* He led Mbabane Highlanders to a remarkable second-place finish in 2016, narrowly missing out on the league title by just one point
* This achievement remains the club’s best finish in the past decade and returns with a mission to restore the club’s legacy
By Duncan Mlanjira
Former Mighty Wanderers mentor, Meck Mwase has been re-engaged as head coach for eSwatini’s top league side, Mbabane Highlanders for a second stint after he served the club in same role for 2015-2016 season.
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A statement by the club issued today, February 17, indicates that during his one season tenure, the former Malawi international Mwase led Mbabane Highlanders “to a remarkable second-place finish of their league, narrowly missing out on the league title by just one point”.
“This achievement remains the club’s best finish in the past decade,” says the club, adding that “Mwase returns to Mbabane Highlanders with a mission to restore the club’s legacy and deliver the glory that supporters have been longing for”.
“His first challenge will be the much-anticipated clash against long-time rivals Moneni Pirates in Matchweek 16 of the MTN Premier League. We are confident that Mwale’s experience, passion, and commitment will inspire the team to reach new heights.”
The head coach and will be assisted by Vusisizwe Mahlalela with Chico Mayisa, the club’s former player also making a return to Mbabane Highlanders to serve as goalkeeper coach.
“We wish them well in their new assignment and counting on the support of the Mbabane Highlanders’ faithful to rally behind them as we continue to drive the team back to its rightful place at the top of the food chain,” said the club.
In October 2016, Mwase parted ways with Mbabane Highlanders over reports of contractual disagreements, after leading the team to the runners-up finish and the coach also earned Best Coach in the 2016 first round season — which was a double celebration as his captain, Xolani Chocco Sibandze won the best player award.
Mwase abandoned Mighty Wanderers towards the close of the TNM Super League 2024 without any explanation forcing the Nomads to engage his assistant Bob Mpinganjira to take over in the interim to finish the season.
Coach Meck Mwase and his deputy Bob Mpinganjira at Wanderers last season
Bob took the team to a second-place finish of the TNM Super League 2024 and the Castel Challenge Cup 2024 title and has since been confirmed as the head coach ahead of the 2025 season.
As a player, Mwase excelled as a defender for Mighty Wanderers, Big Bullets and the national team before joining South Africa’s Jomo Cosmos.
Following his achievement as a coach, especially after his stint in Swaziland, FAM engaged him as Flames coach with a mission to qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations (AfCON) Cameroon 2021 finals, which he did along with his deputy Lovemore Fazili.
Mwase during his stint as Flames coach
But FAM made a huge U-turn by replacing him with the then technical director, Mario Marinicha, who was made head coach but he tested positive of CoVID-19, rendering Mwase in charge in which he led the team to their first-ever knockout stage qualification, the Round of 16.
Marinica took over the team after he was cleared of CoVID-19 but under his leadership, the Flames were booted out by Morocco.
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