Online Reporter
Tadious Manyepo
Zimpapers Sports Hub
EXACTLY US$1,500 a month is what separated Dynamos from a reunion with Kalisto Pasuwa.
This is what finally killed off the deal that could have brought the gaffer back to Harare.
Pasuwa, a former Warriors midfielder, remains one of the biggest coaching brands to come out of Zimbabwe football. He won four straight league titles with Dynamos between 2011 and 2014.
Dynamos have not won the league since he left, a drought that has become a permanent wound for a team that measures itself in championships.
The coach is currently in charge of the Malawi national team. Pasuwa was DeMbare’s choice for the replacement of Kelvin Kaindu, the Zambian coach who arrived in August last year and flipped the mood at the club in a matter of weeks.
With club chairman Vincent Chawonza leading the chase, Dynamos opened talks with Pasuwa and even discussed buying out the two years remaining on his contract with the Football Association of Malawi. According to a club executive, the negotiations moved quickly and most of Pasuwa’s conditions were met.
“Yes, the deal between us and Pasuwa was almost secured and at one point it was a matter of when not if,” said the source.
“But then came the issue of his monthly salary. You know everything was on the table. We had guaranteed all what he had demanded.
“We had agreed to buy his contract with the Football Association of Malawi and everything seemed to be moving in the right direction. We were eager to bring our son back home to guide us back to where we belong in Zimbabwe football.
“We tried hard but still our position wasn’t aligning with what his representatives had demanded.
“We were US$1,500 short of those demands. That’s how the deal collapsed.”
That US$1,500 shortfall ended what Dynamos insiders believed would be a historic return, and it also exposed the reality of the club’s finances at a time when rivals are spending aggressively.
Dynamos are trying to climb back to the top while operating with limits, and that gap, small on paper, has now shaped their entire 2026 season plan.
With Pasuwa out of reach, Dynamos quickly moved to secure Genesis Mangombe, the coach who helped Triangle avoid relegation last season. Mangombe has already started work at DeMbare and has been tasked with building a squad that can compete in a league that is no longer waiting for Dynamos to find themselves.
The list of threats is long and loud.
Champions Scottland are setting the pace, CAPS United are always dangerous, MWOS have grown in belief, and Hardrock are pushing hard with new energy. Herentals and Simba Bhora remain stubborn opponents, and Dynamos know they won’t be allowed time to settle.
Mangombe’s appointment is not a gamble on potential, it is a return to a coach who already knows the Dynamos environment and has delivered a trophy there.
Mathew Masinge