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Eddie Chikamhi-Senior Sports Reporter

FORMER Dynamos players on Saturday elected legends Ernest Kamba and Sunday Chidzambwa to drive the Premiership football club’s Board of Trustees. 

Kamba, who is one of the surviving senior former players of DeMbare, took over as chairman with Chidzambwa coming in as vice-chairman. 

Eric Aisam was elected secretary while Cremio Mapfumo is the new treasurer. The 10-member Board of Trustees also includes David George, Moses Chunga, Clayton Munemo, Labani Kandi, Makwinji Soma-Phiri and Ignatius Kapfunde. 

The Board of Trustees, which has been non-existent for the past few years, was elected by the Electoral College in accordance with the club’s founding constitution of 1963. The meeting on Saturday started off by confirming the Electoral College, which in turn elected the Board of Trustees.

“A new Board of Trustees was elected and we discussed the way forward,” said Kamba.

“The club has been operating without a Board of Trustees all these years, which is against the provisions of the constitution.   

“So the meeting on Saturday was a success because we achieved what we wanted and we also set the tone for the future of the club. Dynamos’ existence should be perpetual. We realised that we have been losing members due to death and we incorporated younger members into the Electoral College to ensure continuity. 

“It’s sad that for many years the constitution was never followed. The Chief Justice Malaba judgment said we should go back to the 1963 constitution and start from there.  

“The only time we came closer to following the constitution was when we held the meeting of the Electoral College in 2008. The minutes are there.

“The problem arose when some guys realised that they were not going to get senior posts in the board and they unleashed violence and pushed everyone out of our offices in Eastlea. 

“Myself, Patrick Dzvene, Isidore Sagwete and George Shaya were victims of that criminal act. After the 2008 meeting we had gone on to register with the Registrar of Companies. 

“To our surprise, when we went back to the Registrar of Companies, we discovered that all registered directors had been signed off as resigned, yet I, personally, and my other colleagues didn’t remember ever resigning. 

“The only other legal meeting held in terms of the constitution was in 2016,” said Kamba. 

To ensure perpetuity, the former Dynamos players have blended old and younger members into their Electoral College, which is the football parliament of the club. 

The other proposed members of the Electoral College include Desmond Maringwa, Allan Mapila, Sam Mukomondo, David Phiri, July Sharara, Henry Chari, Ralph Kawondera, Norman Maroto, Mugove Munyorovi, Murape Murape, Eddie Mashiri, Dickson Chunga, Tichaona Diya and Nkululeko Dhlamini. 

Kamba said the Board of Trustees will have their first meeting this coming Saturday to chart the way forward. 

According to the constitution, the Board of Trustees should have a three-year tenure. The board directs the policy affairs of the club and it draws its powers from the Electoral College. 

The Board of Trustees is mandated to appoint the executive to run the day-to-day affairs of the club, managers, head coach and committees as required. 

The decision of the board of trustees can only be changed by a meeting of the Electoral College convened for that purpose. 

However, the control of the club has been in dispute for years, following the death of most of the founding members. 

The DeMbare members have queried how current board chairman, Bernard Marriot, came to acquire the 51 percent shareholding of the club and have taken the matter to court. 

“The constitution expressly states that the club belongs to founding fathers and former players, who should make up the Electoral College and are entitled to one share each.

“But we now have a situation where one member claims 51 percent of the shares. We are curious to know how it came to this. 

“We are also curious to know what could have happened to the club in the event that Marriot is no longer there, not that we wish death on anyone. This is about the club,” said Kamba. 

However, they are likely to clash with the Marriot administration, which has dismissed the meeting as a nullity. 

“Dynamos Football Club (Pvt) Ltd and indeed, Dynamos Football Club wish to distance themselves from the aforesaid meeting and hereby place on record the fact that the meeting has nothing to do with the legitimate affairs of Dynamos Football Club. 

“The individuals who are behind the meeting, which has been purportedly attributed to Dynamos Football club, are neither members of Dynamos Football Club nor Dynamos Football Club (Pvt) Ltd,” said the board’s secretary Fungai Nyamayaro.