Jongwe, who was hired following the acrimonious departure of Moses Chunga, had only presided for five matches in what could rank as his biggest disappointment in his coaching career.
The coach’s 41-day stay at the club saw the team drawing 0-0 against Gunners and recording a 0-3 loss to the same team. It then lost to Dynamos 2-1, Monomotapa 3-0 with the 1-0 loss to Masvingo being the final straw after which he was shown the exit door by the trigger happy United executive. During his unsuccessful stint at the Green Machine, Jongwe became a subject of ridicule with his team’s opponents, who alluded that the team had fired Moses Chunga to replace him with a “headman”.
Reflecting on his short, but eventful, stay at CAPS United, Jongwe said that he was just a victim of poor form at the club. He said he would only preside over the Mighty Warriors’ All Africa Games campaign in Mozambique before exchanging his oversize suits for overalls in the farming fields of Goromonzi.
He is currently back at Kiglon but this could be his last season on the bench. “I am grateful to have coached such a big institution as CAPS United, though it was not a successful stay. I think I just fell victim to the team’s poor run that had started with the previous coach and continued into my reign. Having said that, I do not think I still have the power to continue coaching teams in the Premiership. I just want to make sure that the Mighty Warriors finish their All Africa Games campaign in Mozambique in September and then quit coaching. I have been a Premiership coach for five years and feel that I no longer have the energy to continue and this is the time for me to put more concentration on my farm in Goromonzi District,” he said.
At 47, Jongwe feels he has played his part in local football and says it is time to support the new coaches coming in. “I wish the young man (Lloyd Chitembwe) all the best in his quest to revive the Green Machine spirit,” he said.
Jongwe, a former teacher, started his coaching career at Buymore after being plucked from Juru Growth Point by Wavell Gunda at the start of the 2005 season.
Jongwe, in his debut season as a Premiership coach, guided Buymore to a respectable fifth position in 2005, behind then champions CAPS United, Masvingo, Highlanders and Motor Action, before embarking on a journey that saw him also coaching CAPS FC, Kiglon and Monomopa. He remembers with excitement his journey in the wilderness of African football.
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Jongwe boasts of having done something tangible for his country. “In 2007 the Zimbabwe Under-17 team became the inaugural champions of the Zone Six Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (Anoca) games that were held in Lesotho. Rodwell Dhlakama was the head coach and I was the deputy. That is a medal of honour that I hold and I take pride in having done something for my country.”
“The team had so much talent as it had the likes of Knowledge Musona, Quad Amini, Khama Billiart, Archford Gutu and Lincoln Zvasiya,” he said.
Ironically, Dhlakama was part of Jongwe’s backroom staff that was also shown the exit door together with their boss. The other assistant coach, Alois Bunjira, also got the boot.
Whether he will succeed in the farming environment after failing on the soccer pitch, time will tell.
