Zambia Super League side Nakambala Leopards has issued an apology to their former head coach Albert Mphande for accusing him of using Juju.
According to a letter from the club which was made available to the ZamFoot Crew, Chairman of the club Esau Phiri who accused Mphande of using juju has u-turned saying new revelations indicate that Mphande was using anointing oil.
“Nakambala Leopards Football Club wishes to unreservedly apologize to their former coach Albert Joel Mphande for the statement attributed to the club’s chairman which appeared in an article on page 28 of the Zambia Daily Mail Mail.24 no 054 under the caption ‘Juju or anointing oil? “.
Phiri went on to say that investigation done by the club have revealed that Mphande used a named Lusaka pastor to play for the team and administered anointing oil but did so without the club’s consent.
“The club conducted its internal investigations and it has since been revealed that Mr. Mphande was indeed using anointing oil on the team and not juju as earlier insinuated. The club took the liberty to interview several players who in turn confirmed that Mr. Mphande used to administer oil and prayers for the team using a named pastor from Lusaka albeit this was done without the club’s consent and blessing.
In view of the foregoing development, We wish to unreservedly apologize to Mr. Mphande and indeed to hereby wholly retract the words of accusation that appeared in the article referred to above. The inconvenience and injury caused to Mr. Mphande’s reputation are deeply regretted. We trust that Mr. Mphande will find it in his heart to accept our apology tendered in good faith considering the fact that in football we are always interdependent. ”
Mpande was in charge of Nakambala for 12 games but only managed two wins (Green Buffaloes and Mighty Mufulira Wanderers on the 28th of December 2019) losing seven times and drawing three games.
In the 12 games, Mphande only managed to collect 9 points out of a possible 36 which meant Nakambala remained deep in relegation waters third from bottom with just 17 points after 24 rounds of matches ( at the time of Mphande’s departure).
