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IMAGINE waking up to Highlanders FC now based in Chinhoyi and Dynamos changing from DeMbare to DeMaveni – these are questions that have been thrown at me for the past decade. I have grown tired of the subject, though I cannot help but return to it when an opportunity arises. What has prompted me are the goings on at Highlanders that have attracted a lot of attention on both mainstream media and social networks.

There is no doubt Highlanders is a big brand that deserves better. The battering the name is getting is no good at all as the club may live to count the costs some day.

It draws me to my subject. For how long will Dynamos and Highlanders continue to have the ‘Community Tag’? The future looks doomed for both under the present ownership structure where one can bus 45 people from Esigodini to disrupt those with positive contributions.

One can bring people from Victoria Falls to come and vote for him. Members who would not have attended the club’s annual general meeting may be lured by the 440km drinking binge to come and vote a wrong leader into office at the expense of the club’s interests.

Its calamitous for one to spend a fortune in a vote unless the stakes inside are high. Those who use money to entice people to vote for them are doing that at their own peril because football administration is a thankless job. What you get once in office are insults.

There is mistaken belief that once one is voted into office, he or she can recover spent money but the reality is that it’s a free service. Many homes have broken up with women not happy with the many hours their husbands spend with the ungrateful lot.

When chips are low the executive takes all the blame for the wrongs at the club. When the team is doing well it is the coach, players and supporters who make it happen.

It is not a secret that Dynamos and Highlanders are reeling under financial challenges and only the executives are being blamed.

It is high time the issue of the club’s ownership was vigorously explored. Others argue that these teams because of their founding history, they belong to the people.

A friend once argued that if shares were floated and Phillip Chiyangwa became the major shareholder and took Highlanders to Chinhoyi what would happen? They say the team would lose its identity and that is what the two teams’ boards are there to safeguard.

It is what the Dynamos board would worry about before the club’s franchise is given away.

Waking up to DeLuveve or DeMaveni with an owner of Dynamos from south of the Sanyati River, would leave followers feeling robbed.

Perhaps the time has come for both fans and administrators to think outside the box and court partners from around the globe.

At least external partnerships could ensure the identity is not lost. These would bring in technical expertise and money that would turn around the fortunes of these clubs.

Imagine Highlanders partnering with Barcelona and Dynamos with Chelsea. All the best players from the two Zimbabwe giants going to these teams for trials every year, coaches moving either way on attachment and Bosso and DeMbare getting $2 million. They would turn the domestic league into a two-team competition. They would in fact compete with some of the best in Africa.

This issue of never ending squabbles could be dealt with once and for all.

Right now anyone who sympathises with either giants has as much a claim in the club as the other who carries a card.

If what happened in Botswana where Lebanese businesspeople have invested in some of these former community clubs were to happen here, I do not think I would turn my back on my community club Chikwata. I would take that as someone who has come on board to ensure the club’s legacy lives on. Why should I stand by a street corner and bark when all I can contribute is to brew controversy?

Blessed are clubs like Hwange, How Mine and FC Platinum who have no hassles to worry about at annual general meetings.

This is an issue that Dynamos and Highlanders supporters should seriously consider. For how long will they carry a begging bowl yet in stature in Central and Southern Africa they could just be behind TP Mazembe, Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates?

The fact that they subject themselves to elections does not mean the best will be elected to run their affairs as a lot of dynamics come into play.

I hope, for a change, serious issues about the club’s future which are more important than positions could arise at Highlanders’ annual general meeting. Sponsorship is now the glue that has kept both teams afloat in an environment where sports sponsorship is now a luxury.

These brands must attract buyers or investors from abroad who would run them like real business entities unlike “boys’ clubs”.