Former AAM president Godfrey Phiri defies Sports Council by representing the association at launch of Standard Bank Be More Race

Godfrey Phiri captured being interviewed by journalists on Saturday

* Phiri, alongside Chitembeya, were first banned in February from taking part in, participating in and organizing any athletic events

* Later the ban was lifted after both apologised to the sports mother governing body

* However, Sports Council had emphasized that the two did not retain their positions

By Duncan Mlanjira

Former Athletics Association of Malawi (AAM) president defied Malawi National Council of Sports by representing the association at the launch of the 2013 Standard Bank Be More Race on Saturday.

Phiri, alongside general secretary, Frank Chitembeya, were first banned in February “from taking part in, participating in and organizing any athletic events in the country” and later the ban was lifted after both apologised to the sports mother governing body for their misgivings.

However, Sports Council Board chairperson Sunduzwayo Madise had emphasized that the two did not retain their positions since an operation committee was constituted that is running AAM’s technical aspects which was “working on logistics for regional and national elections after the constitution was adopted”.

In a press release from logistics organisers of the 2023 Standard Bank Be More Race indicates that Godfrey Phiri was representing AAM and is quoted as commending Standard Bank for the support it renders to the sport by sponsoring the marathon.

When brought to his attention if Phiri was allowed to represent AAM, Madise’s response was an emphatic “No!”

Sources within AAM has been complaining that the association’s leadership had overstayed and that they were completely ignoring  Sports Council, citing government interference as justification for their defiance.

Two years ago, AAM suspended Chitembeya on several grounds including abuse of office and a vote of no confidence in him that was passed by the body’s executive committee during a meeting held on March 13, 2021.

The grounds of the suspension included open defiance and blatant disregard to AAM working rules and regulations and its constitution and working unilaterally without consulting the executive committee on critical issues affecting the corporate integrity of the association.

He was also accused of usurping the role of technical committee on athletes selection to international events as well as refusing to harmonise world athletics list of activities funded by the world body and was ordered to surrender all documents to the association’s president upon receiving the letter.

An internal audit report for 2017-18, exposed financial mismanagement at the athletics body in which about K50 million was unaccounted for.

But Chitembeya still bounced back as the association was in the process of amending its constitution, who held back the document till the end of its deadline for submission to Sports Council — forcing the country’s sports governing body, mandated by the Laws of Malawi, to intervene.

When reached out to if Phiri has been involved in administering the 2023 Be More Race and in what capacity — taking cognizance that he was relieved of his duties as AAM president — Standard Bank Chief Executive, Phillip Madinga, who presided over the launch, did not respond.

Most associations had not been adhering to their own constitutional obligations igniting the Sports Council to formulate management guidelines way back in 2016 but had still not been followed to the book until the mother governing body revisited and finetuned them last year.

They include most importantly the association’s own constitutional obligations of holding annual general meetings (AGMs); presentation of audited accounts; strong governance (high academic qualifications, physical offices and terms of office); local and international competitions participation; paying subscription fees to Sports Council — among others.

Last month, the Council — which is mandated by the Laws of Malawi — ordered all associations to submit confirmations that they have held AGMs in the past 12 months or intend to do so by the end of the 2022-2023 financial year.

And last week, the Council brought together all the associations to a meeting at Malawi Sun Hotel in Blantyre to review and discuss whether they have held their AGMs or produced audited accounts and have paid their subscription fees as well as to be appraised of challenges they are facing.

Madise said at the end of the meeting that they were pleased that the majority of the associations have positively embraced the management guidelines.

Most of the associations seemed not aware that the guidelines were formulated some seven years back — an indication that on successions, new executive members do not find reports and paperwork of previous policies made because they do not have secretariats to keep records.

Thus Madise asked the associations to always prepare reports from every meeting they attend and file them for future reference — thus Council’s firm stance that each should have a physical secretariat for record keeping and professional management.

In his presentation to the background to formulation of the guidelines, Sports Council’s Administrative Manager, Henry Mereka stressed that they are not targeting individuals who are deemed to have overstayed in their positions but just trying to assist the current administrators to leave a legacy of professional management for others to follow up and even do much better for the development of the sports in the country.

“For our athletes to do well both in local and international tournaments, it starts with sound management,” he had said. “For you to attract corporate sponsorship, it’s also due to professional management.

“We are not targeting individuals and that’s why we have brought all of you together for us to to check if implementation has been done and to appreciate challenges you might be facing to map the way forward.”