‘MODERN DISASTER’- Bosso boss wines, dines with Chiyangwa

By Ricky Zililo

HIGHLANDERS’ card carrying members have taken aim at the club’s acting chairman Modern Ngwenya calling him a ‘disaster’ waiting to happen and called on other fans to think carefully about a possible candidature when elections for the chairmanship are held next year.

The members, many of whom will be expected to vote in the elections next year, did not pull any punches when they spoke to Chronicle Sport about Ngwenya’s Tuesday private lunch date with Zifa president Philip Chiyangwa and Dynamos chairman Kenny Mubaiwa.

Dynamos’ technical team attended the meeting held at the Zifa president’s offices.

During the hush hush meeting, the under fire Bosso honcho allegedly agreed to a replay of the contentious Battle of Zimbabwe encounter that was played at Rufaro Stadium on Sunday.

Now Bosso members are wondering if the club is indeed in safe hands as they head towards next year’s elections. Many also wonder if Ngwenya would be a suitable replacement as substantive chairman of the country’s first black-owned football club.

They questioned the wisdom of his ‘treacherous’ choice considering the storm surrounding Chiyangwa’s surprise reversal of Christian Epoupa Ntouba’s red card. The Dynamos forward was expelled by ref Arnold Ncube for head butting Highlanders’ Peter Muduhwa.

Below are responses from Bosso members to questions forwarded to them by this paper regarding the club’s acting chairman.

Nodumo Nyathi: “Modern Ngwenya was elected in an official Bosso meeting to be VC based on his CV and campaign which was well organised. The Chairman Peter Dube was suspended and he took over the reins albeit on acting capacity. He took the glory when we won but seems to blame previous leadership for the losses. He has been called a great man by Bosso enemies. Logic says to be loved by your home enemies it means you are part of them. He has lied to Bosso faithfuls that he challenged the Dynamos verdict and it has turned to be false. The end of him in my view was private meeting with our opponents and declaring we ready for a replay without challenging them or even waiting for the outcome of what Bosso is said to have sent as complaints to the PSL. Why meet with confused people who don’t run PSL games?

2018 is elections time and my hope is a unifier will be elected as chairman. A man with no sides. A man who will work hard first to make sure Bosso pays its debt. Secondly Bosso goes back to its youth policy. Thirdly Bosso wins the league in his first two years and fourthly Bosso sticks to its known home of grooming no matter what happens. We lost it when Mangwana came in and started recruiting a lot and it went in overdrive when we got the BancAbc cash.

We need whatever cash we have to be used to groom our boys, pay debt and spruce our club house. Why should we rent at schools to practise when we have more than three grounds?

Faith Silandulo Dube: Modern Ngwenya has proved beyond any reasonable doubt that, he is a modern disaster at Highlanders. Highlanders finds itself entangled in unprecedented Leadership mediocrity chiefly because of Modern’s insatiable appetite for power and control. Never in the history of Highlanders have we had an Executive Committee member who has been such a willing and useful tool for outsiders to weaken the people’s institution, Highlanders FC. Peter Dube’s suspension is tainted with his finger prints in collusion with his handlers. It is not shocking to hear that, He has attended meetings in Harare with Philip Chiyangwa and agreeing to a replay. In my humble view, Modern Ngwenya does not have what it takes to lead Highlanders FC. A Highlanders Leader should be someone who identifies and resonates with Highlanders ethos which are anchored on the fundamental values of Ubuntu. It is worrying and seriously concerning to note that, details of every meeting hits the headlines before Board members know about it. It’s unHighlanders.

Allan Mpofu: The guy is a distant cousin of football! How can he talk of replaying a game that has a result? Replay for what? I will repeat let all those that are leading Highlanders do the only sensible thing.. resign isilehlule madoda!

Dingani Sibanda: Boss made a big mistake by not standing with Peter Dube . Modern is not a football adimin Zifa knew if they took Peter out Bosso will be nowhere and they did it. Ama voti ethu yiwo asibulalayo sifaka iloba ngubani lesihlahla sesingangena sijike sikale kusasa

Nkululeko Fuzwayo: Modern Ngwenya is acting chairman courtesy of Zifa who illegally suspended the legitimate chairman of Highlanders. He feels indebted to Chiyangwa for elevating him to a position he is clearly underequipped to execute. Mr Ngwenya is not his own man. He lacks clarity of thought when dealing with seriously important matters involving the team. An ideal Bosso chairman must be a man of unquestionable integrity, must not be easily excitable, must be firm and yet accommodative, must be his own personal hatshi umuntu othathekayo nje. He must command respect from his peers in the football fraternity. His knowledge of the game and the rules must be beyond reproach. Akumelanga abengumuntu olambileyo. In other words the chairman must be someone who is financially stable and hatshi ozodinga ukuthola isinkwa sabantwana ku Bosso. He must be his own man. He must be analytical. All said and done he must be a man of honour.

Nkululeko Ndlovu: This and many other meetings are proof beyond any reasonable doubt that Modern Ngwenya is not just unsuitable but a total failure to be Highlanders chairman. In this particular unsanctioned meeting he further proves beyond any reasonable doubt that his handlers are not in Highlanders but indeed in Harare and in Dynamos in particular. It boggles the mind why he would accept a replay given the circumstances under discussion here. An away draw scoreline is as good as a win notwithstanding the poor officiating that took place on the said match day. He also knows fully well that he is an illegal acting Highlanders Chairman. The Bosso Constitution provides for two alternatives in the case that a Substantive Chairman is suspended, incapacitated or dies. The vice-chairman should act for not more than 90 days after which an emergency meeting should be called to either,

1.Confirm the Vice Chairman as substantive or

2. Call for Elections and elect a new Chairman. Both have not been done in the case of Modern Ngwenya. So clearly he is not supposed to be acting Chairman up to today. He has been acting for more than a year and this is wrong. He knows that if he calls for elections no Highlanders member can confirm him to be a substantive Highlanders chairman given his poor performance as Acting Chairman. In most cases he has been seen to be commenting and interfering with technical issues which he is clueless about. This has contributed immensely to the poor run of the club this season. Administratively he has also not done well and a number of inconsistent decisions have been made during his tenure together with the executive that he leads. What is in it for him to accept a replay other than corruption? In any fact who said every match that has a red card issued should have a replay as a settlement of grudges.

The laws of the game are very clear. The Referees’ decision is final. Everyone knows this including all those who attended the so called meeting.

Highlanders needs a new leader who is definitely not the failed Modern Ngwenya. In a Nutshell Bosso suffers from a Leadership crisis. The Chronicle