Kennedy Mweene – Kitwe United Hero

As the striker bore down on him, Kennedy Mweene came racing off his line. Rather than catch the ball he audaciously lobbed it over the strikers’ head, trapped it on the other side, and played a pass out to the full-back. He had caught my attention. I scarcely believed what I had seen.

It was the first time I laid eyes on him. For the rest of the match, he was brilliant, cutting outcrosses, commanding the backline, and accurately distributing the ball from the back. He played with a confidence that belied his years. The match, Zambia’s U20 team against Madagascar during the 2003 COSAFA U20 tournament, ended in a 3-1 win. Zambia went on to win the tournament with a devastating 4-0 defeat of Malawi.

At the time, I was working for South African Breweries as Soccer Sponsorship Manager but was also a director of Kitwe United Football Club. Two years earlier I had, with Kitwe businessman Charles Nshimbi and current FAZ President, Andrew Kamanga, taking a 75% stake in the club.

Shortly after the tournament ended, I traveled to Lusaka for the Christmas holidays. My first port of call was the State Lodge Police Camp, where I made an unexpected visit to see Mweene’s father. After a one-hour discussion, in which I outlined the club’s plans for the young goalkeeper, it was agreed that he would join Kitwe United when pre-season training began in January.

True to his word, Mweene arrived in Kitwe and was temporarily housed at the clubs camp house. He would later be moved into an apartment. He began the new season in fine form and quickly became a fan-favorite. With his steadfastness and reliability in goal, he soon began making a significant contribution to the Kitwe United cause. He marshaled the defense excellently, giving confidence to a backline that included Charles Kashitu, Terrence Mpundu, and Buchizya Mfune. In midfield, the supremely gifted Joseph Sitali pulled the strings, while the attack, led by the free-scoring Simeo Lubemba, alongside Joseph Bwalya, proved equal to the task when called upon.

As the club took on and bested the leagues’ top sides, they began to threaten the Nkana and Power Dynamos hegemony in Kitwe. With Mweene showing himself to be one of the best goalkeepers in the league, the team grew in confidence. In the BP Cup, they battled their way through to the final and faced a ZANACO team that was ranked favorites to life the cup. A late goal by Joseph Bwalya in extra-time saw Kitwe United win the clubs first trophy in thirty-three years.

Mweene’s league form caught the eye of national team coach Ben Bamfuchile, and he was called up into the national squad. When Zambia faced Malawi for a friendly match in Kitwe, Mweene got his first taste of international football. A day before the match I made a call to Ben Bamfuchile and paused a hypothetical question to him: ‘With Zambia due to face Algeria in a few weeks’ time if Kalilio Kakonje got injured you would be forced to throw Mweene into the deep-end without ever having played an International match. It would be risking a disaster. Why not give him even a second-half appearance against Malawi, just to get a taste of international football?’

Bamfuchile, ever open-minded, said he would give it some thought. On the day of the match, I was pleasantly surprised to see Mweene start from the beginning. Though Zambia lost 2-0, Mweene gave a solid performance and it would not be long after that that he became the first-choice goalkeeper, replacing Kakonje.

During his first season, Mweene was already attracting interest from bigger clubs in the premier league. Unknown to Kitwe United, Green Buffaloes had registered him for the CAF Confederation Cup. After an international assignment for the national team, Mweene suddenly went AWOL. It was brought to my attention that he had been seen in the company of Green Buffaloes officials. A few phone calls led to the revelation that he had traveled to Cameroon with Buffaloes for a match against Coton Sport Garua.

I was livid and demanded he returns at once. I pulled out a copy of the tournament regulations and surely enough, the rules stated that all players must be playing in their local league for the club to be eligible to play in the CAF tournament. This was clearly not the case, so Buffaloes were sternly warned to not even consider featuring him.

Thereafter, it became clear that Kitwe United would not be able to keep him much longer. He had become restless and was clearly eyeing a move. When an offer came from Free State Stars we were happy to sell him on and give him the chance to play on a much bigger stage. After eight seasons there, Mamelodi Sundowns made a big-money offer and this move gave him the opportunity to become one of the highest-paid players in the South African league.

His time at Kitwe United may have been short, but it made him a better player and opened the door to new horizons. To date, fans still rate him as the best-ever goalkeeper to play at the club.