Dembare need operation restore legacy, says Shiri

A CABINET Minister says troubled football giants Dynamos need an operation to restore the club's legacy for the Glamour Boys to avoid slipping into the backwaters of Division One. The country's most successful and biggest football club have been enduring a horror season this year, which recently claimed the scalp of club president Kenny Mubaiwa, who quit his post.

Lands, Agriculture and Rural Settlement Minister Perrance Shiri on Monday night noted with concern the DeMbare poor run and the inconsistent performances of army side Black Rhinos.

Shiri revealed his concerns during remarks he made before delivering a speech on behalf Vice President Constantino Chiwenga while officiating at a dinner reception hosted for the COSAFA Cup-winning Warriors on Monday night.

"I think I would like to offer a bit of some advice to two soccer teams, being Black Rhinos and Dynamos Football Club,'' said Shiri.

"To Black Rhinos, I think if they are to succeed, they need to throw away male chauvinism and take a leaf from the female Rhinos who have proved themselves very good players and well organised to the extent that they dominate the national women's soccer team.

"To Dynamos Football Club, I will be honest that the founders of the club need to carry out an operation restore legacy.

"Anything short of that they may play in the First Division next season.''

Dynamos have, meanwhile, restructured their executive with the board of directors yesterday making some key appointments they hope will revive the former champions.

The Glamour Boys yesterday also broke with club tradition and named a woman in the top echelons of their leadership for the first time.

The new set-up has banker Isiah Mupfurutsa as chairman, business personality and president of the Women in Health (vice-chairperson) Esther Mawere and the pair of Human Resources executive Moses Shumba and miner Francis Madzinga.

Mawere, who is also a nurse by profession, is the first woman to sit in the Dynamos executive that has been a preserve of men over the decades that the Harare giants have been in existence.

DeMbare's executive restructuring comes after Mubaiwa threw in the towel last week.
Before Mubaiwa's resignation, Dynamos had been operating with just a three-member executive that included treasurer Moses Chikwariro and secretary-general Webster Marechera.

The club's board of directors, however, made some additions to the management crew at DeMbare and handed the new executive a fresh three-year mandate.

Dynamos board secretary, Farai Nyamayaro, in announcing the executive appointments, said they had not yet settled for a replacement for Mubaiwa.

DeMbare, will however, now have a chairman and a club president while plans are also afoot to set up sub-committees that will assist the management in running the Harare giants and these fall in line with club licensing requirements.

Nyamayaro said the appointments were also a culmination of meetings and consultations they had carried out within their board.

"We met on Saturday as a board and came up with a new executive structure. The board had earlier also met on 7 June at which nominees for the executive posts were made.

"Then on 9 June we called the concerned parties and they accepted to be part of the club's management.
"Their mandate is to restore the Dynamos legacy and take the club to dizzy heights again and the appointments are with immediate effect and for a three-year period. We will also announce sub-committees that will complement the executive,'' Nyamayaro said.

Dynamos, however, did not immediately name Mubaiwa's replacement.

The Dynamos board secretary also believes coach Lloyd Mutasa, who has been reinstated, needs the support of the club's chiefs.

"The coaching department needs to be given maximum support which was lacking in some way and only when we have supported our coaches fully can we then blame them for failure,'' Nyamayaro said.

Dynamos are a massive 24 points behind leaders and defending champions FC Platinum, who have 41 points.