Prospective candidate questions FAM’s silence on polls

Alufeyo Chipanga-Banda, who is eyeing Northern Region Football Association’s (NRFA) top seat of chairperson, has questioned Football Association of Malawi’s (FAM) silence on the polls.

The development follows the expiry of the current office bearers’ tenure of office who were supposed to serve a two-year transitional term following FAM’s move to merge regional leagues and committees as per Fifa recommendation.

The previous polls were held on November 8 2014.

Said Chipanga-Banda: “FAM’s silence on the dates of the elections raises questions considering that the tenure of office for the current office bearers in all the regions is almost over.

“By now, we expected FAM to have come up with the logistics, including the dates. My stand should not be construed as being disrespectful to the local football governing body, but rather they should come out in the open and state their stand.”

But FAM general secretary Suzgo Nyirenda has said the issue will be tabled at the association’s executive committee meeting slated for Saturday.

“It is not like we are blocking the elections. Actually, it is one of the issues that will be discussed during Saturday’s executive committee meeting where proposed dates will also be determined,” he said.

In November 2014, Nyirenda said the regional committees that were elected would just be for transitional purposes and that they would serve for two years.

Analyst Charles Nyirenda said: “I gather FAM will announce the elections programme this Friday. But if the mandate to govern has expired already according to a prior arrangement, then the FA has an obligation to rectify the anomaly quickly or people may start to speculate that the mother body is up to something fishy.”

In the 2014 polls, Raphael Humba, Austin Beaton Ajawa and Lameck Khonje were elected chairpersons for the South, Centre and North, respectively. n