Abdallah Mkatakona, Lent, Ramadhan & Why Practice makes Permanent

Same Forest. Different Monkeys. Ramadhan & Lenten Edition

When religions align something special happens.
This year, Lent and Ramadan will both begun on February 18. The last time they started on the same day was in 1943, over 80 years ago.
While the traditions are different, both seasons center around the same values of fasting, reflection, discipline, and strengthening faith.

As a teen I used to think hunger was a personality trait.
In our neighborhood it was a test of the Olfactory senses. (process of detecting gaseous odourants)
Ramadhan evenings were my Olympics. Not because I was Muslim.
Because I was seventeen.
Appetite like a horse. Metabolism of a hyena.
Mathe’s pilau njeri and mafoga (cabbage) would quietly disappear from my radar during that season.
Not out of disrespect. Out of strategy.
You don’t waste capacity before a major fixture.
Fueled purely by filial obligation, I would snack lightly at home — just enough to maintain appearances — then migrate across the fence for the pre-game warm-up.
Mumzee next door had been cooking up a storm since late afternoon.
Mahamri. Mkate wa sinia. Pilau origino.
The air itself felt seasoned.
Those days, we switched from one AM signal to another to catch the exact minute for Iftar. Alternatively listen to the closest Muezzin in his evening call to prayer.
No apps. No website. Just static and patience.
You learned rhythm through waiting.
At approximately 6:50 pm something would shift inside me.
Voices.
Not spiritual.
Gastric.
Mahamri calling. The sufuria lids lifting in slow motion in my imagination.
The discipline of the day collapsing into aroma.
In the beginning, I would pretend I had forgotten something.
A notebook. A rugby boot. THE Maxell XLII / XLII-S (High Bias/Type II Casette):
The premium, high-performance standard for home recording in the 1980s, lauded for its ability to handle high frequencies and high-fidelity, (apologies my mind wanders)
After a few days, I stopped pretending.
Hunger has a way of simplifying integrity.
Strip away doctrine and Lent and Ramadhan are built on the same architecture:
Restraint before reward.
Discipline before feast.
System before appetite.

Ramadhan asks Muslims to fast dawn to sunset for roughly thirty days. Lent calls Christians into forty days of restraint, prayer and almsgiving.

Different rituals.
Same system.

Hunger starts the journey. Systems sustain it.
And thats how Abdallah Mkatakona was born.
Around the same time, together with other dues my age, I felt that same sensation stepping into global sport.
17 and 136 days old. Kenya Under 19 / Kenya Schools Combined. The Roebucks.
Rosslyn Park 7s — 100 years of history.
Melrose 7s — birthplace of the short game.
Exposure

.Then Watembezi Pacesetters Singapore 7s. 1991. (This is not an IOD story)
We ran onto that pitch thinking talent was enough.
It wasn’t.
The speed was authentic.
Warm-ups were not choreographed.
Recovery was self governed.
Video analysis happened 6 months later.
Nutrition was an ideal.
Game plans were not precise. They were built on hunger not structure.
Gwara (Scratch) was the Holy grail.
Talent had brought us there.
Structure decided who stayed.
That was my first lesson in making the cut.
Train. Prepare. Perform. Monitor. Iterate.
Wash. Clean. Rinse. Repeat.
What happens on Tour remains on Tour.

Fast forward to Karen Country Club.

The 2026 Magical Kenya Open concluded today, February 22, at the Karen Country Club. It was a historic but weather-affected finale that saw South Africa’s Casey Jarvis clinch his maiden DP World Tour title with a record-breaking score of 25-under par.

Twenty-five under.

Precision over four days.

Out of the 12 Kenyan professionals and 6 amateurs who teed off, Njoroge Kibugu was the only Kenyan to make the cut. He carried the nation’s hopes into the weekend with a dramatic eagle on the 18th hole on Friday to secure his spot.

Final Standing: Kibugu finished the tournament at 6-under par overall. Well Done!

The Comeback: After a difficult Saturday (where he slipped to 1-under), he showed incredible resilience today, sinking five birdies in his final round to move back up the leaderboard.
Significance: His performance snapped a two-year “cut drought” for Kenyan golfers at this event.
Other Local Results (Missed Cut) The competition was exceptionally stiff this year, with the cut set at a demanding 4-under par.
Edwin Mudanyi: -2 (Missed cut by 2 shots)
John Lejirma (Amateur): -2 (Missed cut by 2 shots)
Jastas Madoya: Level par
Yardages. Putts. Inches.
Kibugu did not win.
He survived.
Making the cut means you earn Saturday. It means your mechanics held. It means appetite did not force reckless swings.
That is Lent discipline.
That is Ramadhan rhythm.
That is Singapore shock at Twenty-One.
Now zoom out.
The Kenya Open began in 1967 as a local tournament.
Over decades it aligned with the Challenge Tour, Sunshine Tour affiliations, and eventually elevation to DP World Tour status in 2019.
Prize purses increased. Broadcast matured. International field deepened.
The event evolved.
Now rugby.
Safari 7s in 1996. Invitational. Electric. Chaotic.
A kenya team was picked and went on to Tour Scotland in preparation for the World Cup qualifier later that year.
Then Kenya entered the IRB Sevens World Series in 1999.
Core team status meant repeated exposure.
New Zealand. Fiji. South Africa. England.
Not once.
Kama kawaida. (Furniture)
Academies formed. Conditioning improved. Video review became culture. Governance aligned tournament growth with player development.
Ugali was struck off the menu.
Tournament and player matured together.
By the time HSBC SVNS became global broadcast theatre, Kenyan players were already living that standard.
Exposure plus system.
In golf, the event globalised faster than the pipeline scaled.
This is not condemnation. It is governance math.
Exposure without structure produces occasional brilliance.
Exposure with structure produces consistency.
Lets bring it home to sales.
In sales, hunger and networks open doors.
Structure closes quarters.
One big deal is an eagle on 18. It saves Friday.
But professionals survive the fiscal year and the 4 days because their system holds.
Their Swings kept net positive.
The balance sheets made Par from the rough.
Prospect. Qualify. Follow up. Track. Refine. Close. Review.
Then repeat.
CRM hygiene. Territory mapping. Coaching loops.
Performance dashboards. Quarterly recalibration.
Train. Prepare. Perform. Monitor. Iterate.
Wash. Clean. Rinse. Repeat.
Faith seasons teach it. Golf exposes it. Rugby institutionalised it.
Sales rewards it.

And then this

Recently the Green Giant continued to keep us green with envy on their ingenuity.
They launched a new product better known by its street name
Kula Fare Bila shame.
The “Kula fare Bila Shame product knows how to align your weakness to your weakness.
Marriage counselors be on alert, plus Men of all ages from Mubabas to GenZs.

There’s going to be an activation....maybe not so big but Your nearest and dearest, your mothers, sisters, wives, daughters, girlfriends (not in any particular order) and the entire woman folk will hear about this and will ask you the dreaded question....have you downloaded it.... (mulika mwizi loading)
I need to meet with their product dev guys to understand the target market.
Anyone fancy a guess?
Innovation is neutral. Discipline determines outcome.
Shiriki Pay in my view may not the solve the real problem.
Lack of trust is.
Because if your household does not have governance, if your marriage does not have clarity, if your budget does not have structure, technology amplifies appetite.
Same principle.
Hunger starts the journey. Systems sustain it.
Whether it’s fasting. Whether it’s golf. Whether it’s rugby.
Whether it’s sales. Whether it’s fintech.
The pattern is structural.
I think back to Ramadhan static on AM radio.
You don’t eat at 6:47 because you feel like it.
You wait.
I think of Singapore at 21.
Exposure without preparation is humiliation.
I think of Kibugu recalibrating after Saturday.
Making the cut matters.
Hunger is loud. Systems are quiet. Talent travels.
Structure survives.
And somewhere at 6:50 pm tonight, someone will still be waiting for the clock to turn before they knock on Mumzee’s door.
Train. Prepare. Perform. Monitor. Iterate.
Wash. Clean. Rinse. Repeat.

🎵 Same Forest. Different Musicians
I thought I’d add a new section……… for connection 😉
Add it to your playlist. Your GenZ might think you’re cool.
Tell me what you think. (or which song the article reminds you of))

Bobby Caldwell … 1978
Tupac Shakur … 1998
Ahmed Ololade (Asake) … 202_

Evolution. Not competition.

Ask someone older. Ask someone younger.
Go with Rythm.
Mubarikiwe.
Jah Bless.