Zimbabwe: Sweet Dembare Homecoming for Murape

26 January 2023

There is always joy and celebration in every homecoming.

And for Dynamos legend, Murape Murape, nothing beats the feeling of being part of the Glamour Boys family again. After all, it's an institution he has developed close attachment to, ever since he joined them as a raw teenager some 29 years ago.

He has left the club several times along the way but he has always found himself back. And almost every time he came back, Dynamos was never short of inspiration.

His return as assistant coach this week has been no different for the former midfielder, although many people have questioned why he left what looked a more stable job at Real Betis Academy.

Murape sacrificed his employment at the academy just to get back to DeMbare. Probably he felt he was done being in the comfort zone at the academy and wanted to take up bigger challenges, which a club like Dynamos present.

"I am very proud of my name. My name is Murape Murape," he wrote on Facebook.

"I have a trend of my own. Being myself is what got me to where I am. I am proud of what I am and who I am. I am proud of my work and how far I have come and I am proud of the way that I did it and how I am doing it.

"I have learned a lot from my past, it's made me who I am today. I don't want to be anything else other than what I am. I can say that with passion. No regrets."

Murape is one of the most decorated Dynamos sons, with six league titles and several cups in a career in which he worked under a number of coaches like Sunday Chidzambwa, David George, Clemens Westerhof, Clayton Munemo, Moses Chunga, Lloyd Mutasa and Callisto Pasuwa.

A dedicated Dynamos man, since he arrived at the club in 1994 as a teenager from Churchill High School looking for opportunities, Murape has been part of the DeMbare teams that won league titles in 1997, 2007, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014.

He might have played a peripheral role in '97 but he was at the heart of the team's battle for honours in 2007, when the Glamour Boys ended a barren 10-year wait for the league title, on his way to being named Soccer Star of the Year.

He revealed that he wanted to pursue other options, including enrolling for lessons so that he could acquire some coaching badges.

He has been at Dynamos since 1994, rising from the juniors up to the senior team and playing Champions League football.

"My last game for Dynamos in 2014, I scored one goal as we clinched our fourth consecutive league title. Three weeks later I was forced to retire from playing football by the incoming technical team and the Dynamos executive chairman then.

"They promised me a coaching role within the Dynamos juniors set up but they never owned up to their word after all the service and sacrifices I had made for my beloved boyhood club," he wrote on Facebook.

Murape is currently part of the DeMbare technical team members preparing for the 2023 season. Dynamos has not won a league title since 2014 when he was forced by the unfortunate circumstances to hang his boots.

"What I do is me, for that I came. Life is not a competition. Each one is on their own journey. Live according to your capacity, choices, principles and values.

"Never let anyone define what you are capable of by using parameters that don't apply to you. Good decisions come from experience and experience comes from making bad decisions," he continued.

New Dynamos head coach, Herbert Maruwa, has described Murape's addition to his team as vital.

"Murape doesn't need anyone to give him a warm welcome for him to feel at home, he has been here for a long time and it's good to have him back," Maruwa told our sister paper, H-Metro.

"It was an important addition; he is someone who understands the culture of the club and it's going to be easy to work with him because we have worked together before.

"He's definitely going to add value to the team and all the knowledge he has gained when he was at Real Betis is also going to be a plus for the technical team."

AllAfrica publishes around 400 reports a day from more than 100 news organizations and over 500 other institutions and individuals, representing a diversity of positions on every topic. We publish news and views ranging from vigorous opponents of governments to government publications and spokespersons. Publishers named above each report are responsible for their own content, which AllAfrica does not have the legal right to edit or correct.

Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica. To address comments or complaints, please Contact us.