Fred Arocho Biography, Age, Family, Background And Career

Fred Arocho is a Kenyan radio presenter whose forte is in football commentary. After a successful career in the football pitch, he has gone on to become a success story as a presenter.

This shows that when one’s football career comes to an end, it is not the end of the world. Some people actually go on to utilize other talents and still make a name for themselves as has been proven by Fred Arocho.

Here is his story as told by WoK.

Age

Fred Arocho was born on 27th November 1976.

Family

The former footballer has an identical twin brother known as Billy Arocho. He is married to Sophie Arocho with whom they have four kids, one girl and three boys (Alvin, Kensley and Jayden). They got married in December 2008 at the Windsor golf club, Nairobi.

The two celebrated their 10-year anniversary in 2019 during the Easter weekend. To mark the anniversary, they traveled to Ugenya and renewed their vows in the presence of family and friends.

According to an article by Radio Jambo, he took 10 cows to his in-laws as a thank you for his wife. 

“ It’s been 10 years since I married my wife and I went to Ugenya to my in-laws this past Saturday where I took 10 cows to signify the years I have been with my love,” he said.

“ I took my brothers and friends with me and it was a very colorful occasion. My wife’s friends whom together belong to a women’s organization called Dynabrains also graced the occasion,” he was quoted by Radiojambo.

Background

The Radio Jambo presenter was born ahead of his twin brother Billy Arocho. He was brought up in Eastleigh, Nairobi. For his primary education, he attended Ainsworth Primary in Eastleigh before getting a chance to join Pumwani High School.

Fred started playing football when he was 7-years-old. His love for the game continued while he was in high school and even began playing semi professionally for teams (ICDC FC and NSSF FC) which are now defunct.

Career

After completing high school, Arocho joined the professional ranks of the beautiful game.  

A number of teams showed interest in his signature but he chose Sony sugar where he was a great defender. He later moved to KCB.

In 1995, he played for the national youth team during the East and Central youth championships in Mombasa. This gave him a chance to play against big names in African football like George Finidi and Jay Jay Okocha. 

“ This was one of my most cherished time in soccer because I rubbed shoulders with some of the finest of African soccer. I stood tall and managed to stop their menace in the pitch a thing which injected more confidence in my game,” he said in an interview published by Mchezo Africa.

He captained Re-Union FC before calling it a day after a decade-long football career. He enrolled at the Kenya Polytechnic and graduated with a Diploma in Business Administration. He then got a job with Samchi Telecoms where he worked for four years.

The Kenya Polytechnic alumni then started his own mobile communication services company, Image Creations. At one point, they got a tender with the biggest telecommunication service providers in Kenya Safaricom. They provided communication and Public Relations services.

Landing in Radio Jambo

Due to his love for football, he never missed any match in Kenya. It was during one of these matches that he met Carol Radul, Radio Jambo’s program controller at the time. She noticed his wonderful voice and this was what got him a job at the station.

“ One day while watching a match at city stadium I caught the ears of Radio Jambo’s programs controller Carol Radull who thought I had a good voice for an upcoming sports radio station. I earned myself an appointment for a voice test and I got through for the job. Carol Radull discovered what I never knew about myself and I owe her a lot of respect,” he said in an interview.

This is how he got a job as a football commentator for Radio Jambo, a job he has successfully done over the years but he called it quits in 2023 to join rival radio station Radio47.