Soccer fraternity mourns former BB star Chikondi Banda
The ‘doctor’ is no more. The soccer fraternity on Thursday paid tribute to one of the best attacking midfielders to grace local soccer fields, Chikondi Banda, who died in the early hours of yesterday at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital (QECH) in Blantyre after a short illness.
Football Association of Malawi (FAM) and his former club Big Bullets confirmed his death, saying Banda, 34, succumbed to suspected meningitis. The family was yet to finalise burial arrangements as we went press, but indications are that he will be buried in Lilongwe where he grew up.
Former Flames captain Peter Mponda—who played alongside Chikondi at Bullets, Flames and national junior teams—led a group of ex- and current soccer stars in mourning the departed former midfield maestro who was blessed with sublime skills.
Others included Former Football Players Association (FFPA) chairperson Ojukwu Malunga, a senior member of the current Flames squad James Sangala, Bullets general secretary Higger Mkandawire and FAM CEO Suzgo Nyirenda.
In his eulogy, Mponda described Chikondi as an “unsung hero who was exceptionally gifted.”
“To me, ‘Doctor’ was one of the best natural attacking midfielders to emerge from the domestic scene, someone I can confidently compare to the likes of Ernest [Mtawali], Chance [Gondwe], Kennedy Malunga and Wilfred Nyalugwe.
“Unfortunately, we do not recognise and appreciate contribution made by our former soccer stars, we tend to neglect them as if they did not exist and ‘Doctor’ is one good example,” said Mponda.
He added: “Authorities should have utilised him to groom promising midfielders, but that never happened and now that he is gone, they will be ‘singing’ praises of him, it is sad.”
Malunga described Chikondi’s demise as a great shock.
“We were with him last week and he appeared to be in good health.
“I remember he went to Lilongwe recently to see his father and upon his return, we watched games at [Kamuzu] Stadium together. We have lost a very dedicated member of the FFPA. He was someone who had great passion for the game and that is why he wanted to relaunch his career at full throttle in the Super League, sadly though, he never accomplished his wish,” said Malunga.
His former best friend Chikhosi was too grief stricken to speak.
“I don’t know what to say, Chiko was like a brother. I don’t know…I don’t know what to say really,” was all Chikhosi could say from Lilongwe.
Former Flames and Mighty Wanderers midfielder Thom Milanzi recalled that Chikondi always gave them problems whenever they faced their arch-rivals while ex-Bullets striker John Phiri said: “He made football look very simple because he was such a gifted player. The beauty about him was that he could also score freely like a striker.”
Chikondi’s rise to fame started at Civo United in the mid 1990’s when he was also part of the maiden Under-17 national team that participated in the CAF tournament, but it was at Bullets where he rose to stardom and formed a deadly combination alongside Chikhosi, Jones Nkhwazi, Muzipasi Mwangonde, John Zilinde, James Chimera Jnr and late John ‘CJ’ Banda.
