Online ReporterVeronica Gwaze
Zimpapers Sports Hub
WHAT began as a fairy tale debut for Kwekwe United in the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League has rapidly descended into a full blown crisis, with police reports, allegations of sabotage and deepening fractures between coaching staff and management painting a damning portrait of a club in free fall.
In an explosive development, club owner Phil Makekera has filed a police report against head coach Saul Chaminuka and his assistant Clemence Zuze, accusing the pair of confiscating club equipment in protest after being suspended for poor performance.
“This he did in protest of the suspension and to try and bar the team from playing,” claimed Makekera. “They took kits, balls and even training cones. We had to scramble to prepare for our next game. It’s sabotage.”
The unprecedented drama comes as the Goldminers languish second from bottom on the log, with just seven points from nine games and a disciplinary hearing looming after they failed to show up for a scheduled match against Herentals in April. That no show alone could carry sanctions, including a fine or points deduction.
But the crisis runs deeper.
Zimpapers Sports Hub understands that tensions had been simmering behind the scenes for weeks. Chaminuka, a respected figure in Zimbabwean football, was reportedly operating without basic resources, sometimes using his own money to buy match balls and even an alternate kit.
“Training has been inconsistent because players are frustrated,” Chaminuka revealed in an earlier interview. “Sometimes they come, sometimes they don’t. There’s no structure, and without support, you can’t build momentum.”
The final straw appears to have been an ultimatum issued by the club: deliver at least eight points from five matches or face the axe. When that target wasn’t met, Chaminuka and Zuze were swiftly suspended.
Sources close to the team say the decision infuriated players, some of whom had rallied around their coach as the only stabilising presence at a club riddled with instability.
In response to the suspension, Chaminuka reportedly cleared out all the equipment he had personally funded and walked away. The act, Makekera contends, was a deliberate attempt to derail the club, prompting him to take legal action.
But Chaminuka is hitting back. Speaking briefly to Zimpapers Sports Hub, he confirmed he is now pursuing legal action against the club for unfair dismissal and defamation over unsubstantiated match fixing allegations.
“We’re compiling paperwork with my lawyers. I’ve been accused unfairly and this is now a matter for the courts,” said the soft-spoken tactician, declining to elaborate further.
What makes the situation even more tragic is how far Kwekwe United have fallen in such a short space of time.
Promoted to the top flight this season alongside Triangle United and Scottland FC, Kwekwe’s rise was seen as a renaissance for football in the City of Gold, the first PSL presence since the days of Lancashire Steel in 2009.
The city buzzed with pride. Bata Stadium felt alive again. And then . . . the cracks.
Six weeks into the season, the team had conceded 13 goals, scored just two, and suffered humiliating defeats, including a 5–0 drubbing at the hands of ZPC Kariba and a 4–0 walloping by Highlanders.
Masimba Mambare, a lone bright spark, has scored both of the team’s goals, but he alone cannot carry a team weighed down by off field chaos, unpaid fees, and daily uncertainty.
Even before the coaching dispute, Makekera was openly pleading for financial help.
“We signed 30 players, and we’re still owing some signing on fees,” he admitted. “This was a self-funded passion project. But now, we want partners, we want to turn this into a real football business.”
To that end, the club recently signed a development deal with South African outfit Hellenic FC Academy, a rare glimmer of structure in an otherwise chaotic campaign.
The partnership aims to boost youth development and open international pathways for players.
Another step towards stabilisation came with the appointment of Bridgette Mudhosi as CEO, a move many see as a cornerstone in Kwekwe United’s attempt to professionalise. Mudhosi brings nearly three decades of leadership across the sports and hospitality industries, with a CV that includes work with South African football networks, talent development, and club executives such as Shooz Mekota and Jerome McCarthy. Her expertise in business and sports operations is already being touted as crucial to reshaping the club’s culture on and off the pitch.
Her arrival signals a new chapter behind the scenes, one aimed at laying a proper administrative foundation even as the team battles for survival on the pitch.
As of last night, Makekera is reportedly trying to mediate with the coaches through third par-ties, a move seen by some insiders as a desperate effort to avert further public embarrassment or possible court fallout.
But the damage may already be done.
Kwekwe United were this week summoned to a PSL Disciplinary Committee hearing over their Herentals no show, accused of violating Order 31 of the league’s rules, which covers fixture defaults and conduct that brings the league into disrepute.
It’s a storyline all too familiar in Zimbabwean football, one of broken dreams, unfunded ambition, and administrative dysfunction.
A club born of passion is now a cautionary tale. Their survival in the topflight may no longer depend solely on performance, but on whether they can even function as a football club at all. And so, as another match-day approaches, the team from the City of Gold isn’t just playing for points.
They’re fighting for their very existence.
