Kgomongwe takes full control at Gunners
Kabelo Boranabi | Saturday January 18, 2025 06:00
The Peleng giants announced the partnership with Kgomongwe on Wednesday. 'The partnership will see Mr Chief Ally Kgomongwe running the day-to-day activities of the club to take it to its glory days. This includes both youth and ladies teams,' the club said in a statement. Kgomongwe is a renowned entrepreneur and football administrator with experience in running football clubs. His latest project was with Eswatini side, Mbabane Highlanders. The South African, who runs Pretoria-based Ally's Counter Force Security, joins Gunners intending to turn things around at the struggling giants.
Speaking to MmegiSport, Gunners' public relations officer, Isaac Mmualefe, said Kgomongwe has penned a five-year deal management contract with Gunners and has aligned his approach with the recommendations of the Botswana Football Association (BFA). 'The BFA recommends that we should run our clubs via a company, not societies and this management contract is aligned to that. Kgomongwe will take 100% of the club, and we hope beyond our five-year contract, the club would be in a much better position, especially financially,' Mmualefe said.
Over the last decade, Gunners have been swimming in a pool of debts. In 2023, the club announced that the debts had exceeded P2 million. 'We hope that Kgomongwe would help us with running the club and also with the debt. The debt has been derailing the team's progress for a long time and our new partner fully understands our financial position,' Mmualefe said.
The spokesperson further said Gunners have given coach, Mike Sithole, time off the club duties because the club could not meet his salaries. Proper Monnawanoka has been holding the fort for the majority of the campaign as Gunners battle to come out of the relegation zone. The team is now linked with respected Swati coach Mthunzi Ginindza and Mmualefe could not rule out the move.
Reports in Eswatini suggest that Ginindza, who has previously worked under Kgomongwe at Mbabane Highlanders, is waiting for his work permit and had a feel of the club as he watched Gunners beat Security Systems in December. 'We are in the market for a new coach. Our new partner has hinted that he will come with his own people and we welcome that because we have given him control of the club to take us back to where we belong. So, he (Ginindza) is likely one of the coaches he has worked with before and we welcome the move,' Mmualefe said.