daniel chigunwe
Eddie Chikamhi Senior Sports Reporter
THE battle for the control of Dynamos is likely to go back to the courts as the quarrelling between Bernard Marriot and the other former players over the 1963 constitution, and the validity of the amendments made along the way, take centre stage.
Marriot, who is the club’s chairman of the board of directors, faces a serious challenge from the club’s former players who last week elected a board of trustees to take over the running of the club, in line with the 1963 constitution.
Club legend Ernest Kamba, who was voted chairman of the board of trustees, said they will meet this Saturday and will consider legal options available to them to achieve their goal. The newly-elected 10-member board of trustees also includes David George, Moses Chunga, Clayton Munemo, Labani Kandi, Makwinji Soma-Phiri and Ignatius Kapfunde.
However, a standoff is looming in the coming days after Marriot insisted the meeting was a non-event since the 1963 constitution and the Electoral College were no longer in existence.
“Dynamos has been run without following the constitution for some time,” he said in an interview with Zimpapers Television Network.
“So we had a meeting in 2008 and it ended in violence against those selected to lead the club. That is when the constitution was supposed to be followed for the first time.
“We had another meeting in 2016 but because of the circumstances at the time we couldn’t assume the office. But we have now laid the foundation for Dynamos to be led constitutionally. That is what we set at the Saturday meeting.
“But that will not end there. That meeting was just the beginning because we are going to make sure that things are settled in Dynamos.
“Those who were leading the club illegally will be asked to step aside. We are not going to do that violently like they did in 2008, but we will do it legally,” said Kamba.
The ownership structures at Dynamos have always been a bone of contention between the former players. Dynamos was formed in 1963 by a group of about 20 players, most of whom are now late.
Over the years, the club has based most of its functions on the constitution drawn up by the founding fathers in 1963.
However, Marriot said things changed in 1999 when they registered a private company which now controls the club. Marriot has been chairman of the company’s board for the past few years.
“When we were founded in 1963, we stressed that whatever happens, the club as it were should remain in the hands of the founder members.
“And when we formed the company we emphasised that only those who were there in 1963 (are the owners), but these other guys are claiming ownership because they are Electoral College or Board of Trustees; that has no basis whatsoever,” said Marriot.
“If you go through our minutes of the 1998 AGM we said we must follow in the footsteps of clubs like Manchester United, Real Madrid, Liverpool and some of these many European teams and become a company so that everything remains in the hands of the founders and in time to come our descendants will take over from us, which is just about what I am going through.
“We have been going around to get every family (of the founder members) to come together and enjoy the fruits that their late husbands left. That is where we are,” said Marriot.
The DeMbare constitution was reportedly amended in 2004 but most of the former players dispute that. Clause 15.1.1 of the 1963 constitution says, “Founder and former players are the only bona fide members of the club and they are the persons who have the power and the right to change or amend the club’s constitution.
“Any other amendments made unless proposed by and approved by the “electoral college” are null and void. The electoral college was defined in the constitution as a meeting of founder members and former player members of the Club.”
Former Dynamos treasurer Eric Mvududu, who was once part of the executive when the court cases were raging in the 2000s, said the issue of Dynamos ownership was resolved in 2006 via the Justice Malaba judgement.
The concluding part of the verdict reads, “IT IS FURTHER DECLARED THAT — 4. The 1963 Dynamos Football Club constitution has not been lawfully amended and remains the only lawful constitution of the Club.
“5. The ownership and management of Dynamos Football Club shall continue in terms of the 1963 constitution until such time as it is lawfully repealed or amended.”
Mvududu yesterday said Dynamos Football Club Pvt Ltd as a” creation of a constitution cannot abrogate the club’s own constitution. It must operate within the four corners of that constitution,” he said.
He added: “The ownership of Dynamos as ruled by the Supreme Court was handed over to members of the Club as defined in the 1963 Constitution.
“The legal battle involved (the late Morrison) Sifelani and Marriot camp who were claiming that they should run the Club as Directors of the Private Limited based on a 1998 Constitutional amendment, Richard Chiminya and Board of Trustees, who also claimed that they are the rightful board to run Dynamos based on the 1963 Constitution, Milton Makore and Supporters who were also claiming that they were the rightful owners based on the 1994 Constitutional amendment that introduced Standing Committees to run Dynamos and ZIFA and SRC who were also interfering with the affairs of Dynamos.
“These were three or four different Court cases that ended up being joined into one by the Court. The Supreme Court nullified all these so-called amendments as they were carried out with the involvement of non-members of the Club.
“The 1963 was recognised as the only valid document governing the Club. What this means is that the ownership wrangle of Dynamos was resolved.
“The problem in Dynamos is that of greedy individuals both inside and outside who think they can own the club for their own benefit. As a result, they are refusing to implement the Supreme Court judgment for their own benefit,” said Mvududu.
Online Reporter