DENVER Denver Mukamba is a super hero and a villain rolled in one.
And the Dynamos midfielder is battling to erase the latter tag while consolidating the former.
He has rejoined the Glamour Boys for a third dance with the Castle Lager Premiership football giants following a rather unceremonious departure from Ngezi Platinum Stars.
Mukamba recently signed a one-year contract with Dynamos after he was off-loaded by Ngezi Platinum Stars in January this year.
His third-coming has been met with mixed feelings, given his propensity for controversy.
The last time he was with the club that gave him fame when claiming the Soccer Star of the Year accolade in 2012 was in 2018 under the tutelage of Lloyd Mutasa.
He wouldn’t last for long as Mutasa accused him of gross indiscipline with the lanky star crossing to rivals CAPS United.
Truancy and controversy have been a part of the two-time league title winner who has had a failed brief stint in South Africa.
But the 30-year-old reckons he has turned over a new leaf and is now more focused than ever.
“People always talk, especially about popular figures like me. Some of the things you have heard about me are false while some things are true. But we don’t always live in the past. People do change a lot.
“You will realise that I am now a changed man, just watch the space,” said Mukamba.
“There is a time for everything in life. You can’t remain the same. Controversy isn’t something that I really enjoy, if anything, I have tried hard to clean myself through playing some good football but those tags and labels have remained intact.
“Well, I have said some of those things which I am associated with are true and some are false. But this is me speaking, I am now 30-years-old and a very senior guy if you look at the ages of players at Dynamos at the moment.
“I need to be a good example to them, play and behave well so that they can also learn from me.
“I am happy to have managed to rejoin the club that made me who I am today. This is the biggest team in Zimbabwe and I can’t always be a problem. I am now more focused than I was before. You know it’s been very difficult for me, especially after I left Ngezi Platinum Stars. I wasn’t sure where I was headed but I always wanted to come back home. And here I am back home and I can’t afford to disappoint both on and off the field of play.”
Mukamba was recently showered with love by scores of Dynamos supporters when the Glamour Boys played a pre-season friendly match against newly-promoted Sheasham at Ascot in Gweru.
He did not take part in that sparring game but the former Kiglon player was mobbed by the DeMbare fans at the end of the game.
“I was so humbled. I already knew Dynamos fans love me so much but the gesture in Gweru was out of this world. It was beyond my imagination.
“Because of the love that they showed me, I should also show that I respect them too.
“The only way to show them the love is to dump my old habits, concentrate on the game and help the team achieve their set goals.
“What I can promise the fans is my best in the field of play.
“I have had enough of the controversy and it’s high time I focus on my football.”
Mukamba said he wants to turn back the hands of time and help Dynamos win the league title this season.
“I have matured enough both in character and in my game.
“My aim is to see Dynamos win the league title again. We have bee starved of the league title for a long time and as a big club, we cannot continue with the wait.
“This is the year we should come out right. We are gunning for the championship and nothing lesser than that….” – The Herald
