Former football players have mourned the death of Effie Namwali, mother to US-based Flames legend Mphatso Namwali.
Effie Namwali, who was wife to the late Major General Buxton Namwali, died on Wednesday last week after battling with kidney failure.
Under the Football Legends Association, 12 former players, including Gilbert Chirwa and Kingsley Maulidi, who played alongside Mphatso Namwali in the 1988 East and Central Africa Senior Challenge Cup victory, attended the burial on Saturday at the family farm in Phodogoma Village, Traditional Authority Ngolongoliwa in Thyolo District.
In his tribute, Chirwa who is FCB Nyasa Bullets assistant coach, said they were saddened because she was a loving mother who raised her children, including Mphatso to become productive citizens.
“We decided to come and pay our last respects to our friend’s mother. We thought it wise to console him because he was disciplined player because of his parents,” he said.
Ojukwu Malunga, who led the delegation at the burial, appealed to former players to the association, saying it fosters unity among former players.
“One of the reasons this association was formed was to look at the welfare of former players as well as be foster our unity in bad and good times,” he said.
Malawi National Women’s Football Team coach Lovemore Fazili also said the deceased would be missed by not only the family but also the community because she was a good person.
Cedric Nankhumwa also said their attendance signifies their solidarity with their fellow player.
“It’s really sad to lose a mother. Although Mphatso Namwali lives abroad, we came to comfort him and the family in the spirit of being there for each other in bad and good times,” he said.
In his remarks, Namwali thanked the former players for paying their last respects to his mother, saying she raised her children to be disciplined and aim higher.
Other former players, who graced the burial, were Thom Kazembe, Rodgers Yasin, Fischer Kondowe, Charles Mbalule, Leo Mpulula, Noel Kaole and Russell Mwafulirwa.
Effie Namwali, who was wife to the late Major General Buxton Namwali, is survived by four children, 10 grandchildren and one great grand child.
She was also founder of a charity organisation Effie Namwali Foundation which, among others, champions girlchild education as well as adult literacy education in Phodogoma Village and surrounding areas in Thyolo District.
