By Linda Kwanjana
The football Association of Malawi (FAM) will go to the polls on the 16th of December to elect new office bearers.
A lot is expected and a lot is at stake from this election that’s why it is widely anticipated that the road ahead will be gruelling and bloody.
As was the case in the previous elections, the position of FAM president is the most sought after, as evidenced by the debate generated and the interest from Malawians since the date of election was announced.
This far, the incumbent FAM president Walter Nyamilandu Manda has not come out clearly on whether he will contest in the polls or not.
A few weeks ago, Walter was quoted by a South African publication that his position to contest will be dependent on the wishes of the affiliates.This means that should he garner enough support from the affiliates, he is likely to contest.
This is Walter politics; he has been saying this in the past three elections. By taking this line he keeps his challengers guessing only to pounce on their uncertainty at eleventh hour.
In any case the decision of that magnitude is an individual decision coming from self introspection and conviction. The affiliates- most of whom are his friends and cronies cannot force him to contest if he doesn’t want to.
But whether Walter decides to contest or not is up to him since the constitution does not bar him, but the fact of the matter is that should he decide to stand, Nyamilandu will face a more formidable opposition than the one he has ever faced before. The name of Fleetwood Haiya being parroted around seems to have popular approval at a time Walter’s approval rating is at the lowest ebb. After winning the Sulom presidency, Haiya has the reasons to believe that he can unseat Nyamilandu at the polls.
Walter has been at the helm of the Football governing body for nearly twenty years. Twenty years is so long a time to plan and implement whatever objectives he intended to achieve. When it comes to Nyamilandu there has not been enough success to show for it. The truth is that Nyamilandu has ruined football in the country as evidenced by lack of proper football development structures in the country.
In any case, if there was any meaningful football development, Malawi should have proper grassroot football, sustainable football academies, and well groomed youth set up such as the under 17 under 20 or even under 23.
Lack of these structures is manifested in the yearly struggles of the Malawi National Football team, the Flames.
The Flames have been the perennial underachievers in regional, continental and not to talk of the world cup qualifiers.
I know Walter will contest at FAM elections next month because he has the backing of some few greedy affiliates who do not care about football. But if I were Walter I should have known that I have overstayed my welcome, leave the stage and preserve what is left of my legacy.
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