Abel returns home

…burial on Saturday…

The remains of Abel Mwakilama, who until his death was the Flames Under 20 and Sporting Clube de Esmoriz forward, arrived in the country from Portugal this afternoon.

The former Chitipa United forward died a fortnight ago after succumbing to cerebral malaria.

Malawians waited with family members, Football Association of Malawi (FAM) officials, Super League of Malawi (Sulom) officials, his Flames Under 20 teammates and club officials as the plane that carried Mwakilama’s body touched down at the airport.

Soon after collecting the body, there was a session of prayers before leaving for Karonga for a burial ceremony on Saturday.

Initially, the body was supposed to be buried on Sunday but the family changed at the eleventh hour, a development which has seen Flames Under 20 friendly match with Zambia clashing with Mwakilama’s burial.

The 19-year-old joined Clube de Esmoriz from Chitipa United in January where he made 12 appearances from which he scored 12 goals.

According to reports, days before his sudden death, Mwakilama complained of severe headache before being taken to the hospital where Doctors told his agent that he had only hours’ to live as 95% of his brain got damaged by cerebral malaria.

1 hour ago · Seen 5:26pm ·