Flames Afcon fundraiser to miss K60m target

Flames African Cup of Nations (Afcon) Resource Mobilisation Task Force believes the Ipatse Moto Flames and Win initiative meant to raise at least K60 million towards the team’s participation at the Afcon finals in Cameroon next month will miss the target.

However, the task force’s spokesperson Tulipo Mwenelupembe said on Tuesday during the fourth draw of the fundraising promotion at Mpira Village in Chiwembe Township, Blantyre that they are optimistic of raising at least above half the target as the campaign winds up with a grand draw on December 30.

“We had a target of K60 million, which we will not be able to achieve by the end of the final week. This is due to a number of factors, especially the current economic situation and the Flames’ poor performance in the 2022 Qatar World Cup qualifiers,” he said.

Nevertheless, Mwenelupembe, who is also Football Association of Malawi (FAM) marketing and broadcasting manager, said they were satisfied with the progress of the initiative, considering the short period of the promo.

He said: “We have engaged with the fans, given out some prizes and received a good feedback. We tried our best to do this within the shortest period of time and we believe we have done well, but could have done better.

“In spite of that, we are looking at how much we have raised in all the fundraising activities we have had.”

On how much has been raised so far, Mwenelupembe said the details will be known during the grand draw as there have also been some expenses that need to be factored in.

During the fourth draw on Tuesday, 15 lucky individuals won Flames replica jerseys. The previous week, three football lovers won deep freezers each.

A Toyota Sienta worth over K3million will be the grand prize come December 30.

The ‘Ipatse Moto Flames and Win’ promotion is the second fundraising initiative for the Flames Afcon campaign after the Kuipatsa Moto Fundraising Golf Tournament, which targeted K30 million, but raised K73.4 million.

Last month, President Lazarus Chakwera also hosted a VVIP Fundraising Dinner at Kamuzu Palace in Lilongwe where K54 million was raised. The Afcon finals will be held from January 9 to February 6, 2022 in Cameroon.