Corporates urged to support living football legends

KWEKWE – Corporates and other stakeholders should support living football legends so that they
live a comfortable life after they retire so that their contributions can be spread in their lifetime instead of when they are dead.
This was said by Kwekwe based football coach Frank Skuza at the funeral of the late Rio Tinto High School coach Austin “Papa” Mutimba who died last week and was buried at Mbizo 10 Cemetery. Skuza lamented the way Mutimba was treated by the football community in Kwekwe during his difficult times.There is something that really touched me especially about us the football fraternity in Kwekwe. It
is so sad that we want to show love, to one another when someone is dead. We have wings like Kwekwe Ambassadors and former footballers who came from Papas hands.
“The guy had been struggling of late. Let us show love while we are still living. Today we come out in numbers shedding tears for our coach. If we have the heart to love, Mutimba should not have gone to an extent of not affording having a decent meal. This is a lesson which should knock in our heads.
Let us love each other and support each other while we are still alive,” he said.
Skuza hoped that corporates like Zimasco, GMB and even the suspended Zifa president Felton Kamambo and Kennedy Nagoli who once worked with the late Mutimba, would have extended a hand in the burial of the veteran coach.
I had an opportunity to work with Austin from a tender age. He encouraged me to venture into
coaching. His death is a great loss to us because if you look at Austin he was a passionate man as
many players passed through his hands. We as the football fraternity have lost a hero, said Skuza.
The late Mutimba coached nearly every club in Kwekwe as his services were in demand due to his
coaching expertise. He coached junior teams and individual players at all playing levels.
He had a stint at Kwekwe United, Ivan Hoe, Chrome stars, GMB Silo, Dendairy just to name a few
and recently was attached to Rio Tinto High School which plays in ZIFA Midlands Division Two
League.
Known with the moniker Papa, Mutimba was a revered football coach who groomed and nurtured
many football talents, to come out of Kwekwe in the past three decades.
This publication spoke to football personalities who worked with Mutimba.
Austin was a good person he taught us everything. Some of us were struggling to make it in soccer
but Papa trained me until I was spotted by Black Rhinos, Railstars and other teams that I played for
during my career.
“I thank Mutimba for uplifting youngsters and I encourage those left behind to have the heart and
love Papa had with the youths,said Felix Ferenando Phiri.
I started knowing Papa when he was a football coach. I am from Gweru so m not aware of his
career as a player. He was one of the best coaches in Kwekwe and in Zimbabwe as well. Just look at
the players groomed by Papa, the likes of Sam Mutenheri, Stephen Alimenda, Simbarashe Gate,
Donald Ngoma just to name a few said Ishmael Meki.

When I came to Kwekwe from Gweru, Papa was one person I noticed doing good work in grooming
youngsters without him getting any benefits. As Kwekwe we have lost a great man whose gap will be
difficult to fill,” said former Ivan Hoe coach Isaac Gurdiola Nyabvure.
During his heydays, Mutimba played for lower division clubs (Zupco FC and Tower Jaggers FC) as a
hard tackling defender.