KATIMA MULILO – Born in the town of Katima Mulilo in 1975, Given Numwa was destined for the bigger stage – among those very few who were literally born with a silver spoon in the mouth.
One of the players that shared a football field with him although he never got the chance to play in the same side as the giant striker is former Ramblers and Tigers fast-as-lightning winger Agenda Matongo. Nowadays an astute football analyst on the national broadcaster (NBC) television, Matongo speaks highly of his regional compatriot.
“He was quite a handful for opposing defenders and was extremely strong on the ground and could fend off robust defenders easily with his huge frame. In fact, I was actually not surprised when he received a call up to the Brave Warriors side.
“Given was a prolific goal scorer and was quick off the mark for a guy of his heavy physique,” reveals the usually easygoing beanpole former winger.
Matongo expressed regret that the Zambezi Region never had the opportunity to field a regional team where the crème de la crème of Katima Mulilo could combine their skills to test and pit their strength against other regional invitational teams as opposed to other regions.
“Katima used to have a lot of great footballers in the past with local teams competing fiercely despite operating under unbearable conditions with virtually no proper fields and well trained officials.”
A versatile athlete, Numwa rose to prominence by announcing his arrival in the country’s top flight league with breathtaking displays in the red, white and blue colours of Katutura glamour football club, African Stars in 1996.
His football career got off to a flying start as early as his days at both junior and secondary schools where he always commanded a place in the starting line-up of the schools’ first teams.
He was also a terrific runner during his school days showing his competitors a clean pair of heels in the shorter sprints.
Given’s goal-scoring prowess did not escape the eyes and attention of talent scouts. He was snapped up by one of the town’s prominent football clubs Moving Ways, where he immediately established himself as a proven goal scorer to become the darling of football followers in the entire Zambezi.
However, it was during his stint with the Namibian Defence Force (NDF) that those with close links to the beautiful game started to take note of this absolute raw gem.
Numwa walked away with the prestigious most outstanding player of the tournament award after an amazing flawless display in the highly competitive four-nations tournament for national defence forces, featuring hosts Botswana (A & B), Zambia and the Namibia Defence Force team in Gaborone, Botswana in 1996.
Soon afterwards, word quickly spread about the unequalled goal-scoring prowess of the giant striker.
Staunch supporters of African Stars, under the stewardship of the late schoolteacher Teacher Muukua, saw him tormenting defenders with ease while playing for the Namibian Defence Force team.
His impressive performance convinced the diehard Reds supporters to persuade Given to join forces with the country’s best supported football entity and as they say, the rest is history.
After a few games in the domestic flagship league in the colours of an average African Stars outfit – Brave Warriors mentor Peter Uberjahn, obviously short of a prolific striker to partner the clearly overworked Chief Santos forward Gerros ‘the Bomber’ Uri-Khob, saw Numwa as the missing link in his misfiring inexperienced but fast improving squad.
The Katima Bomber was immediately drafted into the squad and made his international debut against Zimbabwe in the annual Cosafa Cup at the then Warriors slaughterhouse – the Independence Stadium in Windhoek in 1996.
Although his lodging in the stuttering Warriors nest was to be short lived as a result of work commitments – Given eventually developed itchy feet and jumped ship to join Stars’ archrivals Liverpool to be closer to home since he was based at the Osona Army Base near the garden town.
Besides the difficulty in traveling between Windhoek and Okahandja for daily training sessions, Numwa admits that he could not resist the chance of playing alongside his favourite player in the shape of former Brave Warriors and Liverpool (Okahandja) midfield wunderkind Congo ‘Jakkals’ Hindjou.
“Congo was a phenomenal footballer, a rare gem and possessed talent way belying his young age and rookie tag. Playing with him allowed strikers to run freely into open spaces since he had this uncanny style and unbelievable vision.
“He was the kind of player who could with one moment of individual brilliance open up tight defenses with unpredictable defence-splitting passes.”
Numwa ended his astonishing football career on a high note when his goals almost single-handedly steered Mighty Gunners to the MTC Premiership. He was player-assistant coach to former Black Africa prolific net rattler Dawid ‘Fellah’ Snewe, at the men in camouflaged uniform.
He finally called it quits when he was deployed to the 262 Motorized Infantry Battalion Greenwell Matongo Military Barracks in the Zambezi Region.