BY MICHAEL KARIATI DYNAMOS is undoubtedly the most successful and followed football team in Zimbabwe.
They also boast of a history that no other team in Zimbabwe and others from countries like Uganda, Rwanda, Kenya, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Zambia and others have failed to do.
This was after the 1997 Zimbabwean champions reached the final of the Caf Champions League in 1998 and controversially lost 4-2 to Asec Mimosas of the Ivory Coast.
This came after influential captain Memory Mucherahowa was head-butted just before the start of the final and missed out on the game completely.
Sadly, though, Dynamos have failed to capitalise on their popularity or to use their success both at home and abroad to their advantage.
They should have been living large just like the other top teams around the continent like Al Ahly, Orlando Pirates, Sumba SC, Wydad and Raja Casablanca.
Yet they are among the poorest teams on the continent and in Zimbabwe and do not have even a wheelbarrow to show for their success and popularity.
Dynamos do not have a training ground nor a sports club of their own and use rented offices to operate their day-to-day business.
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They have even been overtaken by several lower division teams in terms of both organisation and operation.
This is due to successive power struggles and administrative upheavals dating back from the Jockonia Nhekairo days of the 80s to the present Bernard Marriott reign via the George Shaya era
The only time there was stability at DeMbare was during the days of the late Richard Chiminya when he was chairman of the team’s board of trustees.
What is disheartening is that Dynamos do not seem to have direction as to who controls or runs what, raising questions about whether this is a community team or a privately owned entity.
If it is a community, which community does the team belong to? Mbare community in Harare or the whole Zimbabwean community?
Right now, Marriott as the only surviving member of the founding fathers is claiming total control of the club and 51 per cent shareholding.
There is also on the other hand the Electoral College which does not believe or agree with Marriott’s claims contending that they own 100 per cent of the club.
Yet in the past Dynamos — just like Highlanders — had a membership which elected the club’s leadership before everything was changed to give power to the founding members.
The problem at Dynamos lies in who owns the club, the founding fathers. former players or the card-carrying members – that is if they still exist.
The bone of contention right now is whether the club should be sold to Sakunda Holdings or not. If it is to be sold, then who gets the proceeds from the sale?
Highlanders are equally as big as Dynamos but they do not have the same problems as Dynamos because they follow their constitution while the DeMbare one is torn and glued every day.
Zimbabwean football was destroyed because people could not work together for the betterment of the game and now the country is out of international football.
If the situation at Dynamos persists, one day the club will suffer a natural death like what happened to Black Aces.
Greed should not be at the forefront but, in the interests of the club, Marriot, the former players, the Electoral College and all concerned should sit down and find common ground before Dynamos becomes history.
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