This archive report was first published on 8 January 2020.
Kenya national women volleyball team assistant coach Japheth Munala has returned home from Yaounde, Cameroon, to attend his mother's burial, missing the team's final Olympic qualifier game against Nigeria on Thursday.
Munala, who doubles as the head coach of top-flight league side Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB), made the decision to return home after his mother, Mama Joyce Munala, passed away at the start of the year.
"I am on my way back to see off my beloved mum. To my colleagues in Cameroon, please finish the task," Munala said on Wednesday.
As the team's assistant coach, Munala has been an integral part of the Malkia Strikers for the past half a decade, helping the team win both the African and African Games title earlier last year.
The team requires a win over Nigeria in the final match to be guaranteed qualification to the Olympic Games for the first time in 16 years.
