Edwin Mbaso
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Date of birth | 1953 | ||
Place of birth | Ndola, Northern Rhodesia | ||
Date of death | 28 January 1979 | (aged 25–26)||
Place of death | Ndola, Zambia | ||
Position(s) | Right back | ||
Youth career | |||
1969–1970 | Ndola Wolves | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
1970–1979 | Ndola United | ||
International career | |||
1973–1977 | Zambia | 24 | (1) |
*Club domestic league appearances and goals |
Edwin Maso (1953 – 28 January 1979) was a
Playing career
Mbaso was born in Ndola and according to a profile published when he won the 1975 Zambian Footballer of the Year award, he never played football in primary school and only took up the game when he was about 15 years old.[1]
He attended Masala Secondary School in Ndola where he played football for the first time in 1968. He joined amateur side Ndola Wolves as a right winger in 1969 and the following year, got a transfer to Kansenshi Secondary School and signed for Division I side Ndola United in the same year.[1] Halfway through the season, Mbaso opted to go back to Wolves for the rest of the year as he missed his friends who had remained at the amateur club.[1] He returned to United in 1971 and after completing school, continued his football career and developed in leaps and bounds leading to his crowning as the club's Footballer of the Year for 1973 and his appointment as Ndola United captain despite his tender age.[2]
After representing Zambia at CAN 1974, he got further recognition when he was named Zambian Footballer of the Year for 1975, only the second defender to do achieve that after Dickson Makwaza in 1973.[3][4]
He continued featuring as a right fullback for a strong Ndola team which also featured
Mbaso continued featuring for Ndola but was on the verge of switching to FAZ Division III outfit Zambia Eagles early in 1979 when he met his death. His younger brother Philip also played for Ndola in the late 1970s.[7]
National team
Mbaso was first selected for the ‘B’ side during Zambia's first foray in the East and Central Africa (ECA) tournament in Uganda in September 1973.[8] Zambia and Uganda national football team ended up with identical records in Group 1 so they were involved in a play-off to see who would participate in the semi-finals.[9]
Zambia lost the play-off 2-1 with Mbaso featuring in all the three matches and he made his full international debut on 12 December 1973 in a 3-1 Jamhuri Cup defeat to Kenya. He made enough of an impression to be included in the Zambian contingent at CAN 1974 in Egypt.[10][11]
Unlike other players like
Mbaso featured for Zambia when the country hosted the
Mbaso was also part of the team that defeated Algeria 6-5 on penalties to qualify to CAN 1978 later that same year.[16] His last game for Zambia turned out to be a goalless draw with Egypt on 31 July 1977 as Zambia failed to overturn a 2-0 first leg deficit in a 1978 World Cup qualifier and he was left out of that year's ECA tournament and subsequently, missed out on CAN 1978 in Ghana.
Death
In early January 1979, Mbaso left his employment with Ndola United's sponsors Ndola City Council to join Zambia Airways, and was preparing to join the airline's FAZ Division III outfit Zambia Eagles when tragedy struck.[17] Around midnight on 27 January 1979, Mbaso and his brother Philip were riding in the back of a truck in Ndola and Mbaso fell out when the truck made a turn and he sustained injuries to the head.[18] Although he was rushed to Ndola Central Hospital, he died the following afternoon at the age of 26.[18]
No foul play was suspected in his death and according to the official police report of the accident, Mbaso and his younger brother Philip were sitting on the shunting horse of the truck and when it turned to join another road, Mbaso fell off.[17] The driver of the truck stopped and found Mbaso bleeding profusely from the nose and mouth and rushed him to Ndola Central Hospital where he died the following day, leaving behind a wife and two children.[17] He was put to rest on 30 January 1979.[17][19]
Aftermath
Events after Mbaso's death led to one of the biggest hits in Zambian music history Mukamfwilwa (widow) by a group called The Five Revolutions which tells the story of a Ndola woman who soon after her husband's death, starts frequenting bars and night clubs. Although the song's composer band member John Mwansa denied that the song was directed at any one, Mbaso's widow Barbara Chibulu Mbaso felt that the lyrics of the song were aimed at her and sued for libel and slander. The courts however dismissed the case because the song did not mention anyone by name.[20][21]
Shortly after the court's ruling, another band called the Mulemena Boys released a song entitled Teiwe Bembile, which translates into “They were not singing about you,” and contained lyrics asking a widow if she was the only one who had lost a husband.[22] Once again there was no reference to anyone by name and this time Barbara took no action.
Barbara would go on to become a very successful businesswoman and years later, she joined politics and contested the Bwana Mkubwa seat in the 2006 Parliamentary Elections on the
Honours
- Zambian Footballer of the Year: 1975
References
- ^ a b c "New soccer king (23) joined the game almost too late," Zambia Daily May, 14 February 1976.
- ^ "Ndola honours Mbaso," Times of Zambia, 24 March 1974, p. 8.
- ^ Sikazwe, Sam. "Makwaza wins top soccer award", Times of Zambia, 26 January 1974, p.6
- ^ "Mbaso footballer of the year", Times of Zambia, 14 February 1976, p.8
- ^ Sithole, Tommy "Ndola United hopes dashed" Times of Zambia, 16 May 1977, p.8
- ^ "Ndola slap K50 fine on Mbaso", Times of Zambia, 27 May 1977, p.8
- ^ Lombe, Humphrey. "Mbaso sent off at Kafubu", Times of Zambia, 3 June 1978, p.8
- ^ "Zambia second team leaves for Uganda tourney today", Times of Zambia, 20 September 1973, p. 8.
- ^ "Zambia B hold Mighty Uganda", Times of Zambia, 16 May 1977, p.8
- ^ "Own goal leads to Zambia’s defeat", Times of Zambia, 16 May 1977, p.8
- ^ "Chama out of Cairo squad", Times of Zambia, 31 January 1974, p.6
- ^ "3 soccer aces axed from squad", Times of Zambia, 8 July 1976, p.8
- ^ "All chances go begging in Kampala", Times of Zambia, 14 February 1977, p.8
- ^ Mukwala, John. "Zambia tames Uganda", Times of Zambia, 28 February 1977, p.8
- ^ Chipalo, Chipasha. "Zambia too good for Malawi", Times of Zambia, 27 March 1977, p.10
- ^ Kalwisha, Wellington. "We’ve done it – at last!" Zambia Daily Mail, 27 June 1977, p.8
- ^ a b c d "Mbaso put to rest today", Times of Zambia, 30 January 1979, p.10
- ^ a b "Edwin Mbaso dies", Times of Zambia, 29 January 1979, p.10
- ^ "KK salutes ‘great’ Mbaso", Times of Zambia, 31 January 1979, p.10
- ^ M’ule, Fred. "Top hit single rumours quashed – Mukamfwilwa not directed at anybody", Zambia Daily Mail, 8 March 1980
- ^ Kaluba, Austin (12 October 2014). "Popular songs of yesteryear", Zambia Daily Mail, https://www.daily-mail.co.zm/#article/7374 (date accessed 9 March 2016)
- ^ "John Mwansa - Mukamfwilwa", (24 November 2014). Lusaka Times, https://www.lusakatimes.com/2014/11/24/john-mwansa-mukamfwila/ (date accessed 30 January 2016)
- ^ "Electoral Commission of Zambia 2006 Parliamentary Election Results", Electoral Commission of Zambia, http://www.elections.org.zm/media/parliamentary_results_2006.pdf Archived 17 April 2018 at the Wayback Machine (date accessed 30 January 2016)
- ^ "Mukamfwilwa Song Was Offensive - Cries Barbara", All Africa, http://allafrica.com/stories/200702150392.html (date accessed 30 January 2016)