The Sunday Mail
Langton Nyakwenda
Sports Reporter
IT was that 20-minute meeting with the late Steve Kwashi, at a sportswear shop in Harare, that changed Lloyd Chitembwe’s destiny.
That meeting at In-Sport along Innez Terrace, which took place in August 1995, was Chitembwe’s Damascus moment.
Chitembwe was only 26, he was at the peak of his athletic powers and most teams were scrambling for his signature, upon his return from Poland where he had a short stint.
He almost joined Dynamos because Bernard Marriot was exerting too much pressure on his parents in Chitungwiza.
Marriot, now club board chairman, had become a regular visitor at the Chitembwe residence in Chitungwiza’s Unit A suburb and Lloyd almost gave in.
That was before he met Kwashi.
“That 20-minute chat with Bla Steve (Kwashi) changed everything . . . it kind of defined my destiny. He was frank and straight to the point. He told me his plans and where he wanted to take CAPS United.
“Instantly, I made up my mind and decided to join United,” Chitembwe revealed.
The gritty midfielder went on to feature prominently for the history-making CAPS United side of 1996 which swept almost every trophy under the astute tutelage of Kwashi.
Chitembwe would go on to win two more championship medals in 2004 and 2005, under Charles Mhlauri, before guiding Makepekepe to their fifth title in 2016.
The Warriors assistant coach is a CAPS United legend because he is the only man to win the league title with Makepekepe both as a player and a coach.
Interestingly though, Chitembwe would not have achieved the legendary status he enjoys in the green half of the capital city, had it not been for Kwashi.
Sadly, Kwashi passed away last week due to Covid-19 related complications and was buried at Glen Forest.
He was 67.
That meeting, which shaped Chitembwe’s career, would also influence the Harare City coach’s relationship with Fungai Tostao, Kwashi’s son.
Chitembwe and Tostao are now almost an inseparable technical pair.
They were together at CAPS United when Chitembwe guided Makepekepe to the championship podium in 2016 and they still sit on the same technical bench at Harare City.
“To be honest, Bla Steve (Kwashi) was both a brother and a father at the same time. In the sense that he would reduce himself to the level of joking with you. He would behave more like us the players.
“Then suddenly, he would act like he is a father figure when the need arose.
“So, yeah, his death is a very sad moment for the Kwashi family and the football fraternity as a whole.
“His impact in my football career influenced my relationship with his son Tostao. His wife, Mai Kwashi comes from Honde Valley where I also hail from, so Tostao is like my young brother.
“There are things that Bla Steve did for me that make me feel indebted to the Kwashi family. So sometimes that’s why there is this connectivity between Tostao and myself.”
Just like Chitembwe, Tostao, who also played under his father in 1996, is so appreciative of the late gaffer.
Some three weeks ago, soon after the birth of his son whom he named Steve Jr, Tostao arranged a small family get-together during which he thanked his father “for showing me the way.”
“My father gave me the direction, he gave me all the style and tricks.
“He influenced me to take up football as a career. You know how it is. Bob Marley had children like Ziggy and Damien who ended up singing, so at our home in Mabelreign it was all about football.
“Football was a family business. There was a gym at home, a training pitch and we would do sessions with my dad.
“My father influenced a lot of coaches. Remember he was part of the yesteryear coaches’ association that had the likes of Bob Lines and Nelson Matongorere,” he added. One of the popular coaches whose career was influenced by the late Kwashi is Mhlauri.
Mhlauri was only 24 when he met up with Kwashi in Victoria Falls.
He had made up his mind to venture into coaching after suffering a career-ending injury. “Those days it was difficult for a young guy to just go into coaching. So I took the chance and informed Bla Steve of my intentions. He advised me to call him once he returned to Harare.
“I did just that and he facilitated my first coaching course. We became so close and he stood with me all the way.
“He is one guy that I will credit for all my coaching career,” Mhlauri said.
Mhlauri’s coaching career would take him to Amazulu, Masvingo United, CAPS United and the national team before migrating to the United States.
He was in charge of CAPS United when they won back to back league titles in 2004 and 2005.
“CAPS United is a big brand because of people like Steve. There was the 1979 era of Ashton Nyazika, then came the Steve Kwashi era of 1996.
“I then came in to try and revive the club to make sure it went back to where it belongs.
“Steve was a legendary coach and it’s sad he has departed. I always admired Steve, even during his days at Black Aces before he joined CAPS United.
“He was a great coach, when he came to CAPS United he set a bar.
“Look at the team he assembled, a well-coordinated group, an attacking team. If they conceded three goals, then they were going to score four.
“I liked him, he was very principled and organized. Even after losing a match he would still be willing to review the match with the opponents,” said Mhlauri.
The CAPS United squad of 1996 had some talented attacking players like Alois Bunjira who scooped the Golden Boot with 23 goals and Stewart Murisa who won the Soccer Star of the Year award.
Joe Mugabe, Farai Mbidzo, Silver Chigwenje, Mpumelelo Dzowa, Frank Nyamukuta, Morgan Nkathazo, Blessing Makunike, Dumisani Mpofu, Simon Dambaza, his son Tostao and goalkeepers Karim Abdul and George Mudiwa were also part of that trailblazing squad which won the title with 71 points from 30 games.
The late Kwashi also had a short stint at Air Zimbabwe where worked with former Warriors skipper Benjani Mwaruwari.
“I only worked with Mudhara Kwashi for a very short period of time but I found him a lovely person.
“He would come to you and say mufana wangu is everything okay. He always wanted to see the players happy. He would talk and laugh with you.
“It was a short stint but I still remember that period,” said Mwaruwari who earned a move to Jomo Cosmos of South Africa after that stint with Air Zimbabwe.
Charles “Raw Meat’’ Sibanda was Kwashi’s assistant during that period and he also saluted the late gaffer.
“He was a very honest and inquisitive coach. No backbiting but straight talk every time. He wanted results and would work for them.
“Kwashi was a very shrewd guy, he was ahead of his time,” said Sibanda, who also played with Kwashi at Castle Lions in the 1970s.
