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Eddie Chikamhi Sports Reporter—
IMPLODING Dynamos — hobbling from one crisis to another — are set to convene another meeting inside two days to try and quell the discord that has erupted in their boardroom following what appears to be a sensational fallout between club president Kenny Mubaiwa and board chairman Bernard Marriot Lusengo. Though both men have somehow ducked public comments on the matter, it has emerged that business at Dynamos has been rocked by Mubaiwa’s decision to take a back seat to the operations at the club as he felt betrayed by the board’s decision to reinstate assistant coach Murape Murape after he had announced the former captain’s dismissal.
Mubaiwa and Marriot have been working closely ever since the latter appointed the Harare businessman to take over from Farai Munetsi as chairman. But it appears that the working relationship that seemed fine has taken a huge dip in the last few months.
And now the Dynamos board of directors, made up largely of the club’s surviving founder members, wants to convene a meeting to try and restore order at the club. Sources told The Herald that Mubaiwa was not amused at being made the “Fall Guy” on problems rocking the Harare giants who are now set to complete a barren season after falling out of the championship race.
Dynamos were also sent tumbling out of the Chibuku Super Cup at the first round following a penalty shoot-out defeat by How Mine at Rufaro. Matters, however, came to a head last weekend when Mubaiwa made a public announcement that they had fired Murape for breaching the club’s code of conduct following comments he had allegedly made in a local daily newspaper.
The decision to fire Murape was taken at a meeting between the board, the club management and the technical department headed by under fire coach Lloyd Mutasa. But just hours after Mubaiwa had announced that Murape had been sacked, the assistant coach was back on the technical bench and even received a standing ovation from DeMbare fans who sang songs denouncing Mubaiwa at Rufaro.
Mubaiwa is understood to have been hoping that the board of directors would resolve the issue and stand by his announcement on Murape and at least publicly defend the club president.
Dynamos are also facing fresh challenges from outside as a group of former players and supporters — led by ex-Glamour Boys winger and coach Ernest Kamba — has revived its bid to wrestle the ownership of the club.
Kamba and his clique, who accuse Marriot of illegally running the show at the Harare giants, have been following events at the club with keen interest for years and believe it’s now time to make their move. They have convened their own meeting with supporters on October 8 to map the way forward.
However, the secretary of the board Mthokozisi Nkosi, formerly known as Chris Kasiyazi, yesterday said a lot has been reported about Dynamos in the last few days and the club’s highest leadership is looking to meet sometime this week to “clarify” the state of affairs in their camp. Nkosi refused to be drawn into discussing specific issues and promised that the leadership would, after the crisis meeting, issue a statement.
“There has been a lot of things said about Dynamos in recent days. It has also appeared that of late there have been multiple sources of information about the club and at the end of the day things could be portrayed differently leading to all these anxieties, rumours and misinformation. “Of course, people are bound to talk when things are not going on well at the club, but if you follow that up, most of the information lacks substance.
“So we are likely to sit down sometime this week and then issue a statement so that we remove all the anxieties, the rumours and the misinformation. There is absolutely no reason for the stakeholders to panic.
“Please note that the only people who are authorised to talk about Dynamos issues are the executive president, secretary-general, board chairman and the secretary of the board. On technical issues, it’s the head coach, although he may delegate,” said Nkosi.
Dynamos have lost their glamour in a particularly disappointing season for them. But it is the fallout between Mubaiwa and the board which provided a huge test of their stability in the latest turbulence to rock their boat.
Mubaiwa and treasurer Webster Marechera were the only two members left to run the executive following the departure of secretary-general Webster Chikengezha, who quit in May and is yet to be replaced. “As it stands, going forward there is a problem at the club,” the sources said.
“The president is no longer exercising his powers and at the moment he is not making any decisions regarding Lloyd Mutasa’s future and neither is he involving himself in discussions related to any plans for next season. “He is not happy that his authority was challenged last week,’’ said the sources.
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