DeMbare crisis indaba

expected to meet with club chairman Farai Munetsi to clarify their decision to fire secretary-general Oliver Manyau and treasurer Harrison Mbewe for alleged inco-mpetence.
Munetsi has thrown his weight behind Manyau and Mbewe and wants the board of directors to rescind their decision.
The Harare business executive is also banking on the support of board chairman Richard Chiminya in his desperate attempt to save Manyau and Mbewe from being sho-wn the exit door.
But Munetsi’s bid appears to be futile after it emerged that the majority of the board had stuck to their guns and were pressing ahead with their October 28, 2010 resolution to reshuffle the executive and fire Manyau and Mbewe.
Although a decision to fire Manyau and Mbewe was taken last year, it was only implemented after another board meeting in the capital on March 1, which was chaired by board of directors vice-chairman Freddie Mkwesha.
The move to implement the decision did not go down well with Chiminya and Mune-tsi with the former declaring it a nullity while the latter professed ignorance over the dismissals, claiming he was not consulted over the March 1 indaba.
It was against this background that Mune-tsi requested for a meeting with the board of directors.
An initial meeting between the two parties failed to take place at the weekend after the board of directors cited the absence of some of their members including Mkwesha.
“I did not see the letters of dismissal that are said to have been given to Manyau and Mbewe, but I felt it was only proper to consult with me about any decision since I work with them on the executive.
“Of course, the mandate to appoint executive committee members lies with the board but as chairman of that executive I also need to know exactly what is going on and that is why I have asked for a meeting with the board members,” Munetsi said.
The DeMbare board, however, dismissed claims by Chiminya that there had never been a resolution in the first place to fire the club’s secretary-general and treasurer.
Chiminya – who was out-voted in his bid to retain Mbewe – had at the weekend insisted that the pair remained part of the Dynamos executive.
But acting Dynamos board of directors secretary Owen Chandamale maintained that they would stick by their decisions arguing that “majority resolutions would carry the day at the club”.
Chandamale said there was nothing sinister about the meeting, which they held last week as it was properly constituted and chaired by Mkwesha in the absence of Chiminya.
“We had a properly constituted meeting, there was a quorum and Mkwesha came with a message that Chiminya was attending to other engagements related to his workplace and that he had been tasked with chairing the meeting.
“I can also confirm that Munetsi has requested a meeting with the board later today.
“We normally take the initiative to meet but on request yes we can meet.
“But as far as our position of 28 October last year which was then implemented after another meeting on 1 March nothing has changed. We stand by our board resolution and when I speak, I will be speaking on behalf of all the board members and our chairman cannot turn around and say that it is null and void when it was constitutional.
“When the resolution was passed the other members Gwatidzo (Charles) and Maziti (Nathan) were also there.
“We also have our AGM on 19 March and it must be remembered that it is at such meetings that the electoral college which includes those eligible former players can vote for members onto the board of directors,” Chandamale said.
Mkwesha, a reserved character, declined to discus the simmering dispute over the fate of Manyau and Mbewe but confirmed he had chaired the March 1 indaba.
“At the moment I cannot say much about this issue, in fact it is not in my nature to publicly fight in the papers but I can confirm that I chaired the meeting last Tuesday.
“We should be having another meeting today (last night) or tomorrow and maybe after that meeting I can be able to say much,” Mkwesha said.
But sources close to the goings-on at Dynamos indicated that Munetsi was highly unlikely going to succeed in convincing the board of directors to change their minds and give Manyau and Mbewe a stay of execution.
“What is clear is that the rest of the board is unanimous that there must be changes to the Dynamos executive and Chiminya cannot try and impose a decision when the vote went 5-1 against him at the initial meeting.
“Dynamos should have between eight to 10 board members and it is always the majority vote that the club goes with. So it is more up to Munetsi to try and sell his ideas to the board and show cause why Manyau and Mbewe should not be fired rather than Chiminya trying to be dictatorial.
“It looks like Munetsi will be told there is no change to the resolution and he should expect to work with new faces that will be appointed soon,” the sources said.
In dismissing Manyau and Mbewe, the board of directors indicated that they were not happy with the manner in which the pair had handled a number of clubs issues including the dispute with the players which led to a strike last year.
Former Premier Soccer League treasurer Manyau and Mbewe, who is the current finance guru at the top-flight body are, however, not the first DeMbare management committee members to be fired at a club that has a history of chopping and changing its executives.
Among the allegations levelled against Manyau and Mbewe were that they failed to properly handle the issue of the club’s CBZ Bank loan and the sponsorship deals which Dynamos had with Savanna Tobacco and Afrofood but were terminated.