One month on
Football Association of Malawi (Fam) is yet to hand over its K30 million donation to Cyclone Freddy survivors over a month after raising the funds from two activities.
Fam is expected to use about K10 million from gate collections of the Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Egypt on March 28 while K20 million will come from proceeds of the NBS Bank Charity Shield match played on April 9.
Fam Commercial Director Limbani Matola blamed the delay on logistical challenges.
Matola said a decision on the handover date has now been made after engaging other technical partners.
“We were in touch with our partner NBS Bank and Malawi Red Ross Society. All is now set for the donations to be made. We delayed because our team was still working on figures and damages and who the beneficiaries would be.
“We also could not proceed because some NBS Bank officials were outside the country. But now that they are back, we are good to go. We will also have our legends, some football team coaches and those that were affected by Cyclone Freddy from football also benefiting from the Charity Shield proceeds,” he said.
In a related development National Football Coaches Association (NFCA) on Tuesday fulfilled it’s pledge to help three of its members who were affected by the Cyclone.
These are MacDonald Mtetemera of Chitipa United, FCB Nyasa Bullets Reserve’s Enos Chatama and Tigers Reserves mentor Steve Bakali.
The three lost their houses to the Cyclone and received K1 million to share.
NFCA president Aubrey Nankhuni said his body wants more help as the assistance given to the coaches is not enough.
“We only managed to raise that little amount as the fund raising games we organised in Mponela and Mchinji involving some Super League teams did not yield the amount we anticipated due to heavy rains that affect patronage. But all the same, we are happy that we have managed to give Mtetemera K400,000 while Chatama and Bakali are going home with K300,000 each,” Nankhuni said.
Mteremera, who was the worst affected as his entire house was washed away, expressed gratitude to NFCA for the gesture.
“This is certainly not enough considering the losses and damages we all incurred, but we are grateful to everyone who took part in assisting us. On behalf of my fellow coaches, I say thank you very much,” he said.
Cyclone Freddy claimed the lives of over 600 people in the Southern Region, with hundreds others still missing.
Peter Fote is a Sports Journalist with huge experience in radio and Television reporting, production and presentation. He once worked with Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) and is currently working for Times Media Group.
