Muleya broke racial barriers and opened a new era in Rhodesian sport when he beat the famous British four minute miler, Gordon Pirie, by 100 yards in a three-mile race at Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia in December 1958.
[2] On the strength of this achievement, he was invited to compete against British distance star Gordon Pirie in a track meet at Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia, a segregationist stronghold on 6 December 1958.
However, his skin colour almost saw him being barred by South Africa-born William DuBois, a dedicated white supremacist who served as chairman of the Southern Rhodesian Amateur Athletic and Cycling Union.
Said Negro Leader Stanlake Samkange: "Muleya did more for good race relations in under a quarter of an hour than hundreds of twittering interracialists have achieved in the last five years.
"[3] Muleya's victory was reported in the popular American magazine Sports Illustrated as making "a nice crack in Rhodesia's grim racial barrier.
[7] On 16 November 1959, Muleya and, white track star, John Winter, the Southern Rhodesian quarter mile champion, set off on 3 month scholarships at the Central Michigan College from Salisbury Airport.
[1] He was given a state funeral and his younger brother Jesse represented the family at the open air memorial service which was held at Hodgson Technical College.