Background
Mulamba was born in Luluabourg (now Kananga).
Mulamba was born in Luluabourg (now Kananga).
He was nicknamed "Mutumbula" ("assassin") and "Volvo". In 1974 Mulamba played for Zaire in both the African Cup of Nations in Egypt and the World Cup in West Germany. In Germany he captained the team, and played in the 2–0 defeat by Scotland, but was sent off after 22 minutes against Yugoslavia.
Zaire were already losing 4–0 by then, and finally lost 9–0.
Mulamba said later that the team had underperformed, either in protest or from loss of morale, after not receiving a promised $45,000 match bonus. In 1994, Mulamba was honoured at the African Cup of Nations in Tunisia.
On returning to Zaire, was shot in the leg by robbers who mistakenly assumed a former sports star would be a wealthy target. Some new information goes against the "robber" theory, check the biography in the external links.
He was sheltered by Emmanuel Paye-Paye for eight months" recuperation.
During the First Congo War, Mulamba"s eldest son was killed and in 1996 he fled to South Africa as a refugee, alone and destitute. He went to Johannesburg and then Cape Town, where he was taken in by a family in a township. In 1998, a minute"s silence was held at the African Cup of Nations in Burkina Faso after an erroneous report that Mulamba had died in a diamond mining accident in Angola.
By then Mulamba was unemployed and drinking heavily.
Forgotten Gold, a documentary filmed in 2008-2009, follows him in South Africa and on a visit back to Congo.