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Sharuko on Saturday

ON Monday, Ernest Kamba died – providing the final chapter of a story in which his football talent painted his name in gold and scripted it among legends.

He was 76.

At least, he lived to see and celebrate the Golden Jubilee of the moment he was named Soccer Star of the Year.

That was in 1973.

And, at 25 back then, Kamba was at the very peak of his athletic powers as a forward who bred fear into defenders.

He was one of just two DeMbare players to be crowned Soccer Star of the Year in the 11 years in which this award was handed out before Independence.

That the other Dynamos player is George Shaya, widely acknowledged as the greatest DeMbare player in history, underlines how Kamba was also special to find himself in such illustrious company.

Shaya won it five times, a fitting testimony to his greatness.

But, the mere fact that in 1973 the selectors decided Kamba was better than The Mastermind is a powerful endorsement of how good he was.

That should never be erased by Bernard Marriot and his crew.

They are trying to distort the history of Dynamos for their selfish gains to such an extent the club did not officially acknowledge Kamba’s death, let alone send a condolence message.

That was a sickening display of both stupidity and madness by those who are running Dynamos to try and separate Kamba, in his death, and the institution he served with dignity, in his life.

Admittedly, Kamba became a rebel in the later stages of his life.

But, for many people for whom Dynamos is more than a football club, but a way of life, he was fighting a good high-stakes war.

The war to destroy this foolish arrangement where Dynamos have been converted into some personal property of the Marriot family.

A flawed set-up where Marriot’s son Harry and daughter Mercy have a bigger stake in the club than, for example, Sunday Chidzambwa, who happens to be Dynamos’ greatest son ever.

To some extent, Kamba was a power-hungry man who appeared to believe that to lead Dynamos was his calling and it was his ultimate present from the football gods.

That used to be the point which used to separate us and I have to say that I never enjoyed any cordial relations with him.

It didn’t matter to me that Kamba, at some point in his young life, ended up in Chakari where he got the first lessons of his educational journey.

That he was my homeboy was irrelevant and that would never make me support his cause if he was this power-hungry fellow.

To me, he was just a replica of Marriot – power hungry individuals who, if they were members of the Roman Catholic Church, would even have been challenging the Pope in their relentless bid to usurp power.

He didn’t appeal to me, as a leader, because I always felt that if he took over, he would be doing exactly the same things that have turned Marriot into the first football leader to be granted emperor status.

I don’t like or trust emperors.

The last African one that I know was called Emperor Bokassa 1, whose real name was Jean-Bedel Bokassa, the paramount leader of the Central African Republic.

At the time of his death in 1996, he had sired 62 children and, during his time in power, he was accused of cannibalism and even feeding the bodies of his opponents to animals.

Bokassa was deposed in a coup in 1979, the final year we lived as a colony, and as we embraced Independence, a few months later, we marched into the ‘80s in which Dynamos transformed themselves into the greatest football club we have in this country.

The Glamour Boys won seven of the 10 league championship battles in the ‘80s, including four on the bounce, in a golden era in which the likes of Moses Chunga, Kenneth Jere, David Mandigora, Edward Katsvere came to the fore.

One of those titles, in ’83, was won under the guidance of Kamba as the coach.

DISTORTING HISTORY, CREATING FALSEHOODS

This is the history that Marriot and his people want us to erase from the Dynamos story and that is why when Mandigora died, Marriot did not even visit his home to pay his condolences.

Yogi is the only Dynamos hero to win the Soccer Star of the Year, guide the club to the league title as a coach and take the Glamour Boys to the semi-finals of the Champions League.

In terms of achievements, and service to DeMbare, Yogi did more to the club’s cause than Marriot.

But, in his death, he was ignored by the Emperor of Dynamos, who probably also wanted us to forget that Yogi even played for DeMbare.

Now, if this can happen to Yogi, who holds a special place in our football as the first Soccer Star of the Year in Zimbabwe, what about Henry Chari, what about Stanley Chirambadare, what about Eddie Muchongwe?

If we go by what Marriot and his people want to tell us, then the Miracle of  ’98 didn’t happen simply because they are uncomfortable with Sunday’s shadow and they don’t want his finest moments to be celebrated.

They would rather have us believe that winning the Chibuku Super Cup last year was a bigger achievement than ending the year as the second best football club in Africa.

I heard one of these Marriot disciples argue on social media this week that Kamba was a Malawian and even went on to play for the Flames.

Which is true.

But he conveniently didn’t tell us that Kamba also played for our national team and, even if that wasn’t the case, does his nationality as a Malawian take away his iconic contribution to the DeMbare cause?

And, isn’t Marriot also of Malawian descent?

Just like Chunga, Alois Mesikano, Josiah Akende, Jairos Banda to name but a few?

Does the fact that Kalisto Pasuwa is of Malawian descent take away the gloss or the reality that he is the only coach to guide Dynamos to four league titles on the bounce?

What about Sam Dauya?

He is the visionary man who is largely credited with the founding of Dynamos, the guy who had an education, back in those early years, to provide counsel and guidance to the young players who formed this club.

He became the team’s first team manager, occupying a very important seat at Dynamos which, in later years, would be occupied by fine men like Jimmy Finch, who was so respected by everyone they called him Daddy.

All these guys are dead.

On that list, you should also include Richard Chiminya, Obadiah Sarupinda, Freddie Mukwesha, Denver Mahachi, Morrison Sifelani Shacky Chitimbe, Danny Bricks Thomas, Patrick “Amato The Devil” Dzvene, David George, to name but a few.

At one point or another all these men served Dynamos in various capacities but those who are in charge of the club today are trying to give an impression that the Glamour Boys story started in 2014 when Marriot became chairman of the so-called board of directors.

Well, thanks to Murape Murape, we now know that the board exists in name only and it is made up of just one man – Bernard Marriot.

THE DAY AFTER MARRIOT DIES

But, Kamba’s death, just like that of Chiminya, Akende, Yogi and Shaya, provides a powerful reminder to us of our mortality.

That, at some point, we are all going to die.

It’s a subject I don’t waste my time thinking about.

I know that one day I will die and you guys will start talking about me in the past tense, about how I loved Manchester United and how I came from Chakari and disrupted your world.

It’s a circle, one day my father was laughing with me, the next day he was gone, his story complete, his legacy intact and his children left with the baton to continue our family’s story.

One day, Marriot will also die and will join his colleagues like Akende, Chiminya, Kamba in spirit.

It’s something that has been occupying my mind of late – The Day After Marriot Dies.

I hope that the old man has also been taking time to confront that question and think about what will happen, especially to his kids, who have been spoiled to believe that this institution belongs to their family.

What will the situation be like at Dynamos?

There will be chaos, no doubt about that, in what will be an epic fight for the control of this club.

There is also a possibility that the club could split into factions, each battling to claim that it’s the real DeMbare, in what will be a throwback to the turn of the ‘90s when we had one Dynamos under Sifelani and the other Dynamos under Nhekairo.

Others will say it will free Dynamos from the clutches of a cabal, led by Marriot, which has been squeezing life out of this proud institution in the past decade and has reduced it into some version of Manchester United where winning the Carabao Cup is now counted as success.

What is not in dispute, though, is that there will be a brutal reality check for Marriot’s children and they will realise that all along they have been living a lie and have been feeding on the nonsense that Dynamos belongs to their father.

That day, even Harry will find himself being barred from entering Rufaro to watch the club he was told belonged to his father.

In 2011 at the Glanville cemetery, as we laid to rest Jairos Banda, we saw some drama when his children confronted Chiminya and Marriot demanding money which was due to the family for their part their father played in Dynamos.

Banda’s kids said he died a painful death, had long been abandoned by his Dynamos colleagues and if he had received proper medical care he would have lived longer.

Chiminya gave them $150.

It dawned on many of us that day that there was something absolutely wrong at Dynamos.

Thirteen years later, in the week that we mourned Ernest Kamba, the reality of that the more things have changed the more they have stayed the same at Dynamos.

To God Be The Glory!

Peace to the GEPA Chief, the Big Fish, George Norton, Daily Service, Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse and all the Chakariboys still in the struggle.

Come on Warriors!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Khamaldhinoooooooooooooooooo!

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You can also interact with me on the ZTV football programme, Game Plan, where I join the legendary Charles “CNN” Mabika on Wednesdays