Race to succeed Walter begins

Some aspirants have already started posturing for the FAM presidency following incumbent Walter Nyamilandu’s decision not to seek a fourth four-year term during the December 2015 elections.

Weekend Nation

has established that while most of the potential candidates have not necessarily expressed interest, they are being earmarked by the electorates and some potential candidates have already started campaigning.

Super League of Malawi (Sulom) vice-president Lieutenant Colonel Dr. Dan Kuwali and treasurer Tiya Somba Banda are being targeted for the presidency alongside ex-Sulom president Henry Chibowa and his vice-president Chiku Kalilombe; and FAM legal and competitions committee head Jabbar Alide, sources indicate.

“I have been approached and I am currently giving it a serious thought through consultations,” Chibowa said, adding that he might have been approached owing to his track record as former player, FAM member, Sulom general secretary and president.

“Change management is instantly needed! Leaders must be the change they want to see. A sound strategic plan duly shared with stakeholders should give the road map to success which has eluded FAM for a long, long time say 1988 when we last tasted the East and Central Africa Senior Challenge Cup,” said Chibowa.

First to break the silence on Saturday was Kamuzu Barracks team manager Francis Shaba who told MBC Radio One Saturday Sports Special programme that Kuwali has the qualifications, temperament and vision to succeed Nyamilandu.

Then a source confided in Weekend Nation that the wheeling and dealing on the domestic football arena had started “however, most affiliates do not want an outsider for the position”.

In response to a questionnaire, Kuwali said: “Although it is reassuring to hear that some quarters are proposing my name, as a matter of fact, I have not thrown my hat on the table for FAM presidency and I am not intending to vie for the position then or at any future elections.”

Citing introduction of gate ticket outsourcing as his achievement, Somba Banda said, although not yet approached, he was grateful that some electorates have confidence in him, adding: “However, the thought has never come to me and no one has even mentioned it to me.”

Kalilombe insisted that the thought of vying for FAM presidency “hadn’t explicitly” crossed his mind and he was cautious having lost his bid for Sulom presidency in 2011 to Bottoman.

Alide dismissed speculation in the football circles that Nyamilandu was grooming him for the presidency, insisting that they have just been friends since college days and have supported each other at the association.

“My position is that I am not standing as FAM president or executive committee member in the next elections, unless something in my current occupational routine drastically changes. I feel I have done my cycle,” Alide insisted.

Current FAM vice -president Moses Mkandawire and Sulom president Innocent Bottoman have also emerged on the presidential picture, but they have not expressed interest.

FAM constitution mandates each of its nine affiliates to nominate one candidate for a position a month before elections. Candidates must possess, at least, an MSCE and be aged 30 and above “and they must have already been active in association football for a period of not less than five years (active as a player or officials).”

At an extraordinary annual general meeting held in Mangochi early this month, Nyamilandu told affiliates that this time around, unlike before the previous elections when he made similar declarations against standing, there is no turning back. He assumed office in 2003.

Nyamilandu is credited for the Flames and Malawi Under-17 qualification to the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations and world championships respectively. Additionally, sponsors such as FMB, Carlsberg Malawi, Standard Bank and TNM came into football under his tenure having assumed office when there was no top-flight league sponsorship.

But critics blame Nyamilandu’s fire-fighting administration characterised by failure to harmonise the football calendar, put the game on a long-term visible development path and make the game self-sustainable. Football talent development chain is also dysfunctional, whereas gate ticketing fraud and hooliganism have multiplied under his watch.

Some feel Nyamilandu has run out of ideas. He had not responded to questionnaire by press time.