Legends salute Mukukula

Zimpapers Sports Hub

IN the last few days, Zimbabwe basketball legends, former and current players, and administrators have taken to social media or the papers to pay their last respects to Ngoni Mukukula, who passed away over the weekend.

And two of his greatest rivals during the height of his coaching stint at DZ Raiderz, Admire Masenda and Roderick Takawira, have added their voices and paid tribute to Mukukula, with the pair describing him as a “basketball servant”.

Masenda and Takawira equated Mukukula to a basketball godfather.

Masenda, Takawira and Mukukula cast animated figures on the courts as their teams — Varsity Leopards, Cameo, and Raiderz — became dominant forces in the Harare Basketball Association’s A’ League and at the national championships.

That was during the swinging 1990s and 2000s era of local basketball.

Takawira said he was still shocked by the news of Mukukula’s passing.

“I am not sure if the word ‘shock’ aptly describes my reaction when the news first filtered in on Saturday night that my dear friend and younger brother Ngoni was no more,” said Takawira.

“Only a month or two ago, we were taking the current HBA (Harare Basketball Association) leadership to task over the work they are doing or not doing when it comes to development.

“This was on a basketball WhatsApp group we are on, and we ganged up on them. I had no idea that he wasn’t well,” he said.

Takawira went on to describe the sleepless night he had after hearing the news of Mukukula’s passing. Once the subject of Mukukula’s legacy was brought up, Takawira’s demeanour changed as he ran out of superlatives to describe the man. The pair goes a long way back together, with Takawira singling Mukukula out as one of the few people he started working with once he made the transition from football to basketball.

Their history goes even deeper as their teams, Cameo and Raiderz, came up at the same time.

“Well, I was a football person before I started doing anything in basketball.

“I think the transition started off sometime back in 1995, and Ngoni is one of three people I started working with.

“When the “Hoops 4 Hope” programme started, I was the president of the then Mashonaland Basketball Association (now HBA) and actually singled him out when we were asked by the American investors who we thought could be an ideal point person.

“I watched that product grow from strength to strength, and we as the MBA assisted here and there; all the credit goes to Ngoni,” he said.

On the rivalry, Takawira chronicled how both Raiderz and Cameo were promoted into the ‘A’ League in 1998 and went on to be two of the three most dominant teams for over a decade in the years to come.

He also described Mukukula as “a comrade, a family man, a calm but firm man, even jokingly revealing how the two referred to themselves as the ‘Godfathers of Zimbabwean basketball’ during the one-on-one chats and talks.

Former Varsity Leopards coach Masenda reflected on Mukukula’s meteoric rise and describes him as a classic case of the power of sport.

“Ngoni came from humble beginnings in Dzivarasekwa but, through sport, travelled the world and made it to New York,” said Masenda.

“Sport took him out of the high-density suburb and allowed him to earn a living, feed and educate his family, and, most importantly, give back to his community through the Hoops 4 Hope programme.

“On the basketball court, there was once a time when we did not have to train much when we were preparing to play the Raiderz. That soon changed as he did a great job with his team and turned the DZ courts into a fortress that no one wanted to go play or would come out unscathed.”