Minister denies endorsing Haiya
Minister of Information and Digitisation Moses Kunkuyu has denied endorsing Football Association of Malawi (FAM) presidential candidate Fleetwood Haiya during the launch of his manifesto on Saturday at Bingu International Convention Centre in Lilongwe.
The Super League of Malawi (Sulom) president faces incumbent FAM president Walter Nyamilandu during the FAM polls scheduled for this Saturday in Mzuzu.
Kunkuyu, who is also the official government spokesperson, appeared to have endorsed Haiya in his remarks which at times attracted applause from the audience dominated by the Sulom president’s fans.
During the event, Kunkuyu, who was the guest of honour, said: “Different presidents have come and have served their time and gone. Presidents will come and serve their time and they will go.
“The beauty about this game [football] is that there are no life footballers and no life presidents. We have current administrators who have done their part. They have done what they could have done.”
But in an interview yesterday, the minister denied that his remarks meant support for Haiya.
Said Kunkuyu: “I am a fan of football and I yearn for a return of the glorious[the country’s founding president Hastings] Kamuzu [Banda] days when we were a formidable footballing nation with trophies to show. I believe this is the wish of every Malawian.
“I am a fan of both Walter and Haiya, that’s why I appreciated the contributions made by both towards the development of football in Malawi. These are some of the things that I said during that event and you tell me how they can be deemed as campaigning for someone.”
Nyamilandu, who has served for 19 years, declined to comment, saying: “I would rather remain silent.”
On the other hand, Haiya could not be reached for comment.
However, football analyst Parry Chinyama said in an interview yesterday that the minister appeared to support Haiya.
He said: “The comments from the minister were not good for the game of football.
“It actually showed that government is siding with candidate FH [Fleetwood Haiya] which is against Fifa rules that governments should not interfere in football issues, let alone elections.
“One could tell that they wanted to influence the affiliates on who to vote for by tearing apart Walter’s manifesto. This also includes the presence of other Cabinet ministers such as Richard Chimwendo Banda.
“As a country, we are creating a problem which we could fail to tame in future and could land us in conflict with Fifa. Zimbabwe was in the same scenario and got themselves banned. Affiliates should be careful on how they relate with government officials when dealing with football.”
On his part, former FAM general secretary Charles Nyirenda said from what the minister said, the impression created was that government would welcome change in the administration of FAM.
“By directly appealing to the conscience of the electorate to think about what was good for Malawi than serving personal interests, it was made abundantly clear that government wants something different,” he said.
Among others, the launch was graced by a number of members of Parliament as well as Malawi Defence Force Commander General Paul Valentino Phiri.
On the other hand, high-raking dignitaries at Nyamilandu’s launch included Minister of Youth and Sports Uchizi Mkandawire who was the guest of honour and High Court of Malawi Judge Jabbar Alide who is also incumbent FAM first vice-president.
