• ZAMBIA’S 1974 captain, Dickson Makwaza (left) with other pall-bearers carry the casket containing the body of late former football star, Boniface Simutowe before burial in Lusaka yesterday. Picture by SHAMAOMA MUSONDA

By SHAMAOMA MUSONDA –
LATE Zambia’s football luminary Boniface Simutowe was yesterday put to rest at the Leopards Memorial Park Cemetery in Lusaka and was described as a great football asset.
All speakers at the funeral service held at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross stated that in Simutowe, Zambia has lost an invaluable member of the football family whose death should not be mourned but see his life celebrated.
Zambia Football Coaches Association president, Patrick Kangwa said Simutowe had contributed immensely to football as a player, coach and administrator.
“We have lost a great man in Boniface Simutowe, he was a friend, a great player, a great coach and a magnificent consultant. We have some great memories of what he did for us in football. We shall definitely miss his wise counsel,” he said.
Kangwa said Simotowe’s loyalty was immense as he was coach at Profund Warriors and later renamed Napsa Stars for 20 years and also an assistant at the national team for a long time and backed almost all expatriates that came to Zambia.
He requested Red Arrows to rename a section of the stands at Nkoloma Stadium after Simutowe and also that Napsa Stars should do the same to their club house.
Napsa board chairperson, Teddy Mulonga said Simutowe was a great son of Zambia who helped rebuild the team after the Gabon disaster which claimed the entire national team in 1993 and brought with him the belief that nothing was impossible.
“As it was during his days, where he always had a back up plan when things were not going well for the team, so was the case when rebuilding the team and the team came out very strong and went on to reach the Africa Cup finals barely months after the crash. We at Napsa have taken note of your request to honour him by renaming the club house and we shall start looking at that,” said.
His captain in the 1974 team, Dickson Makwaza relived some memories from that Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) where he urged the team to fight on even when facing stronger opponents.
Makwaza said Simutowe’s stellar performance in 1972 in Nigeria prompted then Nigeria president Yakubu Gowon to give the KK11 a presidential jet to fly the squad back to Zambia.
“Zambia population at that time was 3.1 million and Nigeria’s was 75 million and when we reached the airport, they looked at players like Boniface Simutowe and they said Zambia had brought small boys and we laughed and told them to wait for the 90 minutes before they speak.
“And after the 90 minutes Nigeria was stunned and the president that time, General Gowon came to us and said the big man (KK) had a good team and he gave us his presidential jet to take us back home,” he said.
He hoped the history and the achievements of such men could be well documented.
Sports minister Chishimba Kambwili through acting director of sport Raphael Mulenga, directed all associations to start documenting the history of all sports stars.
Kambwili announced that one room at National Heroes Stadium had been set aside for the preserving of historical information.
Sports Council of Zambia chairperson Mwamba Kalenga through his acting general secretary Innocent Chalabesa, thanked the Simutowe family for giving Zambia such a great person who made the country better.