Sports / Local
Bosso members push for early AGM
09 Nov 2014 at 12:52hrs | Views
A SECTION of Highlanders Football Club members are pushing for the bringing forward of the club's annual general meeting to, preferably, the end of this month from the constitutionally stipulated end of January.
A petition is circulating to that effect with its authors seeking signatures from at least 100 fully paid up members to force the executive to accede to their demands for an extraordinary general meeting where they would push for the amendment of the provisions of the club's constitution.
The petition, states the agenda as the amendment of Article 16:1 of the Highlanders constitution.
Article 16:1 reads: "The annual general meeting of the club shall be held during the month of January".
The change in the AGM dates will affect the holding of elections for the executive which are scheduled for next year as they are held a week after the assembly's gathering.
So far 54 members have appended their signatures to the petition.
The force behind the petition Leeroy Maplanka said some negative developments within the club that manifested this year made them seek the change of the AGM dates.
He said they were calling for the extraordinary general meeting under Article 17 of the Highlanders constitution which allowed the holding of an EGM at anytime for members to discuss an urgent matter. The club's constitution, in Article 17:5, states: "At least 100 paid up members by petition, or a resolution of the executive committee or board of trustees may call such a meeting".
Elections for the members of the executive that include the chairmanship currently held by Peter Dube, secretary general (Andrew Tapela) and the position of committee member held by Charles Moyo are due at the club's next AGM as per constitutional provisions.
Maplanka said they believed it was in the best interest of the club to have elections for the executive soon after the end of the footballing season rather than at the beginning of February.
He said the fact that Highlanders did not have a substantive coach made it difficult for the outgoing executive to appoint a new coach.
"We should be cognisant of the fact that election results can go either way thus the incoming executive should be allowed to hire a coach they want rather than having to work with one appointed by an executive that has left office. Waiting until February to hire a coach is a no no situation because time would not be on our side as far as preparations for the coming season are concerned. The earlier we start our planning the better," said Maplanka, adding that bringing the elections forward would create a transitional phase to ensure a smooth month-long handover-takeover period instead of the current one-day session.
"We don't believe the current few hours handover-takeover session between an outgoing and incoming chairman is enough, a month would be appropriate," said Maplanka.
The Highlanders constitution was changed to ensure that not all positions in the executive were voted for in the same year for continuity as other members of the previous executive would still be in office.
The provisions in the Highlanders constitution can only be changed by a two-thirds majority of members who are in attendance of a general meeting specifically called for that purpose.
The previous Themba Ndlela executive appointed Kelvin Kaindu at the beginning of 2012 as Highlanders coach but was booted out at the elections held in February.
There are also rumours the current executive led by Peter Dube is reluctant to hire a new coach due to the pending elections but this might have a negative impact on Highlanders' preparations for the 2015 football season as the players under their radar might have already been snapped up.
Contrary to rumours doing the rounds, Maplanka said they were not out to oust the Highlanders executive, but simply wanted the AGM moved to this month from January next year, adding the development would work in the club's favour in the long run.
Highlanders has been going through a rough patch in the current season with an atrocious second half performance that forced the team's then coach, Kaindu to "resign" while player indiscipline has also taken root at the club.
Bosso's followers are divided on the reasons for their below par performance with some blaming the executive while some felt Kaindu failed in his bid to land the title and others accused stand-in coach, Mark Mathe and team manager, Willard Khumalo of having sabotaged the Zambian gaffer.
A petition is circulating to that effect with its authors seeking signatures from at least 100 fully paid up members to force the executive to accede to their demands for an extraordinary general meeting where they would push for the amendment of the provisions of the club's constitution.
The petition, states the agenda as the amendment of Article 16:1 of the Highlanders constitution.
Article 16:1 reads: "The annual general meeting of the club shall be held during the month of January".
The change in the AGM dates will affect the holding of elections for the executive which are scheduled for next year as they are held a week after the assembly's gathering.
So far 54 members have appended their signatures to the petition.
The force behind the petition Leeroy Maplanka said some negative developments within the club that manifested this year made them seek the change of the AGM dates.
He said they were calling for the extraordinary general meeting under Article 17 of the Highlanders constitution which allowed the holding of an EGM at anytime for members to discuss an urgent matter. The club's constitution, in Article 17:5, states: "At least 100 paid up members by petition, or a resolution of the executive committee or board of trustees may call such a meeting".
Elections for the members of the executive that include the chairmanship currently held by Peter Dube, secretary general (Andrew Tapela) and the position of committee member held by Charles Moyo are due at the club's next AGM as per constitutional provisions.
Maplanka said they believed it was in the best interest of the club to have elections for the executive soon after the end of the footballing season rather than at the beginning of February.
"We should be cognisant of the fact that election results can go either way thus the incoming executive should be allowed to hire a coach they want rather than having to work with one appointed by an executive that has left office. Waiting until February to hire a coach is a no no situation because time would not be on our side as far as preparations for the coming season are concerned. The earlier we start our planning the better," said Maplanka, adding that bringing the elections forward would create a transitional phase to ensure a smooth month-long handover-takeover period instead of the current one-day session.
"We don't believe the current few hours handover-takeover session between an outgoing and incoming chairman is enough, a month would be appropriate," said Maplanka.
The Highlanders constitution was changed to ensure that not all positions in the executive were voted for in the same year for continuity as other members of the previous executive would still be in office.
The provisions in the Highlanders constitution can only be changed by a two-thirds majority of members who are in attendance of a general meeting specifically called for that purpose.
The previous Themba Ndlela executive appointed Kelvin Kaindu at the beginning of 2012 as Highlanders coach but was booted out at the elections held in February.
There are also rumours the current executive led by Peter Dube is reluctant to hire a new coach due to the pending elections but this might have a negative impact on Highlanders' preparations for the 2015 football season as the players under their radar might have already been snapped up.
Contrary to rumours doing the rounds, Maplanka said they were not out to oust the Highlanders executive, but simply wanted the AGM moved to this month from January next year, adding the development would work in the club's favour in the long run.
Highlanders has been going through a rough patch in the current season with an atrocious second half performance that forced the team's then coach, Kaindu to "resign" while player indiscipline has also taken root at the club.
Bosso's followers are divided on the reasons for their below par performance with some blaming the executive while some felt Kaindu failed in his bid to land the title and others accused stand-in coach, Mark Mathe and team manager, Willard Khumalo of having sabotaged the Zambian gaffer.
Source - Sunday News
