Freddie “Mark Makwesha” Mkwesha
Charles Mabika Harare Bureau
HE was strong, tall, bustling and had a versatile athletic build and could have been mistaken for a heavyweight boxer, bodybuilder or even a basketballer, except he was none of those. Zimbabwean soccer legend, Freddy “Mark Makwesha” Mkwesha, shocked the football fraternity when he passed away yesterday morning at Parirenyatwa Hospital following a short illness.
Unfortunately, I never watched this legendary forward in action but over the years, I have been convinced — from tales and research — that he is, arguably, the deadliest finisher ever seen in the country.
The former Dynamos free-scoring predator was the first local export to ply his trade in Europe and still holds the “quickest transfer deal” record in local football. He was signed by touring Portuguese giants, Sporting de Braga back in 1966, after a blistering performance for the then Rhodesian XI Select side, in a friendly encounter at Glamis Stadium in the capital.
Although de Braga won the match 5-3, it was a meteoric hat-trick performance by Mkwesha that saw the visiting team’s officials sign him immediately after the match and the big striker joined his new club barely a week later, via Mozambique.
Mkwesha continued to bang in the goals for de Braga and was once joint top scorer at the end of the season in that country’s top flight league with the finest-ever player produced there — the late, magical Benfica winger, Eusebio.
In fact, when Mkwesha left for Portugal, he had been the country’s leading goal scorer for the past two seasons since joining newly-formed “DeMbare” in 1963, after he had quit amateur side, Mhondoro United in the then SADFA league, to become one of the founding members of the blue-shirted side together with the likes of Josiah “Toro” Akende, Danny “Bricks” Thomas, Alan “Teacher” Hlatywayo, Lameck “L-Boy” Mlambo, Alois “Smart” Mesikano, Richard “Rich-Rich” Chiminya, Obadiah “Wasu” Sarupinda (all late) and current trustee board members, Bernard “Magitare” Marriot-Lusengo (chairman) and Owen “Trojan Horse” Chandamale.
Mkwesha always bagged 30-plus goals at the end of those aforementioned seasons for his beloved side.
During one of our many conversations, Mkwesha, who always had many rib-chuckling tales about yesteryear, spoke of his propensity to score two or more goals in every match that he played.
George Banda of Mbare, a long-serving Dynamos member, is also adamant that Mkwesha is the deadliest striker ever produced in the country. “I always hear you guys talk about Peter Nyama, Shacky Tauro, Gift Mpariwa, Paul Tsumbe (all late), Maronga Nyangela or Tobias Mudyambanje. Yes, these were great strikers but none of them was in the same class as Mkwesha. He was just mesmerizing once he ventured into the penalty box or outside of it,” he emphasized.
Mkwesha’s repertoire of chilling finishes started at an early age, when he amazed teachers and schoolmates at Domboshawa’s Jingo Primary School and later at Makumbe Secondary School in the 1950s.
Local folklore depicts that he earned the nickname “Mark Makwesha” from former Tornados and Chibuku Shumba’s white ‘keeper, John “Seke Muchena” Humphries, who, it’s claimed, would always shout at his defenders to “mark Makwesha” whenever Dynamos were on the attack.
Perhaps one of Mkwesha’s greatest comeback contributory scripts was during a league match against all-white side, Salisbury Callies, in 1964 at Callies Stadium. Dynamos were trailing 3-0 with only three minutes of regulation time remaining, with most of their fans having already left the stadium.
Then out of the blue, “DeMbare” staged a miraculous comeback, with the late Jimmy “Daddy” Finch pulling one back before Mkwesha struck twice in the last minute to salvage a draw for his side.
After a 17 year fruitful stay in Portugal, Mkwesha suffered a career-threatening injury that saw him being drafted into the de Braga juniors technical side before then local Caps United’s chairman, Julius Chifokoyo, masterminded the big striker’s return home to coach his former team’s rivals in 1987.
And the on-/off-field striking combination of Mkwesha and Tauro paid handsome dividends for the “Green Machine” during Mkwesha’s tenure there before he quit to take up an assistant coach’s position to Ghanaian Ben Koufie in the Warriors setup in the 90s.
He then quit coaching to become one of the Dynamos Board of Trustees members, a position he held until his untimely death (he had actually risen to become the club’s trustees deputy to current leader, Marriot-Lusengo).
Dynamos secretary-general, Webster Chikengezha, was hugely saddened that the club had lost a loyal servant, legend, advisor and father figure. “We’ll never be able to replace him because he was one of the club’s pioneers and was always on hand to impart his priceless skill and expertise to the institution’s officials, players and supporters,” he said.
Those who were lucky enough to watch him told me that they will, forever, remember Mkwesha’s gladiator’s pace upfield, amazing ball control and explosive finishes that always sent a chill up the spine of many ‘keepers. Hence I doubt whether anybody up there will be able to “mark Makwesha.”