Lazarus Muhoni

From Black Rhinos, he raised his football calibre when he joined the most popular football team in the country - Dynamos and became an important member of the team during the famous Africa Champions league campaign. Because of his rising football fortunes, he crossed the floor to rivals CAPS United Football Club, after the authorities at the popular club requested for his services.

The Historic Mali Encounter

It was in September 2003 when Muhoni's name was written in the history books of the country. He scored a spectacular solitary goal against Mali at the National Sports Stadium that saw the Zimbabwe Warriors qualifying for the first time in the Africa Cup of Nations which were to be held in the Tunisia the following year. It was in this encounter that he earned himself the nickname Mali because he had destroyed Mali "single-handedly" .^[2]

AFCON 2004

This saw Muhoni being selected to take part in the AFCON finals held in Tunisia in 2004. The team was led by Sunday Chidzambwa as the coach, Peter Ndlovu as the captain and included other legends such as Benjani Mwaruwari, Esrom Nyandoro and Ronald Sibanda and Wilfred Mugeyi.^[1]

Music

Muhoni has also made a name for himself in musical circles. He is a former member of the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian (CCAP) Voice of Sakubva Choir of the Chauta fame, a song that he self-composed, benchmarking his ability as a songwriter.^[1]

The song Chauta (God) rocked the airwaves and was a major hit in the gospel music circles. The video became an instant hit at the popular Prime Gospel Show televised on Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation television channel. He is also a member of the Voice of Mbare choir, which caused waves with their national hit titled Nganganga. He also sang jazz songs with local music outfits called Band AHA and Band Mutare.^[1]

Business Interests

Muhoni now runs a company called Royla Hiring Services together with his wife Daisy. The company that he started last year in Harare, is about to open another branch in Mutare. Royla Hiring services specialises in both wedding deco, car-hire and video filming. The business acronym Roy-La was derived from the names of his offspring, Royce and Latifa. His business specialises in decorations and catering of weddings and parties.^[1]

Corruption Scandal

In April 2019, Lazarus Muhoni was one of the executive members suspended by Manica Diamonds Football Club after a corruption scandal at the club was exposed.

Muhoni and fellow committee member, Lloyd Chinawa, were suspended on 29 April 2019 for allegedly receiving kickbacks from players who had moved to the club. Lazrus Muhoniaccused Luke Masomere of wanting them fired because they were blocking them from being corrupt.He said the money he received from the players were what they owed him and were a token of appreciation for his decision to accommodate them at his house.

He was quoted as having said:

"I stayed with four of the players for six months at my house after the team said they were not able to accommodate them. The players included Tendai Mukono, Tafadzwa Phiri and Gilbert Timothy. I stayed with them, providing them with food, clothes and sportswear and I bought them shooters that were costing $250 and the other $150 using my own money. After they got signed, Mukono and Phiri gave me $100 each and they sent it into my wife’s EcoCash account. I spent more than $7 000 on them when I was staying with them, so they can never be able to repay that money. Players are not happy because Masomere is threatening to expel them from the club and he intimidated all the players."

^[3]

References