The current situation at the NFA (Part 2)

BARRY RUKOROAll decisions reserved for the executive committee cannot be taken legally and that leaves the NFA on shaky grounds and the secretariat highly exposed.The secretary-general, in his thirst for power and greed, may think that now is the time to do what he always wanted to do without impunity, but it may turn out to be the time for his and the PF’s final demise.The notion that Article 33.9 empowers the secretary-general to assume the powers of the executive committee is highly misplaced and a very arrogant and dangerous interpretation of the article. That article reads as follows:“If more than 50% of the positions of the executive committee become vacant, the secretary-general shall convene an extraordinary congress within the prescribed period of time.” It needs to be explained how that article empowers the secretary-general to assume both the executive and secretariat powers.Does that article open the door for the secretary-general to take policy decisions and thereafter also implement them? Does that mean for the period until we have a new executive committee the secretary-general will instruct himself and thereafter report to himself? For a group of people who came to power on the promise of good corporate governance that assumption is too far-fetched. Having said that, it now needs to be said that the unquenchable greed and hunger for power of the PF has put the NFA in a constitutional dilemma, one that needs decisive action from FIFA to navigate, or if left to the PF and NFA has the potential to put Namibian football into more misery than what we have seen so far.We took our seat in a bus being driven by crazy people and now we have arrived at the end of a cull de sac but the driver still want to move ahead. If he does we shall indeed hit the house in front of the bus with fatal consequences.As an example, the secretary-general has called an elective congress for 18 December 2021.One of the points on the agenda is the appointment of the electoral bodies. Article 35 (e) of the NFA statutes reads as follows:“The executive committee shall propose to the congress the chairperson, deputy chairperson and members of the electoral bodies”.The question that arises now is, in the absence of an elected executive committee, who will propose the names of the electoral bodies to the extraordinary congress slated for 18 December this year? Word has it that the Progressive Forces and Franco Cosmos assume that, in the absence of the executive committee, those powers now belongs to the secretary-general? That is a highly incompetent interpretation of the statutes, a poor understanding of corporate governance, and maladministration of the highest order and can only lead the NFA into further chaos.In his letter to the members, dated 6 December 2021, the secretary-general reminds the delegates to the congress that they have empowered him with executive powers to do just that. Paragraph 3.2 reads as follows:“The 30th congress resolved that the secretary-general sources suitably qualified independent candidates to constitute on the Electoral Committee and Electoral Appeal Committee of the NFA as provided for by article 26 of the NFA statutes and propose these candidates to the extraordinary congress for members’ consideration. The mandate of these committees is to organise and supervise the election process and take all decisions relating to the elections”.This decision is a gross caricature of the powers of congress and a blatant abuse of the supreme law of our association. The delegates to the congress needed to be reminded, by a competent secretary-general, that the congress has no authority to give powers that are constitutionally reserved for one body of the NFA to another. That is not the way to resolve this matter.By doing so the congress has empowered Franco Cosmos, the secretary-general, to propose for appointment, the extraordinary congress, the people who shall vet the candidates for the election to positions in the next executive committee of the NFA. Doing so the NFA is repeating the mistake of the past as we did when Franco Cosmos served on the Normalisation Committee which vetted the candidates, illuminated strong candidates and approved the candidatures of those who did not qualify and later ended up being appointed to the position of secretary-general. One of the main reasons we learn history is to circumvent the mistakes of the past.It appears to me that the congress did not learn and as a result we are bound to experience more of what we had over the last three years.The secretary-general, in his desire to gain absolute control of NFA has driven the association into a cave and has by doing so invited a second round of normalisation for NFA. I have no doubt in my mind that that is where we will end up.As it is now, we hope that FIFA will declare all these shenanigans illegal and unconstitutional because any proposal of the names of the electoral bodies from any other body, other than the elected executive committee led by Ranga Haikali, will only lead to a chain reaction of illegalities and any decision taken at such a congress can be challenged successfully. We hope that, even before FIFA acts on this matter, the NSC will do so first. Should the NSC fail to act in time and call NFA to order, all I can see is a new normalisation process starting in Namibia very soon and that is not what I, personally, would prefer, but maybe, just maybe, it’s the only way out of this troubled waters.The Progressive Forces would have earned the not-so-honourable distinction of having led Namibian football out of normalisation and back into normalisation. What an accolade to have to your name.The Namibia Sports Commission has, for a long time now, been perceived to be in cahoots with the Progressive Forces, shamelessly so, and in the eyes of many Namibians are equally at fault for the situation football in this country finds itself in, but now is the time for them to un-wrinkle themselves from this unholy relationship with the devil. The Namibia Sport Commission has for long allowed the NFA to violate their own statutes as and when they want.The NFA has now entered the realm of constitutional delinquency. This cannot be allowed to continue unabated and the NSC has the tools within the act to deal decisively with the NFA. What better way is there for the NSC to cleanse itself from the claims that it has been captured by the PF as much as NFA is?

The current situation at the NFA (Part 2)

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Namibian Sun 2025-07-01

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The current situation at the NFA (Part 2)

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Namibian Sun 2025-07-01

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