It was one of those unfortunate incidents, absolutely bizarre, but it made interesting reading and the story was splashed across the globe.
Even the presiding judge in Dowa could not help but crack up in the line of duty as a young man, who was accused of making love to a goat, gave his mitigation.
Appearing unmoved, the accused asked the court to exercise leniency because he had used a condom and that the act was done with the ‘consent’ of the poor animal, boy! Oh boy!
Unfortunately, these are the stories that define the African ethos apart from famine, disease and political unrest degenerating into civil wars.
However, that as it maybe, Africa has fireside tales under the baobab and we still have fond memories of how Liberian George Oppong Weah stunned the world in 1995 when he became the first African footballer to be crowned Fifa World Footballer of the Year. And, who can forget the charming story of the selfless man called Nelson Mandela?
We also remember near glory when Ghana’s Black Stars somehow missed it by a whisker to become the first African team to qualify for the semi-finals of the 2010 World Cup—the significance being the first global showcase staged on African soil.
Asamoah Gyan missed a penalty against Uruguay with virtually the last kick of the game—blazing his hurriedly taken effort against the bar to break the hearts of millions across the continent. Apparently, that was not all. Gyan’s misery continued at the 2012 World Cup after he missed another crucial penalty in a semi-final match against Zambia’s Chipolopopolo. He retired from international football out of frustration only to bounce back a couple of months ago.
He became an object of ridicule and it is common to hear kids playing football on dusty streets describing a horror miss by their colleague as a Gyan.
So, while Malawi’s the Flames could be two goals down to the Ghanaians, while we could be minnows as far as the world believes, it is not yet over. We might have lost the battle, but we have not lost the war yet. There is no need to panic, no need to be overwhelmed by fear.
We can still score two goals and then force the return leg into penalties and Gyan will definitely do what he does best. Come on Flames! Come on Mother Malawi! Uloliwe..Uloliwe! uloliwe wayidudula hi..nang’esiza! [the train is pushing!]
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