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Emmet Ndlovu

Ricky Zililo, Senior Sports Reporter
HIGHLANDERS FC members are expected to deliberate on the club’s survival at their annual general meeting on Sunday following the expiry of Bosso’s sponsorship deal with BancABC.

Bosso are reeling with a debt close to $1 million and it appears there’s no solution in sight to save the country’s oldest football club from collapsing.

Highlanders’ executive led by acting chairman Modern Ngwenya has found no joy in trying to get sponsorship for the club to cushion it from spiralling costs associated with running an institution as big as Bosso.

Secretary-general Emmet Ndlovu, who is also doubling up as chief executive officer, said the chairman’s report will address the sponsorship matter.

“In accordance with the club’s constitution, we notified our members about the AGM through an advert inserted on January 8, 2017, that the meeting shall be held on January 29. The chairman’s report will cover issues to do with the players that the club has secured for the 2017 season as well as progress on sponsorship. The treasurer and board chairman will also present their reports. Any other business shall be listened to where due notice has been given,” Ndlovu said.

Critical to note is that the chairman’s report will be presented by Ngwenya, who was voted into office last February as vice-chairman after promising to help transform the club by ensuring it gets sponsorship.

Ngwenya is holding fort for Peter Dube, who was suspended by Zifa late last year alongside the club’s former chief executive officer Ndumiso Gumede whose contract expired on December 31. Gumede has since retired from football.

Dube is accused of unlawfully interrupting formal proceedings during a Zifa congress. He is also charged with attempting to incite chaos by urging PSL club representatives to denounce lawfully made resolutions, charges which he denies.

Ngwenya and his team have managed to tie down, among top players, Rahman Kutsanzira, Simon Munawa and Peter Muduhwa. They are said to be in the process of getting left-back Honest Moyo to pen a new deal.

The executive is believed to have extended contracts of the technical staff by a year.

During his campaign for the club’s vice chairmanship last year, Ngwenya had said he was eager to bring transformation at Highlanders.

The then Harare-based Ngwenya presented a 10-point manifesto, which included, among other things, assisting the club in strengthening the supporters’ chapters, mobilising financial support, especially in Harare, help youth development programmes at the club, play a part in fortifying the secretariat and add value by availing himself whenever required.

Ngwenya, a former Highlanders Harare supporters chapter chairman, vowed to ensure a rapid embrace of technology to improve efficiency and effectiveness of communication for speedy decision making, which would make redundant various unofficial chat forums that spread malice and lies about the club.

Key in his campaign was the promise to bring sponsorship to the club.

He told members that he had access to captains of industry, especially in Harare, and would harness those to create strategic relationships in an effort to convince them to either sponsor or make donations to the Highlanders cause.

This Sunday’s meeting presents Ngwenya with a perfect opportunity to let members know what he has done in the last 12 months towards fulfilling those promises.

The same goes for treasurer Donald Ndebele, who highlighted the need to improve management at the turnstiles. Ndebele noted that there were a lot of leakages in gate-takings’ revenues and he wanted to plug them.

He is also expected to brief members on strategies adopted to arrest the ballooning debt.

@ZililoR