adminSikhumbuzo Moyo Senior Sports Reporter
A total of 120 disgruntled Highlanders members have so far appended their signatures to a petition to force an unprecedented extraordinary general meeting (EGM) that seeks to revoke the mandate of the present executive. According to the Bosso constitution, at least 100 paid up members may trigger an EGM through a petition.
Article 17 of the Bosso constitution titled Extraordinary General Meeting, states that EGMs shall be held at any time to discuss any urgent matter in part 17.1. Part 17.2 reads: “Members shall be entitled to at least seven days’ notice of such a meeting, to which shall be attached an agenda for the meeting.”
Part 17.5 states: “At least 100 paid up members by petition or resolution of the executive committee or board of trustees may call such a meeting.” Givemore Moyo, one of the masterminds behind the petition, said they wanted to collect as many signatures as possible to send a strong message to the Bosso leadership that they were serious about call for change.
Moyo said a similar petition for non-members was also being circulated. “We know that non-members’ views will not have a bearing, but these guys just want to send a message too that the sun has set for the executive. They are saying ‘we are not members but we follow this team home and away’, hence the decision to also assist in turning around the fortunes of Highlanders,” said Moyo.
He said 137 non-members had so far signed the petition.
“We will be approaching the secretary as per the dictates of the constitution anytime from now, but we want as many signatures as possible.”
However, a lawyer familiar with the crafting of the Bosso rule book said the constitution was deliberately doctored to make it “difficult for people to disrupt the normal day-to-day running of the club”.
The lawyer said if the constitution was lax, any member could call for an EGM over petty issues bordering on personal differences.The lawyer told Chronicle Sport yesterday that while it might be possible to call an EGM, it was almost impossible to achieve the intended objective.
“It’s like trying to impeach the president of a country. Laws are crafted in such a way that while one can follow it to the bone, it would almost be impossible to achieve your goal because if laws are relaxed, surely every overzealous person would jump and say we want to impeach the president over frivolous accusations,” said the lawyer.
He said this must be a lesson to Highlanders’ members to make informed decisions when electing their leaders at their elective annual general meetings.
“If they choose people on a friendship or kinship basis, this is what they get. They have to live with the pain of their uninformed decision so that next time they choose wisely.”
However, those pushing for the EGM have argued that Highlanders’ meetings have never met a quorum, but their resolutions have been binding.
“In fact, the executive and the board are all beneficiaries of unconstitutional Highlanders meetings since they were endorsed by meetings that didn’t constitute a quorum.
“Why should we then suddenly scream about a quorum when a precedent has already been set? All that will be required is for members to give their consent to the meeting going ahead, like has been the case with previous Highlanders meetings,” Moyo said.
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