CONFUSION REIGNS SUPREME

MBABANE – Confusion is continuing to reign supreme in the build-up to the much-awaited elective Premier League of Eswatini (PLE) Annual General Meeting (AGM).

After initial suggestions that the amended PLE constitution can only be adopted in an AGM as opposed to that happening in a Special General Assembly, this publication has uncovered interesting twists on this highly contentious issue.

It has now been gathered that the issue of the amended constitution was deferred during the organisation’s previous AGM held on August 4.
“The issue of the amendments to the PLE constitution was first raised during a retreat held on April 12 long before the AGM. The feeling of the members at the time was that such an issue needed time hence a task committee comprising mainly learned friends in football (lawyers) was put in place to handle it.

report

“They were to report back before the AGM on August 4, something which they did. Along with the financial report, this issue was again deferred during the AGM due to time constraints and the agreement was that both matters would be discussed two weeks after that meeting (AGM). After the 14 days, a special meeting was called to look into the two issues (financials and amended constitution) but we ended up discussing only the financials because there were some loopholes noted which took time.

The financials were eventually approved in that special meeting though members were not entirely happy with the presentation but the issue of the amended constitution was again deferred,” a highly-placed source, part of the PLE executive committee, revealed.
The source further confided that PLE chairman Peter ‘Touch’ Magagula assured members in the same special meeting that another meeting would be convened in three weeks’ time to adopt the amended constitution.

“It must be noted that the reason members wanted the constitution to be amended was because they complained of ambiguity of PLE constitutions because three different copies were in use as opposed to one. Even some members who came with different copies were called to a meeting and it was felt that the document needed to be harmonised.

This, however, ended up not happening for a number of reasons up until now that the issue is being brought up again. The point is that this issue is not new because it was deferred in a previous AGM. So legally, this document can be adopted in a special general assembly and come into effect during the next AGM. The governors are within their rights to push for the adoption of the document before the AGM and once that is done, it would only be left for the EFA executive not to approve but scrutinise if it is not in conflict with FIFA or CAF statutes,” our impeccable source added.

This means that if the amended constitution is adopted before the AGM as planned by a majority of the PLE members, a lot will change regarding those that qualify to be nominated for the executive committee, especially the position of chairman. It has been reported that only four executive members qualify to be nominated for the chairmanship based on the current constitution, which demands that a candidate must have served four years in the executive committee to qualify.

“The same constitution which talks about four years serving in the executive committee as a requirement for nomination, is contradicting because it also allows independent individuals outside the PLE structures that have not served the four years to be nominated, as long as that person has the blessing of the members. By the look of things, this will be a debatable issue,” the source said.
Indeed, the constitution states clearly in the elections section that a candidate for the position of chairperson may be an independent person or from a premier league division club.

elections

“Prior to the commencement of the elections, the executive committee shall resign en masse and the electoral officer shall take control. The meeting must elect the chairperson of the Board of Governors first and then the other six members. A candidate for the position of chairperson may be an independent person or from a premier league division club.

A nominee to the executive committee must be a registered official of a club provided that such nominee is the chairperson, chief executive officer or a director of a club. A nominee must have been a registered official in one or more of the league’s clubs for not less than twelve (12) months prior to nomination.

A nominee must accept the nomination and must be present at the meeting,” reads one of the clauses in the constitution bordering on the elections.
Power of hiring employees lies with the Board of Governors yet the same constitution says it lies with the Executive Committee. The constitution was made in 2011.

Post your comment

Your name:

Your e-mail address:

Add your comments:

Please enter the code you see in the image:

Image:

Code: