Vitumbiko Kumwenda drama refuses to die
he transfer saga surrounding Blue Eagles enterprising midfielder, Vitumbiko Kumwenda, took a dramatic turn Wednesday when the player deposited K3.5 million into the club’s account and asked Football Association of Malawi (Fam) to facilitate his move to Be Forward Wanderers.
Eagles wrote on their Facebook page on Wednesday that they had accepted Silver Strikers’ K4 million payment for Kumwenda’s services.
Barely hours after the announcement, the player denied any knowledge of the deal through his Facebook page.
He then went on to deposit the K3.5 million into Eagles’ FDH Bank Gateway Mall Branch account.
This is the amount Eagles had asked Wanderers to pay early this year when they wanted to sign Kumwenda.
Wanderers Vice General Secretary, Adelaide Migogo, said they met with the player and his representative yesterday morning in Lilongwe.
“Vitumbiko maintained that Wanderers is the team he had chosen to join. We consider this a done deal. Vitu wants to be a Nomad. He wants to play where his heart lies. So he has paid Eagles and we are only waiting for a clearance letter from Fam,” Migogo said.
Kumwenda’s manager, Amakhosi Jere, confirmed writing Fam on the matter.
“We don’t want to talk about other clubs here but Eagles wrote us on May 9 advising us to pay K3.5 million for them to issue a clearance. This is supposed to be payment for the six months to the end of Kumwenda’s contract. We have just done the needful. It’s now up to Fam to help us,” Jere said
Part of the letter addressed to Fam General Secretary reads: “I have managed to mobilise the amount Eagles requested me to pay and I have moved to make the payment. Attached is a deposit slip.
“In view of the development, I am therefore making a submission to Fam to facilitate for a letter of clearance that Eagles committed to process as per their letter dated 12th May.”
In the letter, Eagles had valued the residual period of Kumwenda’s contract at K8 million but asked for a K3.5 million compensation.
“Eagles is offering you to compensate the club with K3.5 million being the minimum residual value of your contract period. That Blue Eagles will immediately release and issue a clearance letter to you sir upon depositing the above mentioned value of your contract as financial compensation to the club,” reads part of the letter.
Eagle General Secretary, William Nkhoma, said they will respect Kumwenda’s final decision.
“Silver contacted us and we gave them the green light to talk to the player on personal terms after agreeing a K4 million transfer fee. They deposited K3.5 million only to hear that the player says he is not aware of the deal. What we know is that he talked to Silver and agreed personal terms.
“All I can say is that we will wait for the player’s official communication on the matter and if it is true that he has indeed deposited the money into our account, we will write Silver and reimburse the money they paid us. We respect the player’s position,” Nkhoma said.
Wanderers are trying to beef up their squad after failing to win silverware in the 2019 season.
They recently signed Mike Tetteh and Yinusa Sheriff who were released by Silver.
Peter Fote is a Sports Journalist with huge experience in radio and Television reporting, production and presentation. He once worked with Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) and is currently working for Times Media Group.
