Chronicle Editor
Leonard Ncube Victoria Falls Reporter
ADAM Antwabi, who is credited for the development of grassroots of football in the coal mining town of Hwange has died. He was 65. Antwabi died in Hwange on Monday after a short illness.
Antwabi played for Hwange’s Power Dynamos in the local Wankie Amateur Football Association and then formed Rufaro Rovers FC in partnership with the late Wenston Phiri and Douglas Njovu in 1972.
The club played in the WAFA social league and went on to produce some renowned players that made a mark with Hwange FC and national team, among them Method Mwanjali, Walter Chuma, Vitalis Kamocha, Obert Moyo and Brian Njovu.
The club exited the Zifa Southern Region Division One League about 10 years ago and now concentrates on developing junior players.
His daughter Madonasi Antwabi confirmed her father’s death.
“He had retired from Hwange Colliery Company where he worked for 44 years at the pharmacy dispensary, starting as an assistant technical pharmacist in 1974. He retired in 2015 before being rehired for three years, and was working at BHT Pharmacy in Hwange at the time of his death,” she said.
Madonasi described her father as a community leader, who was dedicated to helping others and was a fatherly figure, particularly in the coal mining town’s sports sector.
The late Antwabi, who was a member of the Muslim community, was buried on Wednesday at the Number 1 Muslim cemetery. He is survived by a wife, five children and 13 grandchildren. — @ncubeleon
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