Online Reporter
Lovemore Dube, [email protected]
A controversial Botswana trip, a disputed US$20 000 bill, and a CEO caught in a suspension storm have exposed deep divisions at Highlanders.
The club’s CEO Denzil Mnkandla, who was said to have been suspended during an executive meeting on Tuesday evening, had by last night not received a formal letter confirming that position, leaving the situation unclear and adding to the confusion gripping the club.
A board meeting was held last night, with chairman Kenneth Mhlophe expected to brief members on the developments that have followed the Botswana trip, a tour that has now raised serious questions over the club’s handling of funds and internal decision-making.
During the day, Mhlophe appeared to distance himself from the matter.
“I don’t know, I saw on the page (Zimpapers Website),” he said when contacted.
When reminded that the decision was said to have come from a meeting he chaired, he said he would only comment once the position had been formalised.
“I will only be able to comment if this becomes an official reality. At present it would be prudent for me to do so.”
At the centre of the issue is a report Mnkandla was asked to submit after concerns were raised over the cost of the Botswana camp, where the club is believed to have been overcharged by more than US$20 000 after engaging agents who facilitated the arrangements.
The executive sought clarity after treasurer Nkani Khoza requested a breakdown of the charges from the lodge where the team was based, with indications that the pricing did not reflect the actual duration and services used during the stay.
Sources say the club had been presented with two quotations, with the one eventually adopted appearing lower at face value, but the overall cost of the trip has since raised suspicion.
Some within the club allege that the process may have been manipulated.
Highlanders usually demands three quotations for any service.
The team is understood not to have stayed for the full period initially booked, further adding to the concerns over the final billing.
Mnkandla had not submitted the report by last night, with indications that he was holding back while his own status remained unresolved following the verbal suspension.
It was not immediately clear whether Khoza had tabled his findings to the club.
What is unfolding now goes beyond a pre-season trip and a disputed invoice.
The Botswana issue has dragged into the open long-standing differences within the club, with questions now being asked about decision-making, accountability and who really holds influence in the present set-up as Highlanders edge closer to another election cycle.
Positions are already being shaped in the background, and the fallout from this matter has deepened divisions, with some pushing for action against Mnkandla while others feel he is being targeted for resisting deals the club was set to be ripped off.
He is understood to have previously stood his ground over a proposed turf project at the club’s North End grounds, where the figures involved were said to be significantly higher than what had been quoted by the Bulawayo City Council parks department.
There are also claims he blocked inflated accommodation costs for trialists, decisions that are said to have unsettled some within the executive’s sphere of influence.
The board meeting held last night was expected to give direction, but it also came at a time when the club appears increasingly polarised, with internal trust under strain and every move now being viewed through a political lens.
For a club still trying to settle on the pitch, the bigger contest right now is being fought off it.
