Rwandan football fraternity is mourning Madeleine Mukanemeye, the famous elderly woman affectionately known as "Mama Mukura” for her unconditional love for Huye-based club Mukura Victory Sports, has died aged 103.

Her passing was announced by the club on Sunday, August 3, via its social media platforms. The club said she died under "sudden circumstances.”

Mukanemeye had been admitted at Kabutare Hospital in March before being transferred to the University Teaching Hospital of Butare (CHUB) a day later after doctors found that she critically ill.

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Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Olivier Nduhungirehe was among the first to send tributes for Mukanemeye who, regardless her age, barely missed matches that both Mukura VS and Rwanda’s national team Amavubi hosted at Huye Stadium.

"RIP (Rest In Peace) Madeleine Mukanemeye, aka Mama Mukura,” Nduhungirehe, who is also an ardent supporter of Mukura VS, posted on x.

Who was Mukanemeye?

Mukanemeye was born in 1922 in Kabitoki Village, Munazi Cell, Save Sector, Gisagara District; she was the youngest in a family of eight children.

She attended primary school but dropped out in the third grade to work as a cook for nuns in Kibeho, Nyaruguru District.

She got to married in 1965, but they had no children.

Her passion for football dates back to her young age when she was in primary school. She even tried to play it.

She used to go to watch football matches where boys from the neighbourhood would play and sometimes she would play with them.

She told the media that, when she was young, she went to watch football matches attended by King Mutara III Rudahigwa.

Mukanemeye started to support Mukura VS from the day it was founded in 1963. She is also an avid fan of Rwanda’s national team ‘Amavubi’ and barely missed a single match they hosted at Huye Stadium.