Mike Butao unfazed by those eyeing his Wanderers seat

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Be Forward Wanderers general secretary Mike Butao says he feels motivated to protect his position at the forthcoming executive committee elections for fear of leaving the club in the hands of clueless people.

Wanderers go to the polls on 25 March with all but two of the current executive committee members seeking re-election.

Butao: I have done a lot for the club.

Butao’s predecessor David Kanyenda and former judiciary spokesperson Mlenga Mvula have thrown their hats in the ring to face him head on.

But the soft-spoken Butao is unfazed by the challenge owing to what he has achieved in the past four years.

“As Mike Butao, there is a lot that I have done for the club and a lot more that I want to see happen at Wanderers. I see  some of  the aspirants out there, as people who want to take the club backwards, and I would not be happy to see the club sliding back after all we have done in the past four years to take it this far,” said Butao.

He went further to underline the huge responsibility that comes with his position.

“Some of these aspirants are good at mere rhetoric, thinking my role is more like a spokesperson. They don’t know that a general secretary is the chief executive officer of the club, responsible for the day to day operations of this institution, so let them do the talking,” he said.

On future projects, Butao unveiled plans to build a stadium with support from the club’s sponsors.

“Previously we had 8 sponsors, but from this year, the number of sponsors has shot to around 20, all from Japan, and most of them have been earmarked for the stadium project. We are also trying to bring our sponsors, Be Forward Japan, to open an office here because sometimes it’s quite inconvenient when the sponsors are thousands of miles away,” he said

Should that be achieved, Butao further disclosed that most of the club’s commercialization efforts will run under the umbrella of the local office.