The Sunday News
Ezra Tshisa Sibanda, Guest Writer
MAY I take this opportunity, first and foremost, to thank the editor of this newspaper for affording me an opportunity to put to the world out there, my thoughts on this beloved football institution and family called Highlanders Football Club.
It is very rare for someone like me to be afforded this opportunity. This is especially coming against a background of the myriad attacks on my person by some within our club’s midst who assume, and dangerously so, that I have ulterior motives for associating with this great club.
As a precursor to what I am going to say, let me categorically state that I have been and shall continue to be a fervent supporter of Highlanders Football Club come rain, come thunder. My love and support for the club is not by mistake or by chance. I need no position at the club and will always be 100% behind it.
I grew up within the rank and file of the club and I have come to take Highlanders Football Club as a religion. It pains me, though, to see this once mighty club having deteriorated to such alarming levels and do hope that one day, some people will see the reality that we are all seeing, which is that they have failed to run the club and for that reason, find it worth the while to leave the administration of the club to those that are capable.
I will state my reasons for my case and let me reiterate that this is not out of hate for anybody but out of the reality that is facing the club and there are things that I believe should be done in order to restore the might that Highlanders had in the years gone by.
I personally yearn to see a prosperous Highlanders whose success would most likely emulate the Highlanders of the era of Roger Muhlwa and the late chairperson, James Mangwana Tshuma.
For starters, it is very much taboo for a club as big as Highlanders to end in the position that the once mighty giants finished on at the end of last season. That can only happen when you have a failed system in the institution. It can only happen when those in charge believe, wrongly so, that the decisions they make are right when the opposite is actually true.
It can only happen when you have an institutional leadership whose main business is to see a satanic, demonic, and political hand in any piece of advice that comes its way from those the leadership perceives as negative elements around the club.
Dear reader, let me pose a question to you: What kind of season do you feel Highlanders had?
Here is the one I remember very well: A league campaign that never seriously threatened for championship, and a run that saw the great Zimbabwean club languishing in a very unfamiliar position on the league log for most of 2015 season and a run which saw all Highlanders fans doing weekly maths calculations of points and checking how their team can avoid relegation.
What an unheard of development for ithimu yezwe lonke as fans would sing. I remember the days when people used to drive long distance to watch Highlanders. Some were involved in accidents where their friends and relatives lost lives and limbs just for the love of their team. Can that be said of the Highlanders of the last two seasons and beyond, I wonder.
This is how low Highlanders has been under the leadership of Peter Dube. It’s hard to believe. I can’t help feeling Harare City fans had a much more exciting season than anyone at Bosso did. A Castle Lager League premiership title is the kind of a dream that Bosso fans would have these days. What a low ebb this can be. I have never seen Highlanders so poorly run and managed in my life and I’m sure this generation has never witnessed Bosso in such a state either.
Some of us have been labeled as bad apples in the basket and the Highlanders leadership has ensured that even what we believe are bright ideas that can bring back the good old days to the club are thrown out of the window without even due consideration.
The reason is that the executive, I have to repeat, led by Mr Peter Dube has failed dismally to run the club affairs. Mr Dube promised to take the club to the Promised Land in 2012 when he was voted in to take charge of Bosso. He promised to clear the debts in his first term, revive Bosso junior policy and get the club going again but four years down the line things are getting even worse by the day.
He was “scandalously” retained as the chair in 2015 without challenge after the Board decided to disqualify former player, manager and chairman of Highlanders and the last championship winning chairman Earnest “Maphepha” Sibanda labelling him “a man of no good standing”.
The board’s chosen one, Mr Dube has failed dismally to perform as expected and has blamed everybody and everything else but him. His leadership at the club has been a disaster and the sooner he allows fresh blood to take over, the better for him and brand Highlanders.
What Highlanders needs at the moment is a thorough stocktake of its own affairs internally. We cannot have, as I said, a situation where officials at the club, whom we expect to provide leadership, fail to deliver but only see shadows where there are none and then go on to blame these shadows for the club’s lull performance throughout the season.
On 22 October 2015, Mr Dube addressed journalists at the club’s traditional Thursday press conference where he shocked the world by attacking faceless characters who he blames for the club’s deterioration.
He accused these characters of being behind the sacking of coaches Kelvin Kaindu and Bongani Mafu. This is astonishing. Mr Dube is on record saying Kaindu resigned which he confirmed in the last AGM and now he tells the press there were people behind his sacking NOT resignation. Again, he says Mafu was relieved of his duties because there were people behind his sacking.
Does Mr Dube understand his role as chairman of Bosso? Perhaps he doesn’t even know his duties hence outside forces interfere with his tasks and decision making.
For God sake, Mr Dube is a democratically elected chairman of a democratically elected executive of Highlanders FC as far as members are concerned. He needs to tell Bosso followers and card holding members and the nation how faceless characters are now running the club!
He needs to tell the people how unelected individuals have so much power to run the club illegally yet he and his executive were given the mandate by people to do the job! He needs to explain how and why he allowed these faceless characters to push him to sack the coaches yet he is the chairman! He has to explain how and why the constitution which is supposed to work as the guide in his role of chairmanship continues to be violated under his watch allowing outsiders to take control of the club.
Furthermore, he needs to explain how and why was the unelected Board allowed to appoint Mafu (it is alleged it had a big say in that) against his will unless he is confirming my point that the board realises his ineptitude hence its move to then do things on his behalf?
The club constitution is clear on the roles of Bosso leadership. The executive appoints the technical team, the board is just there to offer advice and why did they allow the Board to impose their own chosen coach?
It’s so laughable that Mr Dube is blaming everyone for the clubs’s failures. In his world, the press, facebook, WhatsApp, faceless characters, the board, the players, the coaches, the fans etc have all contributed in the demise of the club and he remains perfect. He can’t raise his hand up, admit his failures and acknowledge his mistakes.
Many believe he has allowed the board, a bunch of unelected people, to override him and his executive. In the circumstances, he should do the honourable thing and resign. Mr Dube needs to apologise to Highlanders people for allowing faceless people to drive the club and violate the constitution. It’s a familiar story of frustration for Bosso fans, who have seen six different coaches fail to bring sustained success or even progress to the club since 2006.
I have no personal issues with Mr Dube but I find his management style a preposterous insult to those that love and support Bosso. To trade self-avowed partisan football propaganda against the backdrop of glaring facts that even a cognitively less-competent commoner can see is not good at all.
I have a few observations which l want to outline and will appreciate Mr Dube’s response:
The Tshinga-Dube Bus
From the minutes of AGM meeting it is clearly stated US$20 000 was handed over to Retired General Mr Tshinga Dube to help top it up with his 50% and purchase a bus for the club in 2012. The bus was expected to be delivered I’m sure by the end of that year.
Some fans understand things didn’t go well and there was no word on the bus till members began speculating that they were misled and “there was never a bus”. As usual, at the 2013 and 2014 AGM meetings, Mr Dube gave some excuses and members were told the bus was coming but to no avail. Chairman Mr Dube’s term of office was slowly but surely coming to an end come 31 January 2015.
Because of the decline of the team and poor management style, his exit was imminent and the bus issue was revisited to help boost his chances of retaining power, I believe. The Highlanders Board then had to come to his rescue by disqualifying the only challenger “Maphepha” Sibanda who was clearly a favourite to dump Mr Dube out of office.
The reasons given was that he was not fit and labelled ‘‘man of no good standing’’. But again they knew members would demand the bus or money in the AGM so ubaba Tshinga Dube had to come and help explain about the bus to members, and that was not even on the agenda.
He was given a chance, he explained and told the members that the bus was purchased and was now from South Africa and would be delivered within a week. That caused members to trust Mr Dube and allowed him back to lead the club.
The bus wasn’t delivered till mid-year by the way. I know Tshinga did his best but what was annoying was getting information from the club that the bus was ready only to turn around and say it needed paper work. Promises, promises have been the order of the day at the club. There were conflicting statements that the bus didn’t have paperwork, had problems with Zimra, needed police clearance and so on, until later in the year.
Nyaradzo Bus and Banc ABC Sponsorship
Highlanders and Dynamos got lucrative sponsorship from Banc ABC. This bank is a financial institution which loved its brand to be associated with Zimbabwe’s biggest and most supported clubs.
By the way, the bank deals with money matters only and that’s their business. The sponsorship which has been running for years now, came well before Mr Dube’s executive at Highlanders and just to let fans know it was during Mr Themba Ndlela time, September of 2013 season to be precise, that the deal was clinched.
Nyaradzo, which is a funeral policy company, also decided to come on board and sponsor the two clubs, Bosso and DeMbare adding to the sponsorship of Banc ABC. They bought two new state of the art branded buses with team colours, similar in every respects which they gave to both clubs. Dynamos with its visionary leadership accepted theirs while Highlanders led by Mr Dube wanted to consult first.
‘’The Highlanders Football Club executive is wary of appending its signature on the bus contract with Nyaradzo Funeral Group as they fear violating their contract with official sponsors BancABC’’ read Bosso statement.
To prove his executive’s lack of proper direction, Mr Dube kept telling members that they wanted clearance from Banc ABC and the bus would be delivered ‘soon’. Its clear Dynamos and Highlanders sponsorship conditions were the same from the two companies and for Mr Dube to mislead Highlanders members and use Banc ABC sponsorship as the reason for the delay in getting Nyaradzo bus was miscalculated in my opinion. The two brands, Nyaradzo and Banc ABC have different products and are never in competition, it’s not like Adidas and Nike, Coca Cola and Pepsi, and it’s simple a bank and a funeral policy.
Highlanders could have saved tens of thousands of dollars if they had taken the Nyaradzo bus in 2013 and banked the money they gave Rtrd Col Tshinga Dube to buy the second hand bus.
Where on earth do you find a club that is allergic to criticism? Where on earth do you find a club leadership which feels insulted when people raise important issues that need to be dealt with?
It beats me why a club leadership would feel undermined by mere criticism. How would the chefs at Highlanders deal with the amount of criticism that would come their way had they been in President Robert Mugabe’s shoes, looking at the barrage of criticism that comes from the international community and from the other players in the political sphere within.
To some of us who have been exposed to set-ups far and wide, leaders at clubs like Chelsea, Manchster United and Arsenal are criticised on social media ny fans. Others write letters of criticism to the club leadership until action is taken on those critical issues requiring addressing, but that is taboo at Bosso.
At Highlanders, you have a chief executive who sees and hears about challenges the club faces on social media and still fails to act. Why is he in office if he is failing to address the concerns of the fans and other stakeholders? Whose interests is he serving? We wonder.Where on earth do you find a club that is allergic to criticism? Where on earth do you find a club leadership which feels insulted when people raise important issues that need to be dealt with?
Like I said earlier, Highlanders should be a club that most clubs locally and internationally envy given that it’s the oldest club in the country. In a few weeks time, the club turns 90. What is there to show for all this? One wonders.
A look at the club’s support base tells you there are so many people who would want to be associated with Highlanders. But a blind Highlanders leadership, which cannot see the critical sign posts along the way, is failing to tap into that sympathy that most people have for the club.
Ezra Tshisa Sibanda is a broadcast Journalist, Social Commentator and “son of Highlanders FC.” He writes in his personal capacity.
