Clubs tear into Sulom on reforms
TNM Super League clubs have torn into Super League of Malawi (Sulom) for failing to implement reforms, including setting up a fully-fledged secretariat complete with a chief executive officer (CEO).
Silver Strikers chief executive officer Thoko Chimbali, his Nyasa Big Bullets counterpart Suzgo Nyirenda and Mighty Mukuru Wanderers board secretary Humphrey Mvula said the flagship league governing body is on auto-pilot with no sense of direction.
Said Chimbali: “There is a lot to be done. The starting point should be honouring of AGM [Annual General Meeting] resolutions.
“The past AGM resolved to have two review committees, gate management and constitutional. The constitutional review committee has not met till now and it seems nobody cares.
“The association is on auto-pilot and when it decides to land or crush by itself, it will.”
On his part, Nyirenda said he has been advocating for Sulom’s reforms, including setting up a fully-fledged secretariat, since he joined the People’s Team.
He said: “This is the setup elsewhere, but I don’t really understand the rigidity and arrogance at Sulom.
“I am also an advocate of having all club chairpersons sit in the board of the league than having part-timers administering the elite league.
“No wonder there is total confusion in as far as fixtures and regulations of the league are concerned. Our game is failing to develop as we have a league that has no strategic business and technical plans in place.
“The league is run on an auto-pilot mode and one wonders why FAM [Football Association of Malawi] can’t intervene and bring sanity for the good of the game.”
Nyirenda also said to reform the league, it will require unity of purpose from the clubs.
“Unfortunately some clubs owe Sulom and for fear of being taken to task they toe its line. There is too much divide and rule in the administration of the league so much that teams do not have one voice,” he said.
On his part, Mvula said: “The lack of a CEO at Sulom is the real cause of maladministration and the person performing the responsibility is a full time employee of government.
“Today Sulom would better serve the interest of football if it had a full time CEO; at worst if the person serving in that position had man-management skills, unfortunately he does not.
“Sulom is presently operating on auto pilot, their mandate and usefulness has long expired.”
He said the infighting makes the organisation dysfunctional.
“Peronally, I am amazed by the level of impudence and arrogance that their general secretary [GS] exudes. He is the big elephant in the room,” said Mvula
Civil Service United GS Ronald Chiwaula said reforms at Sulom are long overdue.
“Sulom can only operate professionally by embracing reforms. How we wish this was done longtime back,” he said.
Blue Eagles chairperson Alexander Ngwala said: “It’s important that Sulom should implement reforms and it is time to start strategising.”
But Sulom president Tiya Somba Banda blamed some members within his executive for frustrating the drive to reform the top-flight league body.
In a brief response to a questionairre, he said: “Some Sulom executive committee members killed the plan to protect their own power silos.”
However, Somba-Banda could not be drawn to comment further on how the move was thwarted.
FAM president Walter Nyamilandu Manda agreed with the clubs saying it is high time Sulom has a functional secretariat that has a fulltime CEO.
“Otherwise professionalism will be mere rhetoric. It has to transform to modern governance structures by aligning its composition of executive committee with FAM/CAF/Fifa statutes,” he said.
