When, in June 2020, a sitting State president announced that he would launch the construction of two stadia for Malawi football giants FCB Nyasa Big Bullets and Mighty Mukuru Wanderers, the feeling was that the move would go a long way in improving football standards in the country.
In fact, the feeling was that the stadia would add to the beauty of Blantyre City, the preferred location of the stadia.
Indeed, the impression created was that, once the government handed the facilities over to the two teams, they would agree on money repayment terms.
That is, the two teams would, either through gate collections, hiring of the facilities and other means, pay back the money— perhaps at an agreed interest rate— until they owed the government nothing.
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At that time, voices of dissent were muted.
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And, again, if, ever, the opposition of the time said anything, it was in low tones. It could be because they knew that, with court-ordered presidential elections set for June 23 that same year, they would be putting their heads on the chopping board.
I mean, sports in general, and football in particular, unites.
Maybe that is why they said nothing when it was announced that the-then president would unveil plaques at the construction sites—it was said that the Bullets stadium would be planted in Zingwangwa while the Nomads one would be in Soche—before proceeding to Bangwe Desert Ground, where the launch would take place.
The Malawi leader of that time had promised to build stadia for the two teams during his campaign for the 2019 presidential election.
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It was further announced that the government would have ownership of the stadia once completed. That is, the two teams would not own the stadia.
That means public funds would not be used to construct stadia for two private entities. The facilities would still be in government hands.
Fine and well.
The surprising thing has been that the pace of construction has, somewhat, been slow.
And, now, the Ministry of Sports has said it will not be automatic that the stadia would be used by the two Blantyre-based teams.
I find nothing wrong with the statement. In fact, this is the assurance that Malawians have been craving.
Nobody wants their taxes to be used for running the operations of privately owned entities.
This is exactly what international charity Oxfam told the government in September 2019, when it urged the authorities to rescind the decision to construct two stadia for privately owned football clubs.
The organisation suggested that the K1.6 billion that was meant for the initiative be channeled towards efforts aimed at improving service delivery in the public sector.
It said sectors such as health, education, agriculture and others were facing problems and needed the government’s helping hand.
However, with the timing of the Ministry of Sports’ message— a message that contained nothing new anyway, as we knew, from the onset, that the government would still own the stadia—I am suspicious.
I think the ministry has done so to avoid being held to account for delays that have marred the stadia construction project.
Now that is what we call cowardice.
