High drama at CAPS United over outstanding salaries

By Makomborero Mutimukulu

CAPS UNITED made the long trip to Hwange late last night after a day of high drama, a veiled threat to quit by club president Farai Jere and the vanishing of the men who are supposed to help him run the club. 

The Makepekepe players had warned on Friday that they would not get onto the team bus before getting their outstanding salaries and winning bonuses.

And yesterday they stuck to their guns with only Lloyd Chitembwe and his technical team in sight ahead of the scheduled 7am departure time. Later skipper Moses Muchenje, defender Justin Jangano and winger Phineas Bhamusi pitched up but the bulk of the players stayed at their homes, the majority of them switching off their mobile phones.

With the standoff fast degenerating into fully fledged crisis, Jere, who has decided to leave the day to day running of the team to his board, intervened and transferred the outstanding monies into the players’ accounts.

But when Jere was ready to head for his lectures at the University of Zimbabwe, believing that he had calmed the storm, the Makepekepe lads unleashed a new demand.

They wanted their dues in hard cash.

It is at this point that Jere reminded the few players that had gathered at the National Social Security Association headquarters that he has the option of walking away from football to concentrate on his freight business.

“You guys which country are you living in? Cash is a problem and we all know that. These deposit slips are machine printed and are a sign that your salaries have been paid into your accounts and I really don’t know what more you expect me to do,” said the Makepekepe boss.

“With all the effort I put into this team, all the money I plough in, I feel my efforts are not appreciated and sometimes I wonder if it’s still worth it . . . lf you don’t want to travel to Hwange because I have paid your money through bank transfers as opposed to cash just go ahead and do so.”

With that tough talk, Muchenje got down to the business of calling up his lieutenants and one by one they slowly trooped in, Joel Ngodzo and his mop haired head leading the way, Eddie Sibanda walking slowly like the zombie he is said to be and Stephen Makatuka popping up with a childish grin emblazoned on his face.

Makepekepe coach Chitembwe, who remained calm throughout the drama, immediately warned Chipangano against reading much into the drama that engulfed his team’s camp ahead of their departure for Hwange.

“This is just one of those things mate,” he said. “Every house has its issues, we had ours today but they have been addressed through the office of the club president who has had to miss several important engagements just to make sure that all is well.

“Now the ball is in our court, we need to show Mr Jere and the Caps United fans that we are committed to the club’s badge, committed to the shirt and the only way we can do that is by going to Hwange and coming out with a result.

“These players are not naïve, they know the position they are on as the league heads towards the business end and they appreciate what is possible if they keep working as hard as they have done this season.”

But Makepekepe will have to dig deep if they are to conquer the colliery as they have struggled on their visits to the mining town, winning just two of their last nine matches away to Hwange with identical 1-0 score lines. The Sunday Mail