During the exercise supervised by the Independent Elections and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), Ambani garnered 1,101 votes, against 682 by his only challenger, Enos Mutoka. He will now replace Dan Shikanda, who had served for two terms.
Ambani was elected alongside Isaac Mulindi, the new Secretary General, after receiving 656 votes to beat Robert Situma (534) and Irene Sitawa (429), while Newton Lime was elected the new treasurer after collecting 676 votes to beat Edward Buhasho (599) and Patrick Kanyangi (445).
He takes over at a club which has gone 27 years without winning a Premier League trophy despite being the third most successful club in Kenyan history.
The last time Ingwe won the Premier League title was in 1998, and Ambani was part of the squad, while their last trophy triumph - the domestic cup - was in 2017.
In a recent interview with Flashscore, Ambani pledged total restructuring of Ingwe, targeting key areas such as finance, technical structure, and marketing, and further promised full transparency and accountability with the eye firmly on winning the Premier League title.
“It is time for change, time for change for sure, 27 good years without a trophy is not a great history for a big club like AFC Leopards. I have been a supporter of this team, I have been a fan from when I was a small boy, later on I played for the team, and we won the last title, that was 27 years ago,” Ambani told Flashscore.
“My leadership style will be open to everyone, I want AFC Leopards fans to get back the joy they have lacked for many years, we must change our style of management, so as to achieve our target, it is a new dawn, for the club, we are AFC Leopards, we deserve to challenge for trophies, and I will make sure that we change, by competing for trophies in all fronts.
“It is time for AFC Leopards to be champions again. It is just a matter of time before AFC Leopards fans start enjoying the fruits of my leadership. It is just a matter of time, I can assure them, the trophy drought will come to an end under my leadership.
"AFC Leopards is a brand in itself; all we need to do is clean it up and get the team back where it is supposed to be.”
During that triumphant season, Ingwe finished top of the table, three points ahead of second-placed Mumias Sugar to win their 12th title in history. In the following campaign, Ingwe failed to defend the title, finishing second, and it is from then until now that they are still searching for another elusive crown.
The last trophy for Ingwe was the FKF Cup, then the GOtv Shield, which arrived on October 20th, 2017, following a 2-0 victory against Sharks. Under coach Robert Matano, Ingwe scored through defender Abdalla Salim and forward Vincent Oburu to win the final and clinch the domestic Cup.
Restoring the pride of the AFC Leopards badge
Soon after being elected, AFC Leopards’ faithful took to social media to welcome Ambani and further urged him to quickly turn around the club’s fortunes.
Khalayi Wekulo Joe said: “Just restore the pride of our badge, make it work. Make Ingwe great again. You have it in your DNA. Right from its heart-Shiseno. And one of the last batches that gave us glory.
“Surprisingly, the year I began supporting Ingwe after watching two matches at Kasarani Stadium on Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC), you were our striker. Ambani, don’t fail the dream, please, make it work, because it’s possible. We believe in you.”
Another fan, Bantu Freeman Omwami, said: “Dear Bonface (Ambani), first, congratulations. Secondly - and I’m not advising you, just giving a humble opinion-kindly create a business development, fundraising and resource mobilisation portfolio for AFC Leopards.
“There are a lot of opportunities in sports fundraising away from gate collections, merchandise and sponsorship. The team has the potential of making money from monetising data, private partnerships, SCR’s, events, product ideations and innovations.
“Sustain revenue streams, then create good governance to curate accountability. There are proposals to this effect that the outgoing office turned down because some of us could not afford to bribe them in order to implement some very good ideas that we had projected to them. Thank you, and all the best.”
"Make it rain, brother. We have been in the desert enough,” wrote Robert Ouko Obusebwa, while Kriss Daggy said: “It is in your hands now. Don’t disappoint us. We pray for your success.”
Sim Simmer Evayo opined: “Since I was born, I have never seen, witnessed or even heard a rumour of AFC Leopards winning the league. I hope to witness that under your reign as the President of the club. Congratulations and good luck.”
Simon Ochandah wrote: “Congratulations, brother. It’s now time to sit down and bring back the lost glory at the Dens. This challenging work squarely lies in your hands, so the buck stops with you as the chairman. Wishing you the very best at the helm of the leadership of Ingwe.”
With 12 top-flight league titles to their name, Leopards are Kenya's third most successful club behind Tusker (13 titles) and Gor Mahia (21 titles). Apart from the league, AFC Leopards has also won the Kenya Cup 10 times and the CECAFA Club Championship five times.
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