Wanderers fans panic over promo, want takeover
By Peter Forte
Under-pressure Be Forward Wa n d e r e r s supporters want to take control of the newly launched ‘Wanderers Yanga Wanderers Yathu’ SMS promotion after noticing slow progress since the initiative was launched. Wanderers Supporters Chairperson Mervin Nkunika and Central Region Supporters Committee Chairperson Rodrick Chitedze feel the main executive committee is not doing enough to raise more money, having fetched around K5 million.
Nkunika said the club must step up its efforts to raise more funds as the club will finally lose Be Forward Limited sponsorship on December 31 this year.
“Even the Covid-19 relief package from Fam [Football Association of Malawi] won’t be enough. If we just sit idle, we will be in big trouble paying the players game bonuses and salaries. As supporters, we are taking over the running of the promotion so that every fan should participate,” he said.
Nkunika said the supporters had better interventions to ensure the success of the project, including deploying members to all the three regions to persuade fellow supporters to patronise the SMS promotion. Chitedze echoed the sentiments.
“We are in total agreement with our national supporters chairperson that supporters should take over and ran this promotion. It is us [supporters] who are on the ground,” he said.
Chitedze said Wanderers Central Region supporters will voice out their concerns when the initiative will be launched in Lilongwe. He also called for sensitisation campaigns to be intensified, saying some fans did not understand how to send their contributions through Airtel Money or Mpamba.
Wanderers General Secretary Victor Maunde asked for patience, saying the club planned to hire a fulltime marketer to handle the project.
“We have made this decision following the slow start to the project. So, we will hire a marketer to help us generate more funds,” he said.
Wanderers launched the initiative last month in their quest to raise K100 million monthly. The decision was reached after Japanese firm, Be Forward Limited, announced its withdrawal of sponsorship after a fiveyear partnership.
