Wanderers boss reveals why he banned juju practices

Malawi’s Mighty Wanderers FC Board Chairperson Thomson Mpinganjira has revealed how much the club used to spend paying traditional doctors for juju services to win games and why he banned such practices.

Mpinganjira told a gathering for the TNM Super League champions’ in-house Presidential Ball Awards gala in Blantyre on Sunday that he found juju practices in the team when he took over as the majority shareholder and main sponsor around 2022.

It is the first time that a club president in Africa has openly revealed expenditure on such practices.

How Wanderers ended Juju practices

The Nomads president told the gathering that when he assumed the position, the club used to spend around USSD1, 700 (MK3 million) per game to pay juju service providers, a practice he condemned and banned.

Reflecting on how the Blantyre-based club finally won the TNM Super League championship last season, for the first time since 2017, the business magnate stressed that it was all due to hard work and discipline.

“We have won [the league title] because our team doesn’t believe in juju,” the FDH Bank founder said in his speech. “They used the English word of research [on the club’s budget] to describe juju expenditure.

“When I joined the team, people were collecting MK3 million from gate takings to pay for what they used to call research. [Now] I don’t want to hear the word juju or research again. Not at Wanderers. If you want to whisper, whisper outside.”

President issues warning to Wanderers coaches

Considered as among the richest people in Malawi, the Wanderers boss then addressed directly coach Bob Mpinganjira, not related to the sponsor, and his deputy McDonald ‘Nginde’ Mtetemera, warning the duo against entertaining such superstitious beliefs.

“I don’t want to hear that. It confuses our players. ‘Bob and Nginde: Stop this’. I am not saying you do it though,” the board chairperson added.

“The thing about juju is that when you use it, they say ‘don’t worry, you will win’ but after 30 seconds, you concede a goal and players lose confidence. In any case, apart from the 1978 [East and Central Africa Senior Challenge Cup trophy], what has Malawi [national team] won using juju?

Juju is widely practiced in Africa; recently fans for another Malawian team FCB Big Bullets were penalised for invading the pitch late last season at Kamuzu Stadium to sprinkle liquid substances linked to such beliefs.

Two weeks ago, a DR Congo domestic league match between TP Mazembe and Saint Eloi Lupopo ended prematurely after some fans invaded the pitch and appeared to urinate between Lupopo goalposts, a practice linked to neutralising the strength of the opponents.