▪️Patrick “Mont” Waweru outpoints msee wa Santos Ziwa, Akuga Arika, who was named Best Loser as tallman Peter Dula forces his opponent to lift his hands in submission
April 29, 2026
On the morning of the 1976 Kenya Police Inter-Provincial Championships finals, Billy Kikonde woke up psyched up for one big mission: to bomb international boxer Peter Kang’ethe.
He had all the weapons at his disposal, and had studied Kang’ethe thoroughly.
A slick operator – we grew up together in Nairobi South “B” – Kikonde was determined to bring down Kang’ethe to make a big statement of intent in the finals at Police Pavillion, Nairobi South “C”.
Kang’ethe made his international debut in 1971, and remained one of the country’s top light-flyweights.
He was shorter than majority of his opponents. Therefore, in most of his fights he chose to fight from the inside against his taller adversaries.
Kang’ethe was representing the crack GSU team who were the defending champions. Other formidable boxers in the red berets team were 1973 African Games middleweight champion and captain Peter Dula, ruthless body puncher George “Mosquito” Findo, Patrick “Mont” Waweru, Steve “The Black Bomber” Moi and Peter Ndirangu.
Kikonde, representing Railways and Harbours Police, had one weapon to keep Kang’ethe at bay: the left jab.
So effective was Kikonde’s jab and fleet footwork that he eventually scored an upset points win over Kang’ethe and in the process took home the Best Boxer’s Trophy. A memorable achievement for Billy.
Kikonde’s strategy worked to perfection. He kept Kang’ethe away with his constant jab and occasional right handers. Kang’ethe was beaten fair and square.
In other highlights, towering Peter Dula’s stinging punches forced his Nairobi Area Police opponent, Oduya Aoko, to go down on his knees and lift his hands in a show of surrender in the first round.
At feather, Peter Ndirangu, who boxed for Kenya in the 1973 African Games after toppling Peter Kang’ethe in the trials, outpointed Dishon Odanga. While rising giant Patrick “Mont” Waweru was pushed to the brim by Akuga Arika before squeezing a points victory in the lightweight class. Akuga received the Best Loser’s award.
Other internationals to win their bouts were light-middleweight Steve “The Black Bomber” Moi and heavyweight Joseph Kabegi.
As expected, GSU retained the overall title with 27 points while Railways and Harbours Police and Coast Province were second with 9 points each.
Later GSU captain Peter Dula, flanked by GSU Commandant Ben Gethi, received the winners trophy from the guest of honour, Minister for Housing and Social Services Dr Zachariah Onyonka, in the presence of Police Commissioner Bernard Hinga.
It’s been a while since the Police Pavillion venue was used to host some of the local boxing tournaments.
