PONGA Liwewe is not telling the truth in the article about Kalusha Bwalya that is making rounds on social media and I have asked him to retract or he remains a liar forever, says Major Richard Kachingwe.

In an article titled ‘King Kalu Dethroned’ published in the City Press of South Africa this week, Liwewe alleged that at the 2000 Africa Cup of Nations in Nigeria, the Zambian team split apart over a dispute about bonuses when Major Kachingwe, who was head of delegation, inexplicably handed Bwalya US$50,000 in cash for the players’ allowances.

Maj Kachingwe described the article as a misrepresentation of facts and said he has asked Liwewe to retract the allegations.

“The story by Ponga is a misrepresentation of facts. I called him and I told him that he needs to retract it. Yes, I was the delegation leader to CAN 2000 and I did not pay that money to Kalusha Bwalya. If they have issues with Kalusha Bwalya, that is their issue. I did not pay the fifty thousand to Kalusha Bwalya. Besides, I went there as the delegation leader under the auspices of the National Sports Council [of Zambia] which was supervising FAZ that time and the controlling officer was the PS [permanent secretary] Ministry of Sports. He did not even have that sort of money to pay anybody. In fact, his [Ponga] father, the late Dennis Liwewe – may his soul rest in peace – was part of the delegation and I made sure that each time we had a meeting everyone was sitting in the meeting, including his father,” Maj Kachingwe said.

“We never paid anybody any allowances like that. That is a misrepresentation of the facts and even the people who published the story should have bothered to call me and ask me. If Kalusha Bwalya has fallen from grace, it’s neither here nor there to start scandalising or cheating about him. I never authorised any payment of such nature.”

FIFA recently banned Bwalya for two years from all football-related activities after finding him guilty of receiving $80,000 between 2009 and 2011 from Qatari football official Mohammed Bin Hammam.

FIFA further fined Bwalya CHF 100,000. The Zambian football legend has denied any wrongdoing and says he will appeal the ban.

Maj Kachingwe said Bwalya was paid similar allowances to other national team players who took part in the tournament.

“All we paid Kalusha at Murtala Muhammed Airport [Lagos, Nigeria] was his dues and we paid his dues from CAF which were $15 per day which every player who participated was entitled to – $15 per day – by CAF rules and the normal allowances they played for they were paid. I avoided to pay professionals more against the locals because it was bringing problems in the national team,” he said.

Maj Kachingwe further advised Liwewe, the former FAZ general secretary, to refrain from dragging him into any personal differences he may have had with Bwalya.

“Ponga misrepresented facts. If they hate each other with Kalusha Bwalya, he should stick to their hatred, not cheating. Records are there at the Ministry of Sports. What he represented in that article is a lie,” he said.

Maj Kachingwe disclosed that Liwewe had agreed to retract the allegations once he had verified the facts.

“He said he was going to check and retract. If he does not retract he will remain a liar and the credibility of the same magazine he wrote in is questionable. How can they run a story without asking the people who have been mentioned?” asked Maj Kachingwe.
In the said detailed article, Liwewe said at the 2000 Africa Cup of Nations, the Zambian team split apart over a dispute about bonuses when the head of delegation Major Richard Kachingwe inexplicably handed Bwalya US$50,000 in cash for the players’ allowances.

He said Bwalya informed the local players that there would only be a bonus for a win and nothing for a draw or loss.

Having lost the first game and drawn the second, this meant that the players would receive no compensation at all.

“He decreed, however, that the players who had come from overseas teams would be paid allowances and proceeded to share the $50,000 between five players, taking the largest portion for himself and leaving out the rest of the 23-man squad who earned a pittance in the local game,” Liwewe said. “This caused unrest within the team, leading to a player strike that was only averted at the last minute. Goalkeeper Davies Phiri flatly refused to play and was replaced by the ineffectual Emmanuel Mschili who conceded twice in a 2-2 draw with Senegal.
Zambia left the tournament at the first hurdle.”
Liwewe said in FIFA circles, Bwalya’s status as one of the few ex-players in an executive role endeared him to the FIFA top brass.
The Sepp Blatter administration appointed Bwalya to the prestigious Football Committee and worked in the technical study group for several tournaments.
“It was this rubbing of shoulders with the key stakeholders and his desire for more power and prestige that saw him roped into the Bin Hammam quest to overthrow Sepp Blatter. As Bin Hammam’s star grew with Qatar’s success in winning the bid for the 2022 World Cup, he was emboldened to go for broke. His fatal error was in the final days of the campaign for the FIFA presidency to offer $40,000 in cash to each of the CONCACAF presidents at their congress in Trinidad and Tobago,” Liwewe says.
He says Kalu’s domestic decline began with his loss to Andrew Kamanga, a successful businessman who had served as chairman of Kabwe Warriors Football Club.
“After an initial inquiry into the vote-buying allegations in 2012, FIFA concluded its investigations through the Adjudicatory Chamber of the Ethics Committee in April 2018. Bwalya was found guilty and sanctioned four months later. He received a two-year ban from all football activities and a substantial CHF100,000 fine,” observes Liwewe. “The action effectively ended his tenure at the top echelons of football. Where he goes from here is unclear.
After the dizzy heights of playing football at the highest levels and becoming a household name in the African game, the road thereafter went downhill with one controversy after another. Today public opinion is divided about whether to still view him as a hero or now as a villain after his fall. It is yet another sad tale about how greed and corruption can eradicate a lifetime of work and achievement in an instant.”