Mponda plays down Kamwendo’s tough talk

Flames assistant coach Peter ‘Mjojo’ Mponda says he will not respond to Be Forward Wanderers midfielder Joseph Kamwendo’s accusation that he is blocking his recall into the national team.

Kamwendo alleged in an interview that Mponda is the reason Flames coach Ronny van Geneugden (RVG) is not recalling him into the Flames squad.

He said: “Tell me. Is it not surprising that as last season’s TNM Super League Player of the Season, I am still being ignored when it comes to national team selection?

“I know that it is Mponda who is behind all this. They are hiding behind the notion that I am old, but what they are forgetting is that I started playing for the Flames when I was young and some of them were much older than me.

“I am not as old as I am being portrayed. I believe I am still good enough to play and I should be judged based on my performance not otherwise.”

Kamwendo, who played alongside Mponda in the Flames squad that qualified for the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations, said he will not be prevented from representing his country on the basis that he is old.

“This is a national team and it is owned by every Malawian and selection should, therefore, be based on merit…on performance.”

But in an interview from Polokwane, South Africa, Mponda said: “It is unfortunate that Joseph is acting that way. I have a lot of respect for him. I do not know why he has taken that stance on me, but I guess it is one of those things.”

Flames legend Kinnah Phiri, who coached the duo in the national team, said it is unfortunate that the issue has reached this far.

“I would have loved if there was a better way of sorting out the issue other than in the public eye because both are legends in their own right,” he said. n