Do we need club elections in modern days?

For the past weeks, we have been hearing from the local press that divisions have rocked Nyasa Big Bullets family over the proposed main executive committee’s elections slated for next month at a venue yet to be named.

After successfully holding peaceful supporters executive committee elections at Gymkhana Club in Zomba earlier this month, there are disagreements between the Board of Trustees and the newly elected supporters committee as to whether Bullets should hold the elections or not, with the majority of some of the Trustees not interested in having the polls in favour of a commercialization drive aimed at running the club as a business entity.

However, the Stone Mwamadi led supporters committee has made it clear that whether one likes it or not, the polls, as per the team’s constitution, will go ahead as planned.

According to Mwamadi, it’s good to respect Bullets’ constitution rather than trying very hard to fight with what was written in the constitution.

But the question is, do we need club executive polls in the modern days? Do we really need supporters to be running our clubs? Are we moving with time?

Our local clubs are being run as if we are still living in the Iron Age. Our administrators are deliberately refusing to adapt to the modern ways of running things.

This is the 21st Century where a club like Bullets or Be Forward Wanderers do not need to go for executive polls in order to usher in leaders who will be running the clubs.

Commercialization aside, let’s move with time. A club must have administration responsible for running it. A club must have Chief Executive Officer (CEO), an Accountant, and a Media Officer just to mention a few.

That’s how a modern club is run. That’s how clubs from neighbouring countries are being run. A club like Bullets cannot be run by supporters.

In Malawi, supporters are more powerful than Football Association of Malawi (FAM), Super League of Malawi (Sulom) and even the said executive committees.

If you are the Chairman for a certain club and you are not in good terms with the supporters committee, it will be a miracle if you can finish your term of office. The supporters are the first ones to violate the said constitution by firing you from your position.

Why do we allow supporters to be running our clubs? As long as the supporters continue running our clubs, forget about professionalizing our football in Malawi.

We don’t need elections for a big club like Bullets. Let’s learn from our friends, supporters’ main duty is to be in the open stands and support their team.

Let administrators run our teams. A Board of Trustees should be given mandate to appoint office bearers who will be running the affairs of any particular club.

Ignorance is a disease that we must get rid off. Let’s move with time. If we are to be in line with Club Licensing requirement then we must also adapt to the modern days of running our clubs.

It’s time to change our way of thinking, this is 2017 and not 1945.

Imagine, a club like Bullets has nothing to show to the future generation apart from the players but it has been existing for the past 50 years. Are we making improvements? If we are not careful, one day it will just be history that once upon time, there was Big Bullets, it used to win trophies but alas, it’s gone.

It’s time for a change.