Online Reporter
By Ezra Tshisa
SOME people measure success by wealth, others by status, but there are a rare few whose true wealth is measured by the lives they touch, the principles they refuse to compromise and the legacy they leave behind.
Nkani Khoza was one of those rare men.
On the evening of 23 July 2026, at around 7:30 pm, Zimbabwean football suffered one of its darkest moments. A tragic road traffic accident on the Bulawayo-Harare Road near Lochard claimed the lives of Highlanders FC chairman Retired Colonel Kenneth Mhlophe, vice-chairman Sifiso Siziba, treasurer Nkani Khoza and devoted Bosso club member Mbalenhle Sibanda as they returned from Highlanders’ Castle Lager Premier Soccer League match against ZPC Kariba. Their deaths left a void that will never be filled.
For many, Nkani Khoza was simply Highlanders’ Finance Executive. But those privileged enough to know him understood that he was much more than a title. He was a man of unwavering integrity, exceptional intellect, quiet humility and unquestionable honesty. He never sought the spotlight, yet his actions illuminated every room he entered.
Born on 15 July 1960 in Beitbridge, Matabeleland South province, Khoza passed away just a week after celebrating his 66th birthday. His journey was anything but ordinary.
As a teenager during Zimbabwe’s liberation struggle between 1976 and 1979, he risked his own life as a war collaborator, assisting both ZPRA and ZANLA freedom fighters by gathering intelligence on Rhodesian forces. He paid a heavy price for his patriotism, enduring arrest, detention, and torture at Tuli Camp. Those experiences could have broken him, but instead they forged a man whose resilience would define every chapter of his life.
After Independence, he remained committed to serving his country, becoming an active youth leader in ZAPU before later pursuing higher education with remarkable determination.
His academic achievements alone tell the story of a man who believed learning never ends. He earned numerous professional qualifications, including Fellowships in Certified Bookkeeping, Technical Accounting and Financial Accounting, a Fellowship from the Institute of Commercial Management in the United Kingdom, a Bachelor of Business Management and Information Technology (Honours) Degree and an Executive Master of Business Administration. He was, without question, one of Zimbabwe’s finest accounting professionals.
For more than four decades, Khoza built an impeccable career in finance and management. He served with distinction at Cotton Printers, National Blankets, Power Sales and the National Employment Council for the Textile Industry, where he remained Finance Manager until his untimely passing.
He also founded N. Khoza Consultancy, helping businesses with accounting, bookkeeping and debt collection, while his company Totally Uniforms supplied affordable school uniforms across Zimbabwe. Beyond the boardroom, he was an accomplished cattle farmer whose knowledge of livestock farming earned him enormous respect.
Despite all these achievements, his greatest passion remained Highlanders Football Club. He loved Bosso not because it offered him anything, but because he believed he had something to offer Bosso.
Long before he became Bosso treasurer, I remember the 2023 Highlanders annual general meeting when a gentleman dressed in khaki stood up and challenged the club’s financial statements. While many of us did not fully understand the accounting issues, he patiently explained every irregularity until members appreciated the seriousness of what he was saying. That gentleman was Nkani Khoza.
On 4 January 2025, I received a phone call from someone I had never spoken to before. The caller introduced himself simply as Nkani Khoza and requested to meet me at the Highlanders Clubhouse. For hours, he spoke passionately about Highlanders. Not about positions or personal ambitions, but about accountability, transparency and restoring financial discipline to Zimbabwe’s biggest football institution. He answered every difficult question honestly. By the end of that meeting, I had absolutely no doubt that Highlanders had found the right man to become Treasurer.
I supported him wholeheartedly, hundreds of members believed in that same vision, and on 2 February 2025, they elected him Treasurer after a fiercely contested election where he beat the then incumbent Israel Moyo.
He never betrayed that trust, standing before members after his victory, he pledged to uphold the club’s constitution, professionalism, and ethical standards. He promised to resolve the financial concerns raised by external auditors within three months.
Many dismissed those promises as campaign rhetoric. Nkani Khoza delivered within months at the EGM. He presented members with one of the most comprehensive financial reports the club 0truths, he identified serious irregularities and called for accountability.
He never sugar-coated the situation because he believed members deserved the truth.
For years, Highlanders’ financial statements had attracted adverse and disclaimer opinions from external auditors.
Under Khoza’s stewardship, those accounts improved dramatically, earning a qualified opinion at the last AGM of 2026, an achievement that reflected significant progress and was recognised by the auditors.
It was proof of what competence, honesty and professionalism could achieve. Even when the club remained financially distressed, he never hid behind excuses.
Just four days before his tragic death, he stood before members at the Extraordinary General Meeting at Highlanders Clubhouse and courageously declared that Highlanders was insolvent and urgently needed saving.
Many leaders choose popularity over honesty, Nkani Khoza chose honesty over popularity. He understood that problems can never be solved if people refuse to acknowledge they exist.
He wanted every Highlanders member to know the true state of their beloved club because he believed transparency is the first step towards rebuilding trust. Sadly, he never got the opportunity to complete the mission he had begun.
In just eighteen months at Bosso, he transformed the financial conversation at Highlanders. He brought professionalism where there had been uncertainty, accountability where there had been questions and hope where there had been despair.
His death robbed Bosso of a principled leader whose greatest desire was not personal recognition, but a financially stable and professionally run football club.
Zimbabwe has not only lost an exceptional accountant. The corporate world has lost one of its finest financial minds. The agricultural community has lost a respected cattle farmer. Politics has lost a disciplined and principled cadre.
Highlanders Football Club has lost a servant leader who was a heartbeat for iTeam Yezwe Lonke. His friends have lost a loyal companion and above all, his family has lost a loving husband, father, grandfather, brother, uncle, and protector.
Some people leave behind buildings, others leave wealth, Nkani Khoza leaves behind something far greater, a legacy of integrity.
He proved that leadership is not about occupying an office. It is about serving others with honesty, humility, and courage.
His chair may now be empty. His voice may have fallen silent. But his principles will continue to challenge everyone who follows him. Highlanders should never forget the man who dared to tell the truth. Zimbabwe should also never forget the accountant who refused to compromise his integrity. May history forever remember Nkani Khoza as a man who lived with honour, served with distinction, and departed far too soon.
Rest in eternal peace, Cde Nkani Khoza. Your work is finished, but your legacy will live forever, lala ngokuthula BabuKhoza
