Background – Different techniques of prosthetic based hernia repairs have been developed. The Lichtenstein tension-free mesh hernioplasty is currently regarded as the gold standard method with complication and recurrence rates of less than 1% and 0.1% respectively. The Desarda tension-free repair is a tissue based repair that has comparable outcome to the Lichtenstein repair in terms of low recurrence rates and high patient satisfaction. In the search for the ideal technique for hernia repair with low recurrence rate, low complication rates and a high patient satisfaction, many techniques have been described. Objective-- To determine the proportion of patients who had postoperative complications, assess their postoperative pain and early recurrence rates in two groups of patients having either Desada tension free repair or Lichtenstein tension free mesh hernioplasty. Also, to determine early recurrence in both groups. Material and Methods-- The sample size was calculated and a total of 76 patients were allocated into two groups, Desarda group and Lichtenstein group, using a random sampling method. Questionnaires were then used to collect bio data, and intra-operative and postoperative events which were subsequently recorded in the proforma. Local anaesthesia was used in all patients. The p-value was set at 0.05. Results — There were a total of 82 patients comprising 77 males and 5 females. Their ages ranged from 18 years to 80 years with a mean age of 48.8 ± 18.9 years. The mean age for patients in the Desarda group was 46.8 ± 18.7 years while for the Lichtenstein group, the mean age was 50.9 ± 19.1 years (p=0.3). The mean BMI for the Desarda and Lichtenstein groups respectively were 21.5 ± 3.7 and 22.1 ± 2.9 (p=0.4). Haematoma was the commonest complication, this study recorded 4 (5.3%) patients and 3 (3.9%) patients in the Desarda and Lichtenstein groups respectively (p=0.83). One (1.3%) patient in the Desarda group and 2 (2.3%) patients in the Lichtenstein group had SSI. One (1.3%) patient in each arm of the study had Urinary tract infection. There was no recurrence in both groups of patients, n=0 (0%).There was no statistical difference in the incidence of postoperative pain in both group of patients on postoperative days 1(p=0.2) and 3 (p=0.9). However, patients in the Lichtenstein group reported more postoperative pain on Day 7 with significant difference Mean Rank for Desarda= 37.1, Lichtenstein = 39.9, Mann Whitney U test = 669.5, p=0.6). No patient had chronic inguinal pain. Hence, the complication and recurrence rate were 17.3% and 0% respectively. Conclusion – There is no statistically significant difference between the Lichtenstein Tension-free mesh repair and the Desarda Tension-free tissue repair, in terms of postoperative pain, complication rate and early recurrence.