Football legend Dies of covid-19
“He made me support Mighty [Be Forward] Wanderers. Together with his teammates, he made the team what it is today,” Flames former player and coach Ernest ‘Wire’ Mtawali said this is how he will remember fellow legend Kannock ‘Bruno’ Munde.
“Yes, as a kid growing up in Chilomoni Township, Blantyre, I used to go and watch him play for the Nomads. He was a typical number seven and a very good finisher. May his soul rest in peace.”
Mtawali, who later played alongside Munde at South Africa club Welkom Real Hearts between 1983 and 1984, said he was, therefore, shocked to hear about the demise of his idol and former teammate, who succumbed to Covid-19 at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital (Qech)in Blantyre on Friday.
Munde, who has passed on aged 63, was no ordinary football player and coach. As a player, he helped Wanderers win the 1979 Chibuku Cup with his lone strike in a final against rivals Bata Bullets (now Nyasaland Big Bullets). The fallen legend, who mostly scored with his head from the late Barnet Gondwe’s crosses, was part of the Flames side that won the East and Central Africa Senior Challenge Cup in 1978 and 1979.
He first became Wanderers coach when the late Jack ‘Africa’ Chamangwana left for South Africa in 1986. The same year, he won the Sportsman Trophy as coach/player.
He also coached and helped Mozambique side Ferraviario De Nampula win silverware. He also coached Swaziland side Mhlumi FC and the now-defunct TNM Super League outfit Escom United.
Football Association of Malawi (FAM) president Walter Nyamilandu described the death of Munde as a loss of a great asset.
He said: “Kannock was one of the greatest strikers during his days for Mighty Wanderers when I was a kid. He has left a lot of fond memories of the fabulous goals that he scored. He was a talented football player.
“He was also one of the most successful football coaches both locally and internationally.”
According to former Wanderers and national football team coach Yasin Osman, the late Munde was the unsung hero for Wanderers and the Flames as player and coach but his vast experience was sparsely utilised.
“I know him as a former player, my assistant when I coached Wanderers and a friend. He was very quiet and humble. He never held grudges with anybody and he was a wonderful person to work with. It is just unfortunate that, recently, football politics forced him out of football administration. May his soul rest in peace,” he said.
Wanderers general secretary Victor Maunde yesterday said the club has lost “one of its assets”.
Maunde said: “Munde played, managed and coached our team. The entire Wanderers family joins his family in mourning the fallen hero.”
According to his nephew Twikale Chirwa, the late Munde, originally from Karonga, is survived by a wife and two daughters and he was expected be buried at Henry Henderson Institute (HHI) in Blantyre yesterday.
“He was a cheerful man, whom we interacted with more as a friend than an uncle,” he said.
