Fam Constitution needs to be revised
The way some articles in the Fam Constitution have been interpreted prior to the December 12 executive committee polls in Mangochi is ample testimony that they need to be revisited and tightened.
There have been a lot of grey areas in the Fam Constitution that need to be revised for the betterment of Malawi football.
The way the Fam Electoral Committee and Appeals Committee have interpreted the rules shows that there is something wrong with the Electoral Law and it needs to be looked at urgently.
It is surprising that Fam and its mother body Fifa spent almost two years drafting these laws but still there are numerous loopholes that left most of us confused.
The Article which needs to be refined is 34 Sub-Section 2 which stipulates that members of the Executive Committee shall be more than thirty years of age and shall posses a minimum of a Malawi School Certificate of Education (MSCE) or its equivalent. They must have already been active in association football for a period of not less than five years (active as a player or official) and must not have been previously convicted in the last seven years of a crime involving dishonesty and moral turpitude. They shall have residence within the territory of FAM.
It would appear the constitutional conference failed to explain clearly what an equivalent of MSCE is. It also failed to define clearly what it meant by ‘must have already been active in association football for a period of not less than five years’ (active as a player or official).
The way these rules have been interpreted by our learned friends has left the soccer fraternity confused. For sure there are some more sections which need tightening; otherwise, Malawi football risks being run by upstarts.
It is surprising that almost two years were spent drafting these laws, a lot of money was spent on tea, and allowances for the delegates but it would appear there was nothing tangible which came out apart from the confusion we are experiencing.
To me, this Constitution has failed the litmus test and Fam Legal minds need to go back to the drawing board to scrutinise it. One cannot expect such laws to govern our beautiful game.
Finally, I wish all those people who were accusing Fam General Secretary Suzgo Nyirenda of interfering with the operations of the Electoral Committee apologized for their unwarranted and misguided tantrums because the truth has come out.
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