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Lovemore Dube , [email protected]

ZIMBABWE Saints trustee Vincent Pamire says Sunday’s planned meeting at the club’s Queens Park East facility will not go ahead as it has been called illegally for next Sunday.

He says the club has no membership to do so as it was deserted during its time of turmoil.

Pamire said Lloyd Munhanga, who called the meeting, ceased being the club’s chief executive when the club collapsed last year. As such, Pamire said Munhanga has no legal basis to call the meeting.

He said it was unfortunate that  Munhanga was at the forefront of calls to expel Saints from the Zifa Southern Region Division One League.

Saints were fired for failing to pay referees and also affiliation fees on time.

“It is an improper meeting, for starters Saints does not have a chief executive officer, it has an interim chairman.

“Unfortunately the one who appoints, disappoints, he was there when it was necessary, when things went wrong there was no Saints, you can’t be chief executive when you are not earning, what is your interest?” queried Pamire.

Pamire said Munhanga served in the position in 2022 when it was necessary.

He said with the club thrown out of the Southern Region, Saints ceased to have a chief executive officer adding that the club had closed shop and people had deserted it once more.

The club trustee said there has to be an appreciation that there is Zimbabwe Saints Football Club that has vested interests and another wing that takes care of the legacy and assets which include the clubhouse.

He said trustees run the team’s clubhouse while an executive is in charge of football.

Pamire said he has since advised the club interim chairman about the illegality of the meeting called by the ‘chief executive officer.’

“Saints has no treasurer who can present the financial statements, Saints has no chief executive, Saints has no membership,” said Pamire.

He emphasised that the club had no membership to elect trustees as stated in the invitation to the annual general meeting.

Pamire said it was sad that the membership of the team was not an all-weather one as people only surface whenever there is activity.

“Last month I was approached by Lovejoy Mugadza Vinya who said as former players they wanted to run the Division Two project which they will start from scratch and find their own coaches and management. The players want to fund the Division Two project on their own. All of a sudden people have come to life and are now members, when the club stutters they all disappear,” said Pamire.

Munhanga said he was not empowered to speak to the media and said one of the club trustees Gibson Homela was in agreement with the hosting of the meeting.

“Trustee Gibson Homela knows about the meeting. I did not call it by myself, we have a membership and one John Homera has just joined from the US. I know there is one member of the trustees who is not comfortable with the meeting because of his shenanigans,” said Munhanga.

Asked for comment Homela acknowledged the meeting and that he had met Munhanga and interim chairman Kaguru. He described the meeting as crucial deserving of members calling a spade a spade.

“I spoke to Munhanga today and asked him if he had written to Pamire inviting him to the meeting. He said he will give him the letter tomorrow (today). This meeting is crucial and we want people to be frank with each other as we want to pave the way forward for the club’s future. For long we have not been open with each other,” said Homela.

There seems to be two sets of trustees at the club as Homela says he is in one which had the likes of the late Joseph Rusike while there is one led by Pamire who was part of the Rusike one but now appears in a new one that rescued the Zimbabwe Saints Clubhouse from takeover by Bulawayo City Council.

“The clubhouse was not functional for 15 years until we rescued it. People are asking about money from the management arrangement, when we rescued it using our own funds where were they,? asked Pamire.

With Homela saying he is aware of it and being a colossal figure at the club often associated with efforts to revive it and also blamed alongside Pamire for problems, a bruising meeting looks on the cards on Sunday.