KFF chairman and upon FIFA's insistence, a consulting company (KPMG) was assigned the task of recruiting a qualified secretary general. Moni Wekesa was deemed as the most qualified candidate by the KPMG. KFF officials however refused to accept their recomendations and appointed their own candidate Dan Omino and went further to remove Alfred Sambu from office and replaced him with Mohammed Hatimy. What followed was a circus the likes of which Kenyans have never seen before. Wekesa, Omino, Sambu and Hatimy each claimed to be the legitimate office holders. Due to the bickering and confusion, Kenya failed to qualify for the 2006 Africa nations cup and were banned from the CECAFA cup

Midfielder MacDonald Mariga made his debut as Kenya beat Guinea 2-1 to start their ACN qualifying campaign.

In 2006, Dennis Oliech became the first Kenyan to play in one of Europe's top leagues when He made his debut for Nantes in the French league. On his debut he impressed French fans with his ball wizardry, breathtaking speed  and sheer hunger.

In 2007, Kenya played in the qualifiers for the 2008 Africa nations cup. The campaign ended up in disaster as Kenya finished behind Eritrea and Angola. Particularly dissapointing for Kenya was the home loss to Eritrea. Kenya football had hit rock bottom as the country's FIFA ranking plummeted to an all time low of 115.

In 2008, Francis Kimanzi took over as national team coach. He led to Kenya to what looked like it was going to be a succesful qualifying for the 2010 Africa nations cup. In the first round of qualifiers, Kenya finished second behind Guinea and ahead of Namibia and Zimbabwe to qualify for the second phase. Most impresive were the 2-0 home wins over Zimbabwe and Guinea. It was here that the wheels came off. Due to a disagreement between Mohammed Hatimy, The FKL chairman and Bob Munro, Francis Kimanzi was forced out as coach of Harambee stars. To replace him, the German Antoine Hey was hired. His stint as Harambee stars coach was disastrous. Not only did Kenya underperform but Hey and striker Dennis Oliech could not see eye to eye. He sidelined Oliech for 2 games much to the chagrin of the Kenya public. Hey was finally forced out and replaced by Twahir Muhiddin. Oliech made a comeback in the last match against Nigeria. He gave the Nigerians a torrid time and scored the 1st Kenya goal as Kenya lost 2-3 to Nigeria.

Patrick Oboya in action against Nigeria

On a positive note, MacDonald Mariga now playing for Inter Milan and Dennis Oliech now playing for AJ Auxerre became the first Kenyans to play in the European Champions league.