Magaya Money came calling: A deal Mutuma could not refuse

By Raymond Jaravaza

It is probably a first in the history of Zimbabwean football transfer news.

Yadah FC pledged to foot maternity bills for the wife of Roderick Mutuma as part of perks to entice the lanky striker to join the Prophet Magaya-owned club.

His wife Paida is seven months pregnant. But before the player could travel to Harare to sign the $4 000 six-month contract, Yadah FC proved just how serious they were about signing the player by giving him money to buy a plane ticket to fly to the capital city.

He instead opted to travel by road.

Talk about saving for a rainy day. He returned to Bulawayo to collect his clearance letter from the Bulawayo giants on Tuesday morning barely 48 hours after leaving for Harare for talks with Yadah FC officials. Life at Highlanders was not rosy for Mutuma, at least according to his manager Carlos Tavengwa.

“He was working under difficult conditions as some executive members (names withheld) were using the player to settle personal scores. I advised him to soldier on and concentrate on playing well for the team and forget about boardroom politics,” said Tavengwa.

With a deal worth $1 000 per month at Yadah FC, the $440 that he was paid by Highlanders surely must have seemed like peanuts.

“On top on his monthly salary from Highlanders, Mutuma was supposed to receive $200 from benefactor Longwe Ndlovu who never honoured his deal since March. Mutuma was forced to look for better offers because even Highlanders failed to pay $1 000 in signing on fees. He has a family to take care of,” he added.

Benefactor Ndlovu signed a deal to pay Mutuma $3 000 in signing on fees but paid $1 200.

The man who claims to have interests in mining and farming had also undertaken to pay the player $200 per month as a salary top-up but never paid a cent.

Mutuma joined Highlanders from arch rivals Dynamos In March. Bosso chairman Modern Ngwenya said the $1 000 that the club owed Mutuma had been cancelled.

“The club received $1 500 from the Mutuma deal,”said Ngwenya. B-Metro