SIMBA RUSHWAYA
Sometime in 2007 when I was still the Deputy Sports Editor of Daily Mirror, the current Dynamos board chairman Bernard Marriot Lusengo and his late sly friend Morrison Sifelani nearly got me fired from work when they went on a surprise offensive against me.
The duo claimed that I was bribed to conceal the “fact” that they owned Dynamos Football Club through Dynamos Private Limited.
Armed with documents which showed that they were directors of Dynamos (Pvt) Ltd, Marriot and Sifelani, surreptitiously booked for a meeting with my then late Editor-In-Chief Alexander Kanengoni where they would “spill the beans” to my boss and have their way.
But, Kanengoni in his usual unassuming character called me to his office as soon as his guests were ushered into the office. He then asked Marriot and Sifelani to explain their matter as soon as I had also settled into his chairs. I guess Marriot and Sifelani were taken aback, just as good as I was.
Here were two gentlemen that I had normally dealt with on a daily basis outside my boss’ office, sitting before Kanengoni for an unplanned meeting. But they were determined. They told Kanengoni that I was being bribed by the then Richard Chiminya-led board to write stories against the duo, who were the rightful owners of Dynamos. I was stunned. I told Kanengoni that if the two gentlemen had evidence to that effect, I was going to pack and go.
They didn’t have anything, but they kept insisting. That was the end of the story as Kanengoni would have none of it and told me to go back to work.
It was the first time I discovered that Marriot could do anything to get what he wanted and I’m not surprised he is now at the helm of the club following the demise of founder members of the club using the same vehicle – Dynamos Pvt Ltd.
But the club has been on a free fall under his watch.
Since his ascendancy to the position of board chairman at Dynamos Private Limited in 2014, things have gone down. While DeMbare won the league the same year, the fourth in a row, the Harare giants risk being relegated under his stewardship.
It is unthinkable for a team so decorated and big like Dynamos to find themselves in the relegation zone at this point in time. For an average Dynamos fan, they should be at least in the mid-table and noting the danger.
The blame squarely lies on Marriot.
Marriot is a cunning character with the audacity sometimes to conclude issues in the most unfashionable way because he is also a former boxer apart from the fact that he donned the famous blue jersey.
I asked veteran journalist and former Dynamos player Tendai Ndemera, on why such a big club like Dynamos is struggling and he had this to say:
“Marriot is part of the problem because the problem at Dynamos is administration and not the coach as the world would like to believe. Players are under-performing during games because they don’t want certain figures appointed by the board. They have not been earning their winning bonuses for a long time.
“A club supported from all over the world is now being run from the pockets of few individuals from Mbare, but they can’t sustain it. The club has to be run on a professional model like Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs, who take advantage of their huge fan base to source finance for the team.”
Unlike Pirates and Chiefs, who use their vast supporters to generate funds to sustain the team, Dynamos still use the gate takings as their major source of income. To make matters worse, they do not want to use the computerised system for their fans to pay and only the authorities at the club have a reason why they do not prefer this method.
Just like their thriving South African counterparts, Dynamos is also a community team tracing its roots in the oldest township of Mbare, but it does not seem to take advantage of their millions of fans to market their brand so that they stay financially healthy.
Kaizer Chiefs, founded in 1970 by Kaizer Motaung, is the most supported club in South Africa with an estimated net worth of $15,6 million, while Irvin Khoza’s Orlando Pirates is estimated around $10 million.
That cannot be said of Dynamos, a club that used to own sports shops and land in Waterfalls which disappeared under mysterious circumstances.
Dynamos are the most successful local club with 21 titles. It last won the title in 2014. It would have conquered Africa in 1998, but the hopes melted in the Abidjan heat after losing 4-2 to ASEC MIMOSA in the second leg of the CAF Champions League final.
