Seasoned Malawi sports journalist, Peter Kanjere amongst renowned football analysts as judges for inaugural COSAFA awards

* Kanjere first made presence felt in Malawi’s sports journalism working for the Times Group — then named Blantyre Newspapers Limited (BNL)

* Before moving to the Nation Publications and he also corresponds with SuperSport’s online publication

By Duncan Mlanjira

The judging panel of renowned football analysts to identify inaugural winners of the Confederation of Southern African Football Association (COSAFA) includes Malawi’s season sports journalists, Peter Kanjere.

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The judging panel is drawn from across the 14 member nations that make up COSAFA and the others are Houssamidine Ben Ahmed (Comoros), Ivan Capuepue (Angola), Rob Delport (South Africa), Gerard Govinden (Seychelles), Jesse Kauraisa (Namibia), Kagiso Kgaogano (Botswana), Sibusiso Masilela (Eswatini), Sandra Mwila (Zambia), Boitelo Radebe (Lesotho), Heriniaina Samson (Madagascar), Benoit Thomas (Mauritius), Steve Vickers (Zimbabwe) and Raimundo Zandamela (Mozambique).

Kanjere, who first made presence felt in Malawi’s sports journalism working for the Times Group — then named Blantyre Newspapers Limited (BNL) — before moving to the Nation Publications, also corresponds with SuperSport’s online publication.

He is currently public relations officer (PRO) for Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (ESCOM) Limited but his passion for sports — football in particular — is still aflame by contributing to SuperSport and sometimes to other online publications.

He will be torn by a rock and a hard place as he has to contribute towards winners of various categories that involve Malawians — such as the Women’s Promising Player of the Year that has two Malawi Scorchers midfielders, Leticia Chinyamula and Rose Kabzere been nominated alongside Zambian, Esther Banda.

Also unveiled by COSAFA as nominees for Goalkeeper of Year include Malawi Scorchers shot stopper, Mercy Sikelo alongside South Africans, Andile Dlamini and Kaylin Swart.

Other categories of the awards whose nominees are yet to be unveiled include Men’s Player of the Year; Women’s Player of the Year; Men’s Goalkeeper of the Year, Men’s Most Promising Player of the Year (aged 20 or under); Male Coach of the Year; Female Coach of the Year; Male Referee of the Year and Female Referee of the Year — whose winners will be unveiled at a gala night in Durban, South Africa on April 19.

The winner will be announced at a gala awards ceremony in Durban on April 19, with a panel of judges from across the region having assessed their performances for the period of January 1 to December 31, 2023.

The citations from COSAFA on Women’s Promising Player of the Year are:

Esther Banda (Green Buffaloes & Zambia)

Defender Banda had a breakthrough year in 2023, travelling to the Women’s World Cup, though she did not play, helping Zambia to the silver medal at the COSAFA Women’s Championship and scoring her first international goals in the 2024 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.

The 19-year-old is certainly on an upward trajectory and also helped Green Buffaloes to the semifinals of the COSAFA Women’s Champions League competition.

Rose Kabzere (2nd left top picture) collected a goal and four assists, with Leticia (centre) netting two

Leticia Chinyamula (Ascent Academy & Malawi)

The 17-year-old midfielder was a key player for Malawi as they claimed a maiden success at the 2023 COSAFA Women’s Championship when they beat Zambia 2-1 in the final. She scored in the epic 4-3 win over hosts South Africa and in the 3-1 success against Madagascar in the pool stages. She started the final and put in an excellent display.

Rose Kadzere (Ascent Academy & Malawi)

Kadzere was another who shone as Malawi won the 2023 COSAFA Women’s Championship, despite being only 17 years of age.

She got herself a goal in the 8-0 win over Eswatini and was steady throughout the campaign, playing in every match, including starting the final.

She was previously leading scorer in the COSAFA Under-17 Women’s Championship in 2022 and continued that development through the year.

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