Kamwendo says he wore Jersey 11 against Zambia in honor of late Kanyenda

Former Flames and Mighty Wanderers skipper Joseph Kamwendo revealed he chose to wear jersey number 11 when Malawi Legends faced Zambia on Sunday at Bingu National Stadium as a tribute to late Flames striker Essau Kanyenda.

Kanyenda, who played for Wanderers and Dwasco locally, died last month in the United Kingdom due to liver cancer. His body is yet to be buried.

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Kamwendo, who played alongside Kanyenda at both club and national team level, wore shirt number 11—abandoning his usual number 10, which was worn by Ernest Mtawali on the day.

Speaking after the match, the former Flames captain said winning against Zambia was itself a great honor to the late Black Mamba, who scored 22 goals for the national team during his playing days.

“We are happy to win the game. We were playing against a very good team—there is no friendly match between Malawi and Zambia. Beating such a good team is a great honor for one of our legends, Essau Kanyenda. May his soul continue resting in peace,” Kamwendo said.

“Today I was wearing shirt number 11, the jersey that Essau used to wear. For me, it’s good that we are ending the year with a win, and I think this victory is for all Malawians.”

Essau Kanyenda, regarded as one of the national team’s greatest strikers, played alongside Kamwendo from 2003. Having made his debut in December 1999, Kanyenda accumulated 72 appearances and netted 22 goals for the Flames.

Mutual Respect Between Legends

In an interview on September 7 this year, Kanyenda had praised Kamwendo as the best player and leader he’d worked with.

“When JK joined the Flames, we welcomed him and he settled well—it was like he wasn’t an inexperienced player,” Kanyenda recalled. “He was the best in the dressing room, first to arrive at training and last to leave.”

“In the dressing room, with encouraging songs, he was just perfect. I shared a room with him. He was a very cool guy who welcomed me when I joined Wanderers. I’m happy to have shared many memories with him. When I was in Russia, I would pass through South Africa before coming to Malawi just to see him.”

Kanyenda described his former teammate as “one of the best creative players with great leadership.”

“If you picked a few leaders from the Flames team that went to Angola, JK was definitely one of them. He was the kind of player who could change the game when we were losing, and when we were leading, he could entertain supporters with his skills.”