AGM mirrors TAFIC's state of affairs
Chakalisa Dube | Friday December 4, 2020 15:24
FRANCISTOWN: For more than two decades TAFIC has often struggled to stay afloat owing to lack of finances and administrative challenges.
The club has also struggled to aggressively pursue the privatisation strategy and stay away from an array of administrative challenges. In fact, the club’s problems appear to be self-inflicted. For example, at the AGM it was evident that there was no concerted lobbying for executive positions by aspiring candidates. It appeared people were not voted on demonstrated knowledge and understanding of football administration, but by virtue of their perceived social status.
Heavy lobbying would have enabled the club’s supporters to subject the aspiring candidates to a test that would have determined if they are fit and proper to lead the club.
On the floor, even some of those who participated in the voting process openly acknowledged that they were clueless about the credentials of some of those who were standing for the executive elections.
One thing that also came out at the meeting is that the legitimacy of the people who attended the elections was questionable. According to the TAFIC constitution, only a card-carrying member has the capacity to vote.
However, people were allowed to vote without their membership cards or being subjected to proper vetting. This has been a tradition at TAFIC. In short, the voting was open to everyone who was available at the meeting. The justification was that the club does not have a proper membership database of subscribing members. As a result, when the club does not insist on controls or any kind of close regulation of those who vote, chances are that the voting process would be prone to manipulation.
It was also evident that some aspiring candidates had mobilised some people not necessarily associated with the club in any way to vote for them. This then means that the wrong people grant the executive, approval or authority to run the club.
Outgoing TAFIC chairperson, Carlos Sebina acknowledged that the club’s problems are self-inflicted. He said it is worrying that a club like TAFIC continues to hold its important meetings without fully-fledged members.
“If our supporters were committed to supporting the club wholeheartedly we would be doing well in various areas. The club will fall even further behind if the supporters do not fully take part in its key activities and start subscribing.”
He said the club has 180 registered supporters who pay P100 monthly subscriptions. For a club of the size of TAFIC, Sebina said it was disheartening to have so few registered members. None of the registered members made it to the meeting.
For now the club seems to be moving further and further from where many believe it deserves to be. Eyes are on the recently elected chairperson, Tebogo Toteng who promised to turn the fortunes of the club around and mobilise supporters to start backing the club’s activities.
“I will delegate the day-to-day running of the club to my vice. I want him to release me to focus more on strategic issues such as commercialisation, membership drive and database as well as insurance cover for the players amongst others,” Toteng said in his maiden speech as chairperson.
He said his focus would be to make sure that the club leverages on the goodwill of its brand to drive a commercialisation plan and attract sponsorship because of lack of accountability.