So this year\u2019s Independence Day is passing without the traditional line-up of commemorative activities, chief among them, a friendly football match for our beloved Malawi National Football Team, the Flames.<\/p>\n
Coming last on the agenda for the country\u2019s biggest day, football has been undoubtedly the climax of the country\u2019s independence celebrations.<\/p>\n
Thousands, who used to brave chilly July weather in those years, would not leave Kamuzu Stadium until the final whistle of the Flames\u2019 match against a foreign opponent.<\/p>\n
But the day is passing quietly today, thanks to the country\u2019s economic challenges which forced government to call off any celebration to mark the country\u2019s 52nd independence anniversary.<\/p>\n
The only activity earmarked for the day is a national service of worship at the Bingu International Conference Centre in Lilongwe.<\/p>\n
While the absence of a football match for the Flames may not be an issue to the current generation of footballers, the golden oldies say an Independence Day without the match was just unimaginable.<\/p>\n
A legend of 1980s, Peterkins Kayira, said as national team players looked forward to playing on the big day and ultimately earn a golden handshake from then Life President Ngwazi Dr Hastings Kamuzu Banda.<\/p>\n
\u201cShaking hands with Kamuzu was magical in itself. We would work hard in training to make the first 11 so that we shake Kamuzu\u2019s hand.<\/p>\n
That handshake pushed us to the extremes in order to win the match in front of the head of state,\u201d Kayira explained.<\/p>\n
Another legend, Chancy \u2018Vinny\u2019 Gondwe, who played for the team during the reigns of Kamuzu and Bakili Muluzi, said the full-capacity stadium wa s a motivating factor for the Flames.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou would have all the stands filled to capacity, and even the running track had Kamuzu\u2019s Mbumba all over giving you support. And most important of all, you knew your Head of State and leaders of other countries were in attendance. So, something just kept pushing you to do a good job,\u201d Gondwe narrated.<\/p>\n
Another legend of the 1970s and 80s, Rodgers Yasin, also spoke of the difference that Kamuzu\u2019s handshake made to players on July 6.<\/p>\n
During last year\u2019s Independence Day celebrations, the Flames beat Uganda\u2019s Cranes 1-0 at the Kamuzu Stadium, through Chiukepo Msowoya\u2019s goal.<\/p>\n
It is estimated that government spent about K300million to organise the celebrations last year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
So this year\u2019s Independence Day is passing without the traditional line-up of commemorative activities, chief among them, a friendly football match for our beloved Malawi National Football Team, the Flames. Coming last on the agenda for the country\u2019s biggest day, football has been undoubtedly the climax of the country\u2019s independence celebrations. Thousands, who used to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":27480,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27475","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27475","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27475"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27475\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27481,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27475\/revisions\/27481"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27480"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27475"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27475"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27475"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}