MANDA GOES AWOL AGAIN
Coach Charles Manda is implicated yet in another controversy, this time at Mighty Wanderers where he risks losing his job as assistant coach, for allegedly absconding duties.
Nomads chairperson George Chamangwana said Manda has not been reporting for work for the past two weeks and efforts to get hold of him have been futile.
Manda was fired by the Football Association of Malawi (FAM) as technical development officer for similar reasons.
“It has been two weeks since he last reported for work and we are getting conflicting information on his whereabouts.
“Others are saying he is in Lilongwe negotiating for a job with a Super League team while others say he is in Nkhata Bay to see a sick relation, but the bottomline is that he did not seek consent from either the executive committee or any of his fellow technical committee members. It is a disciplinary matter,” said Chamangwana.
He claimed that even team manager Kannock Munde and his assistant Thom Milanzi have been trying to get hold of Manda, but to no avail.
“We will summon him to hear his side before we take action,” he said.
Manda has been conspicuously absent on the Nomads bench in recent games, in particular Carlsberg Cup matches against Chikwawa United and Mafco.
Asked if the Nomads have a contract with Manda, Chamangwana said: “To my knowledge the contracts were still being processed, but he is on a full salary.”
Manda could not be reached on his mobile phones yesterday, but there were reports that he was in talks with Blue Eagles on a possible switch.
While confirming that Manda’s issue was tabled at an executive committee meeting, Eagles vice-chairperson Tedius Samveka said it was decided not to hire him.
“I remember we did discuss the issue after he approached some people within our team, but after carefully weighing the issue, it was agreed that we should not engage him,” said Samveka.
Unconfirmed reports indicate that the Nomads are planning to hire their former star forward McDonald Yobe to fill Manda’s role as deputy head coach Gerald Phiri.
But Chamangwana could neither deny nor confirm the reports.
Yobe alongside fellow former players Ojukwu Malunga and Bob Mpinganjira, are part of the team’s technical committee.
