IT has been an emotional week following the passing on of Zambian’s legendary football commentator, Dennis Liwewe.
A lot of tributes have been said about this great man, whose voice contributed to the development of Zambian football.
I join the rest of fellow Zambians and indeed Africa in passing my condolences to the Liwewe family over this tragedy.
Goodbye, Mr Liwewe, your works are unforgettable and unrivalled.
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Today, Nkana have the last chance to remain in the 2014 African club competitions when they face Club Athletique Bizertin of Tunisia in a CAF Confederation Cup pre-group phase final leg.
Having drawn the first leg 0-0 at Nkana Stadium in Kitwe last weekend, the Zambian envoys need to craft a winning strategy away in Bizerte if they are to knock-out the 2013 Confederation Cup semi finalists in their backyard.
It is so sad to see Nkana struggling in the last six games where they have failed to register a goal.
This clearly calls for the need for greater understanding among local clubs whenever one team qualifies to represent Zambia in continental football.
I say so because at the moment there is no club in Zambia including Nkana that is built around one player.
This season, it is visibly clear that Nkana’s talisman, Ronald ‘Sate Sate’ Kampamba is not the same player who was banging in goals for fun last year when he won the golden boot award.
While Simon Bwalya has shown signs of being reliable upfront by hitting the target three times in continental to be joint top scorer with Kampamba, Nkana lacks depth in the striking department.
This state of affairs shows that local clubs to some extent do not support each other when it comes to continental assignment.
Surely, clubs should not be afraid to support a team that plays continental football by availing some of the best players around in the land.
Failure to have a good understanding among themselves is suicidal as any of them can be caught up in a similar situation.
For example, Nkana were on the verge of losing out on the services of on-loan international defender Christopher Munthali after his parent club, Power Dynamos demanded that he returns to Arthur Davies Stadium this season.
However, after several weeks, Power finally agreed to allow Munthali play for Nkana again this season.
Zambian clubs should know that loaning out some of their prized assets to a rival club engaged in African football also helps in marketing these footballers across the continent.
If such a player or players attract the attention of some of the Africa’s biggest clubs or even in Europe, the parent clubs are the major beneficiaries for such deals.
So local clubs need to develop the spirit of oneness for the sake of progress coming into today’s crucial match, I wish Nkana the best of luck.
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I received a reaction from athletics coach Jonathan Chipalo over last week’s column on the wrangles in Zambia Amateur Athletics Association (ZAAA).
He wrote: “ Dear  Mr Malunga, please be advised that our association is called  Zambia Athletic Association (ZAA) which was formed in 2006,and not the Zambia Amateur Athletic Association.
Am the general secretary and it is wrong to write that  am the  leader of the team
for ZAA.You also wish to  know that  IAAF dropped the amateur tag  in the year 2000.”
Thanks Mr Chipalo for this mail.
E-mail: malungaf@gmail.com