Nolstagic moments these

Uganda goalkeeper Paul Ssali picks a corner in the opening match of the Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup in Nairobi. Looking on are Kenya captain Elly Adero and Uganda’s John Latigo. [PHOTO: LIBRARY/STANDARD]

 

By Gishinga Njoroge

A possible best final at this year’s Senior Challenge Cup would be Kenya versus Africa champions, Zambia. But the two would have to fight their way through Nairobi, Machakos, Nakuru, Mombasa, Kisumu and back to Nairobi on December 12.

These two countries only once ever contested a final before, the 1991 one in Uganda and Zambia won 2-0.

To this day, people of that era remember the name Kalusha Bwalya. He was in that team that conquered Kenya in Kampala. As recent as 2009, in a visit to Uganda during the Challenge Cup where his country was a guest team Kalusha said:

“My East African friends and the people of this region will always be dear to me. Here in Kampala is where I won my first most memorable trophies, the Challenge Cup.”

Kalusha was one of a large breed of Zambian footballers Kenyans revered but never shirked at taking them on when the draw demanded.

Kenyans knew their football; they knew their toughest adversaries and “enemies”, respected them but gave them no inch in battle.

Yet, they would admit that out of the Zambia greats they knew — Jan Simulambo, Patrick Phiri, Godfrey Chitalu, Dick Chama, Webby Chikabala, Mordon Malitoli, Kenneth Malitoli, Elijah Litana, Enos Chiyangi,  Joel Bwalya and Johnson Bwalya —  Kalusha was indomitable. And Kalusha went all the way to the top.

In the class of ’91 in Uganda, among the players who scored and hoisted Kenya to the final were, you might have heard of this one, Mike Okoth, but maybe not of long forgotten Alois Odhiambo, Simon Ndung’u, Peter Mwololo or Henry Nyandoro.

Hat-trick in Seoul

Together with, Mickey Weche, John Busolo, John “Shoto” Lukoye, Tobias “Jua Kali” Ocholla, Pitalis Owuor, George Sunguti, Tony Lwanga, Sammy “Pamzo” Omollo, and David “Deo” Odhiambo, these were Kalusha’s contemporaries.

But how the Zambian’s career shot off, literally to the shining horizons, was amazing. Before the Kampala meeting with Ndung’u, “Jua Kali”, “Pamzo” , “Shoto”, “Deo” and co, Kalusha had already engineered a 4-0 thrashing of Italy in the 1988 Olympics, scoring a hat-trick in Seoul.

Kalusha started a humble career at a junior Mfulira Blackpool in 1979 and on to Mfulira Wanderers before going professional at Cercle Brugge in Belgium. He was at the big PSV Eindhoven (in The Netherlands) from 1985 to 1994 and can you believe that such big stars used to return home from Europe to play at the Cecafa Challenge Cup. No wonder, probably, they were such a handful for Ndung’u, Mwololo, Nyandoro and co.

Kalusha ran through his career — and rare for Africans even these days — in South America and Middle East Gulf, stopping at America, Necaxa (of Mexico), Al Wadha (UAE), Leon Irapuato, Veracruz and Correcaminos (Mexico)

Finally, he is back in Kenya this year, first sending ahead his Chipolopolo to take part as guests in the Challenge Cup before making a VVIP entry, certainly if Zambia reach the final.

You see, Kalusha, 50, young looking and fit to play a serious game of veterans, has been the Zambia soccer’s big honcho — yes, the President, too, of the Zambia Football Association, since 2008. He currently also serves as a standing committee member at Fifa and CAF (Confederation of African Football).

Wow! how about that, Austin Oduor; one of best team leaders during the  Bwalya’s era, a man in the Kenyan defence that “Great Kalu” had to use all skills to get past?

It is hard to imagine that an ex-Kenya international footballer can head the national football federation which attracts people with more thirst for unrelated political ambitions than intention and ability to administer football.

East African dream

But with Bwalya’s Zambia visit to the Challenge Cup, it will bring back nostalgia about a tournament that is tremendous influence to the cohesiveness of the people of East and Central Africa. And also advice on how local footballers can serve at the highest level in taking the game to the right direction. 

East Africa has produced some great men who were not necessarily the headline grabbing politicians.

It is amazing how, below the radar, even when Governments do not agree; East Africans go about feeling that the region is one vast home; though sometimes you get hassled at the borders by someone asking you, “where do you think you are going?”

There are hundreds of thousands in the region who are living, and others who had always lived, the East African dream.

In 1926, both Kenya and Uganda were itching for who to take on and beat in football. So they launched an annual soccer international fixture.

The first was held at the Railways ground in Landhie Mawe Estate (on the way to South “B’ and not at Uhuru Park’s Nairobi Railway Club, as sometimes incorrectly put by historians).

And when you talk of the intrigues of the present-day Kenya versus Uganda “Derbies”, you probably never heard of the high-octane drama of the very first one.

Back-and-forth

It ended 1-1. There were no tie-breaking penalty shoot-out those days and usually a toss of coin was the decider, worldwide. But these guys said ‘No’ to such lottery-style of deciding the outcome of a battle where blood and sweat had flowed. A re-match was the solution and the following day Kenya won 2-1.

It appears the idea and drivers for the annual soccer international were Kenyan. They insisted on Uganda coming “down” to Nairobi the following year but the people from the “Pearl of Africa” said: “No, why don’t you come up?”

Time was lost in the back-and-forth brinkmanship and the fixture did not take place in 1927.

So, the compromise was that the two countries alternate in hosting. When in 1928 Kenya went to Kampala they were hit 4-0, one of many huge “Gossage Cup” defeats Uganda were to hand Kenya between then and 1955.

But the founders of the “Gossage Cup” left one of the most historic social and sporting legacies. Save for only six times, in 87 years, East Africa has always had an annual football competition that gripped the imagination of the citizenry.

Tanganyika joined the “Gossage” in 1947 and Zanzibar in 1949.

The Cup was to become so enticing that Central Africans requested to be incorporated and some new set-up was engineered by some memorable citizens of East Africa.

The men, who fashioned the Council of East and Central Africa Football Associations (Cecafa) competition in 1973, admitting Malawi and Zambia and then Sudan, Ethiopia, Seychelles and Zimbabwe, are unsung heroes:

Kezekiah Musisi of Uganda — grand old man still smiles, but not too long ago a stroke of bad luck befell him and a road accident resulted in both his legs being amputated.

But nothing pleases Papa Musisi to this day than being at a Cecafa tournament, enjoying it even from a wheelchair like he did last year when his home city, Kampala hosted it.

James Tirop — Kenya’s long time Commissioner of Sports now retired in rural Rift Valley.

Said Al Maamry — the long time Chairman the then Tanzania Football Association in the 1970s who was recently honoured as the Honorary President of the Tanzania Football Federation (TFF) in its Annual General Meeting held recently in Dar es Salaam.

Mohamed Maalim of  Sudan — little known in East Africa but a key architect  of the present-day Cecafa.

These days, Cecafa seems to be everybody’s (sometimes busybodies) business, but the gallant men of 1973 who were in Uganda for the first expanded Challenge Cup won by the home Cranes who beat Tanzania Mainland 2-1 in the final at the World War II Memorial Stadium at Nakivubo, would never be forgotten.

Believe it or not, at the time — the 70s and 80s — the Cecafa Challenge Cup was the best and toughest competition in Africa and no wonder that was the era the Cecafa teams did well and regularly reached the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).

In fact, Uganda, in 1978 and Zambia for the first time in 1974, reached the actual Final of AFCON.

Meanwhile, Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania also attended the finals.

Moreover, these were the days when only eight nations, out of about 50 in the continent, would get a place in the AFCON finals and it was easier, then, for Cecafa teams to earn places, brushing off the likes of Ghana, Nigeria and Egypt in some instances.

Football continues to integrate the region in a way no other sector does and Somalia, Djibouti, Rwanda, Burundi  and Eritrea entered,  before —  in 2012 — being joined by South Sudan to form a 12-nation common sporting bloc.

The heady days of when the Challenge Cup brought a carnival atmosphere in Kenya may be behind, but apparently the competition captures the imagination of the member nations in turns.

It costs about Sh50 million to stage a single successful Cecafa event. And while, like in Kenya this year and recently in 2010, when there was little money for the Cecafa to host the Challenge Cup without financial hitches, the consortium can readily point out that Tanzania, Rwanda and Sudan without strain regularly stage flawless well-funded tournaments.

North Darfur

President Paul Kagame provides the $60,000 (Sh5.1 million) prize money for the Club Cup named after his name and on the occasions when it has been held in his country, his Government spares nothing to make the local football federation (Ferwafa) have the wherewithal to cater for their visitors.

In Khartoum,  the last Kagame Club Cup tournament was hosted by a club,   the rich and hugely supported Al Merreikh, it was the best financially sufficient Cecafa tournament ever seen after the Al Merreikh Chairman and benefactor,  Gamal Al-Waly,  personally took over.

The idea of Governors bringing Cecafa competitions to different places other than the traditional national capitals started this year with the unprecedented step by Osman Mohamed Yousif Kibir, the Wali (Governor) of North Darfur and Ahmed Haroun, Wali of South Kordofan, hosting a very successful Kagame Club Cup won by Burundi’s Vital’O who beat APR of Rwanda 2-0 in the Final played in Al Fasher City, North Darfur in July.