TRUTH PAINS, LIKE RAIN! FOOTBALL TALENT DOES NOT RAIN IN ONE OR 3 PROVINCES.
The post does not Mention any Specific province or tribe and nothing radical. It merely suggests that football talent, much like rain, does not fall on only two or three provinces. In the true tradition of Samuel “Zoom” Ndhlovu, it calls for an inter-provincial, inclusive, and nationally representative approach to player selection.
Yet, as the saying goes, “When you throw a stone into a pack of dogs, the one that yelps is the one it has hit.” If a call for transparency and meritocracy provokes anger or defensiveness, then perhaps the discomfort is not with the message, but with the mirror it holds up.
A fair, geographically diverse selection system should alarm no one who is acting in good faith. Only those invested in narrow gatekeeping would interpret inclusivity as an attack. Or, as our elders warn, “He who owns the granary fears the hungry man asking for a key.”
Football does not grow in silos. It grows when doors are opened, not when corridors are narrowed for convenience. “A river that forgets its source will dry up,” and a national team that forgets the nation will never truly compete.
The objective remains simple: national excellence over provincial comfort, systems over sentiments, and integrity over noise. As they say, “Wisdom is like a baobab tree; no one individual can embrace it alone.”
In other ways what iam saying is or the post simply advocates for a broader, inter-provincial approach to player selection, anchored in inclusivity and national representation much in the same spirit that Samuel “Zoom” Ndhlovu consistently championed.
If this position triggers discomfort or hostility, it may be worth reflecting on why. A transparent, merit-based, and geographically diverse selection framework should not threaten anyone acting in good faith. Resistance to such a call often signals vested interests rather than genuine concern for the growth of the game.
Football thrives when opportunity is widened, not narrowed. The objective is national excellence, not provincial convenience.
I am just telling you what a lot of people are thinking but can’t say it and truth pains. Any way do a mirror check I have not mentioned any specific tribe or province.
Larry Mweetwa ‘s page
Don’t take the nonsense of inclusiveness into soccer. You should be picking talented players and it doesn’t matter where they come from. No one wants mediocre. You picked Kalusha and his dead wood who are professionals at making soccer as their feeding trough, and they have nothing to offer. It shows lack of seriousness. How did you pick a unqualified coach to lead a team to a continental tournament, and allowed players like Sunzu to join the team just to line-up to collect the allowances. Shame on you!
If we want correct things in Zambian Football, let’s first answer this multiple choice question and then we can start from there?
Question: what or where is the problem in the Zambian football?
a. FAZ
b. Coach
c. Players
d. All the above
e. None of the above
Once we find the answer, let’s act immediately and revamp the Zambian football. We should also avoid looking behind, while we appreciate that Sunzu kicked the winning penalty in 2012, I don’t think he can still do the same 13 years after. The same with our once BBC African Footballer of the year, the great Kalu. These people remain our football heroes in Zambia but should not reappear again on the football stage, we already clapped for them and others now should be left to work. Otherwise as a nation, we are very disappointed mwandi and our Minister of Youth and Sport Hon. Elvis Nkandu is one of the most hardworking Ministers in the UPND Cabinet, I don’t know how he is feeling now. If us citizens are so sad, I am sure it’s worse for him.
Some people don’t just like seeing some names..This is what even made them move into Soccer Administration. For them they always see things using Tribal Lenses.
People in some Regions push themselves beyond boundaries. It’s not just in Sport.
Take for example the case of Women. In some regions, women are treated like ifitekwa.. animals . They are not free to express themselves. How can they exploit and fully realize their potential when they are confined to a Kraal?
Look at how Talented people from the East are in Arts and Drama . From the time of the late Graig Lungu, and now even in film, majority of the actors are from the Eastern Province. It’s based on their Culture, and so it is even for people from the North. Easy living culture expressed in Drama and Arts. For people from the East , even marriages are more like Drama. That’s the way they are..There’s therefore a natural and seamless migration into acting.
Look at the films on Zambezi Magic, most of the Actors and Actresses are from the East.
Look at Boxing, especially women Boxing, you are going to find Esther Phiri, Catherine Phiri..and Bwalya , Mutale and Mwamba on their heels. It is so even in Women Wrestling. You will find women from the North East.
This idea of taking Tribalism to National Football Teams is demotivating our players.. Some are feeling they no longer belong.
Open Social Media, and you will be bombarded with complaints about having too many Musondas, Bwalyas, Mutales, Bandas , Lungus and Tembos in the National Team. Our players are human and the society we have become is eating into their mental strength.
Any way, let the FA President Mweemba carry out what ever Agenda he has for the National Team and Zambian Football.
Let him disband the Team, so that we can have other names on Jerseys some people will be comfortable with..It’s like my name is the reason for the losses..May be we will start winning then.
Larry Mweetwa is not schooled in the social sciences but sadly he doesn’t see that handicap in discussions on topics related to the social issues. The way Zambia was run as a colony has a lot do with what we see in the present. Mweetwa does not know that. We’re not doing well in football for a variety of reasons but it’s mainly because local government administration is a disaster in Zambia. We’re not even able to provide children with a proper childhood.
Sometimes what passes for “truth” is utter rubbish. And this is the case with this piece by Dr. Larry Mweetwa.
He is cut from the same cloth as Mr. Kambwili. Just another tribalist from the other camp. He wants to take tribal nonsense into football.
Tribalists are in every part of Zambia and they must be condemned regardless of where they hail from. This Dr. Mweetwa is an avowed tribalist.
JMC.I do not agree with you.It is you who is actually looking at Zambia national team loses with tribal lenses.When Zambia won the Africa Cup in 2012,the team was of similar tribal composition as the current one and nobody complained that the cup had been lifted by acertain tribe.On the contrary,the team was a source of NATIONAL pride a cohessiveness
The current embarrasing loses must never. arouse tribal sentiments.FAZ must just be careful to select a good coach like they did with Harve Renard and give the coach latitude and resources to search all over the country for talent only.It should not matter what the tribal composition the final team shall be.All we demand is our winning ways to come back
Chapwa