Online Reporter
Vusumuzi Dube, Deputy Radar Editor
RENOWNED football administrator, businessman and politician Gift Banda has called for an indaba involving Highlanders Football Club stakeholders to address divisions at the Bulawayo giants and develop a clear five-year blueprint for the club.
Banda, a former Zimbabwe Football Association (Zifa) vice-president, said Highlanders’ current state was painful to watch, particularly for supporters who had grown up with the club.
He was speaking on the Zimpapers podcast Bulawayo’s Finest, hosted by Limukani Ncube.
TO WATCH FULL EPISODE OF THE PODCAST CLICK HERE
Banda said Highlanders needed to stop the blame game and bring together its wealth of administrative experience to map a way forward for the club.
“When I talk about Highlanders and its current state, it pains me because it is a team I have supported since I was young. I used to sell oranges during their home matches at Barbourfields Stadium,” he said.
“To see Highlanders in this state is really disheartening. But the major thing is that people must stop pointing fingers at one another and come together to try to build this great institution, because when Highlanders wins, everyone is happy.”
Banda said one of the club’s major challenges was the absence of a clearly defined blueprint outlining where Highlanders wanted to be in the coming years.
He said the club was fortunate to have administrators with extensive football experience who could contribute towards its revival if they worked together.
“I think one of the major problems we have at Highlanders is that we do not really have a blueprint of where we want to go,” he said.
“Highlanders is blessed with quite a lot of administrative talent, people who have run football, people like myself, Omega (Sibanda) and others. But one of the major problems is that we do not come together.”
Banda called for a stakeholders’ indaba where the focus would be on rebuilding the club rather than revisiting past disputes and apportioning blame.
“I believe we should call for an indaba and talk about how we can make Highlanders great again. At this indaba, we should not be talking about this person having done this or that person having done that,” he said.
He said the meeting should instead produce a clear vision for the club, including immediate interventions and long-term objectives.
“We should have a meeting where we establish a clear vision and ask ourselves: Where do we want to be in the next five years? We must have an immediate plan, as well as a long-term vision of where we want to go,” said Banda.
He also urged the club to broaden its engagement with the business community as part of efforts to improve its financial position and attract investment.
Banda said Highlanders could make better use of match days to bring potential business partners closer to the club.
“We miss the smaller things at Highlanders, such as management giving out tickets on match days to business people so that they can come in and watch the games,” he said.
“If the goals start coming in, business people are going to be attracted. They will see where Highlanders is lacking and they will come in to help.”
Banda said the divisions within the Highlanders family were also discouraging supporters and stakeholders from fully engaging with the club.
He revealed that he had barely watched football this year, saying he only attended a match involving Highlanders and Scottland and another one pitting Scottland and Bulawayo Chiefs.
“I would say football is no longer the football that we used to love and miss. I would love to go and watch Highlanders matches every Sunday,” he said.
“But because of the fights that are there, if you are seen with one group, you are then reminded that they are fighting another group. We will never succeed like that.”
Banda said the infighting and polarisation could potentially undermine the work being done by coach Benjani Mwaruwaru and his technical team.
“Perhaps that polarisation and those divisions are now overshadowing the good work that Benjani and his team are actually trying to do,” he said.
Despite the challenges facing the club, Banda praised Mwaruwaru for his efforts and called on the Highlanders family to support him.
“We must give Benjani credit because he has competed very well despite the problems that Highlanders has. He needs to be given support,” he said.
