Mwawi Kumwenda manager’s letter to Netball Association of Malawi
The wrangle between Mwawi Kumwenda and Netball Association of Malawi (Nam) took a turn for the worst on Thursday when the player’s Manager, Hlupikile Chalamba, asked for a meeting with the association to understand the circumstances leading to the arbitrary decision to expel the star-shooter from camp.
Nam officials were not willing to grant Malawi News an interview for their side of the story, but below is Chalamba’s letter addressed to the association’s General Secretary, Carol Bapu.
Dear Carol,
Thank you for extending an invitation to Mwawi to join camp for the upcoming England test series. As Mwawi’s manager, I acknowledge receipt of your e-mail.
Much as Mwawi is always excited and committed to represent[ing] Malawi and play with the Queens, as her manager and legal advisor, I have advised her to wait until we have a better understanding of what transpired during the last call-up which led to her expulsion from camp.
Whilst she really wants to play, I personally have reservations at this moment on the availability of a conducive environment for her effective participation, especially when I consider what transpired during the previous call-up, and the fact that the circumstances around her expulsion have not been cleared yet.
As Mwawi’s manager, let me express my concern with the manner in which Mwawi was expelled from camp.
We are both well aware that Mwawi provided reasons beforehand for reporting late. If Nam found such reasons to have been unacceptable, then you would have accorded her a chance to be properly, fairly and impartially heard before enforcing a decision to expel her.
The fact that the coach himself [Sam Kanyenda] was even surprised and against Mwawi’s expulsion raises even more deep concerns, because the coach himself (being part of the technical committee) should ordinarily have been the one to exercise such disciplinary oversight of his players.
It, therefore, becomes worrying as to whether there may be other factors that resulted in such an arbitrary decision from Nam. In addition, the manner in which the decision was undertaken only served to further ridicule and stigmatise Mwawi.
Specifically, Nam opted to publicly denounce Mwawi in front of her team-mates and demanded her removal from camp. This is inspite of the fact that Mwawi had been earlier welcomed by the coach and had already commenced training with her team-mates.
Throughout these twists of events, Mwawi and myself have nonetheless respected your decision, and we remained optimistic that we would have a two-way discussion surrounding this issue.
To date, we have received nothing except your current call for camp reporting on Sunday, November 12, 2017 and processing of UK Visa on Friday, November 10, 2017. It is not currently clear whether the expulsion from the camp constituted a disciplinary action or Mwawi is yet to undergo formal disciplinary action.
To say the least, this kind of working relationship is not healthy for Mwawi and even her team-mates. I am increasingly becoming uncomfortable with this continued tension, especially considering that this is not the first time that we have had such concerning actions from your side. This is not the kind of environment that Mwawi or any other team member can thrive.
For Mwawi and her team members to effectively perform, they need to play in a safe and comfortable environment— without fear of arbitrary decision makings.
I, therefore, request that we first have an honest and reflective discussion to iron out these issues. We need to understand from you what happened, (including the manner in which you undertook your decisions), and how we can move forward amicably for the betterment of national interests that are at stake.
Once this is done, I will be comfortable to release Mwawi— having the firm assurance that the best interests of Mwawi and the Queens are well safeguarded by Nam.
We look forward to hearing from you.
Best regards
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