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Nhlanhla Dube

Sports Reporter
THE Highlanders FC board has reportedly forced the executive to hire Nhlanhla Dube as the club’s substantive chief executive officer without any interviews being conducted despite requesting interested candidates to deposit their CVs in February.

According to sources at Bosso, Dube, a former secretary-general of the club, is set to be unveiled at a press conference today after the board railroaded his appointment.

He will replace veteran Ndumiso Gumede, who was initially suspended from all football activities by domestic football governing body Zifa before his sanction was lifted and he subsequently retired.

Secretary-general Emmett Ndlovu has been doubling up as acting CEO  since Gumede’s ban.

The sources said acting club chairman Modern Ngwenya was under a lot of pressure from the board’s human resources members.

The club’s leadership, according to sources, will attempt to justify Dube’s appointment without going through the interview process by arguing that the former secretary-general was headhunted in 2016.

However, the sources are questioning why CVs of interested candidates were requested in February if Dube had already been appointed to the post last year.

Highlanders’ members also gave the club’s leadership a March 31, 2017, deadline to appoint a substantive CEO at their annual general meeting held in January and the executive pledged to comply, although they missed the set deadline citing meagre financial inflows to make such a hiring.

Dube holds a Political Science Degree and was up against Nkululeko Ndlovu, a holder of a Masters in Business Administration, Bachelor of Education Degree, Diploma in Business Administration, Diploma in Education and Diploma in Counselling, as well as Lawrence Phiri, a former team manager of the great Bosso side of the 1980s.

As CEO, Dube will be expected to craft and execute a strategic plan to extricate the club from its estimated choking $1 million debt.

Ngwenya could not be reached for comment last night as his mobile phone was not being answered.