Times Of Swaziland: BALD-HEADED MEN FIGHT  OVER A COMB!

BALD-HEADED MEN FIGHT  OVER A COMB!
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BY Lwazi's Pandora's Box on 06/02/2018 02:36:00


My dearest readers ... quickly now.
Now that I have your attention, let me mention my intention. My intention this
Tuesday morning is not to wade blindly into the uninspiring Premier League of
Swaziland (PLS) chairmanship race because my assessment of the potential
candidates would be nothing short of defamation.
I am not oblivious to the glaring fact that the PLS chairmanship, left vacant
following the sad demise of astute businessman and streetwise administrator,
Victor ‘Maradona’ Gamedze (it still feels like a bad dream and may his soul
repose peacefully) has left a void that, to be honest, will be hard to fill by
anyone in the vanguard of Swazi soccer today.
Everybody can agree with me that Gamedze has done so much for Swazi football
that finding a capable individual to take over his dreams, vision and ideas
forward would be a mammoth task. But life must go on. Someone has to take the
baton forward and someone must lead because we need to keep his legacy alive.
Anything less would be an indictment on our part when the man sacrificed and did
so much to see Swazi football turn professional.
Now we have a hot potato in our lap – his replacement as chairman of the
Premier League of Swaziland.
A colleague of mine laughed hysterically when I told him last week that the
behind-the-scenes jostling for the position by some of the members, to me,
resembled bald-headed men fighting over a comb!
It could be Yours Truly even and the FA president, Adam ‘Bomber’ Mthethwa
fighting over a comb when we both have a golf course in our heads!
Heek, heek, heek, heek. You can laugh here too.
But this is no laughing matter.
This is as serious as a heart attack. The void left by Gamedze, which was so
sudden and shocking, has stirred a pot simmering with the potential to plunge
our football into an unsavoury stew of maladministration that could lead to its
slow and excruciating death if not tackled with the maturity it demands.
For starters, the PLS constitution did not cover the aspect of a sudden vacancy
forced by unforeseen circumstances like an immediate death, which was the case
with the dearly departed chairman. Article 34.8 of the constitution only
stipulates that the vacancy in the office of the chairperson should be filled
within 30 days of its occurring. How? It does not specify.
Therein lies the rub.
The onus is on the Executive Committee, whose meetings should be chaired by the
long serving member to elect an acting chairman among themselves. The conundrum
here is that the constitution itself is confusing and has more holes than Swiss
cheese. I am not speaking ill of the dead here but the constitution was
tailor-made to ensure that whosoever was the chairman, was covered in all angles
in the position for eight years at the very least.
The constitution handed the incumbent chairman so much absolute power we created
a mini-God, who could do no harm and therefore required no supervision or
scrutiny. We were lucky Gamedze always had the best interest of football at
heart and was no messiah with feet of clay.
This loophole, however, has now been exposed and it’s a rude awakening as some
of the Executive Committee members who can qualify for the chairmanship were
co-opted into the structure. Others like Advocate Mduduzi ‘Tsotsi’ Mabila
have been man enough to rule themselves out of the chairmanship race. How I wish
ALL could do the same!
As things stand, the decision to hold a special meeting to elect a chairman
resembles a badly produced episode of the Surf Pick-a-Box Show on television. It
seems there is no shortage of people lining up to take their turn guessing where
the keys to the money till are hidden. Some have crawled out of the woodwork in
the past couple of days to be pretenders to the throne. Others think they have a
birth-right to be handed the chairmanship because ‘they worked with Gamedze
for so long and understand how he did things.’ This PLS chairmanship soapie
has more bubbles than the Surf washing powder!
Methinks, the PLS Executive Committee should not fear a vote of no confidence
they have been threatened with by the Board of Governors, if they know what they
are doing but should put in place an acting chairman who will hold the fort
until the Annual General Meeting (AGM) is held in August. Before the AGM, there
should be a serious introspection done to the constitution and any amendments
through an addendum, which can be done with the blessing of the Board of
Governors in a special meeting.
The clause that qualifies one to be a chairman after having served for two terms
as an Executive Committee, to me, is counter-productive and limiting to the
options. What happens right now where the options are so limited?
The special meeting to elect the chairman will be held a day before
Valentine’s Day but there is no love lost on this decision because there are
lot of counter-productive clauses in the constitution which need to be amended
for all eventualities and most importantly, for progress’s sake.
This State-Of-The-Nation-Sports-Address wants to implore the Board of Governors
to call for the ‘special meeting’ to  elect an acting chairman, who will
hold the fort until the Annual General Meeting (AGM) in August where we can then
have Gamedze’s replacement to hold the reins for the remainder of the
four-year term (which has two –and-half years left now) until the next
elections are conducted.
Otherwise as things stand, we, the masses, are in the same position as teazers
dancers anticipating bank notes on their lacy underwears. We are watching in
glee bald-headed men fighting over a comb!
It’s laughable if it were not serious.
This PLS chairmanship soapie has more bubbles than the Surf washing powder’s
Pick-A-Box’ show!
True to the PLS slogan, this is an opportunity to hope in the truest sense!
Phew!