Big Bullets brass cleared on JB donation

Big Bullets executive has been cleared of any wrongdoing in the already incurred expenditure from President Joyce Banda’s K25 million donation.

This follows a meeting the club trustees called in Blantyre on Wednesday in the wake of revelations that K10 million (US$24 271.8) had been blown within a week and claims by the team’s treasurer, Noel Lipipa, that his instructions on how the money should be handled, were ignored.

Trustees that attended the meeting included chairperson James Busile, his deputy Fred Kwacha, secretary Jim Kalua and Gaston Mwenelupembe. It was also attended by the executive and main supporters committees.

Speaking during a press briefing held at Shire Highlands Hotel yesterday, Mwenelupembe said the executive was cleared after accounting for the K15 million that has so far been used.

“They accounted for all the expenditure, complete with supporting documents. However, during the interrogation, what came out clearly was that there was a breakdown of communication within the executive, a situation that sparked the recent controversy,” said Mwenelupembe.

“We established that the money was properly used and it was duly verified. We would therefore, like to appeal to those that may wish to assist the team to come forward,” he said.

The club’s chairperson Kondi Msungama said contrary to the treasurer’s claims that he was not aware of the account that was opened at Nedbank, he was involved in the process and what remained was for him to submit his identity to the bank.

Msungama also admitted that the executive committee was not pulling in the same direction, a situation he said led to the fallout between Lipipa and other members of the executive.

“But following the meeting we had with the trustees, everything is now water under the bridge,” he said.

Lipipa also told the press briefing that from what was produced, he was satisfied with the accounts.

“The money was properly accounted for, but the problem was communication and that probably led to all the controversy about how the President’s donation was being handled,” said Lipipa.

During the briefing, the club’s vice-treasurer Brian Ligomeka gave an account of how the K15 million (US$36 407.8) has been used, majority of which towards buying new players, settling players’ arrears and other debts.

Ligomeka said the priority was to invest the money in buying players because these are assets for the team.