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| Sports |
| BB official quits over Bakili |
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by
Leonard Sharra, 04 June 2003
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17:29:58
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Bakili Bullets’ only Central Region-based executive member Peter Jere has quit his position, citing the club’s recent move to adopt the name Bakili Bullets without seeking the mandate of an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) as the reason behind the move.
He said in an interview this week the move follows a letter he wrote to the club’s executive board chairman Hassam Jussab last month, arguing that the sitting executive had no powers to change the club’s name without the approval of an EGM or annual general meeting (AGM).
The resignation letter reads in part: “It is with great pain and regret that I write you this letter to announce my resignation from the position of board member with immediate effect due to the following reasons:
“I wish to disassociate myself from the unconstitutional decision to change the club’s corporate name from Big Bullets to Bakili Bullets without prior approval of an extraordinary general meeting as is required by the new constitution. Please refer to the attached text, which I sent to you early [May]. Unfortunately, the board did not heed my advice;
“By adopting a new name, the process implicitly relegates the current constitution to the dustbin. In other words, Bakili Bullets Football Club does not have a constitution since the existing constitution belongs to an entity called Big Bullets Football Club. I would not wish, therefore, to be part of this legal disorder;
“By extension, the legal argument in (2) implies that all the registered members of Big Bullets Football Club cease to be its members since the entity to which they were affiliated is no longer existent. Technically, those 110 members cannot just become members of Bakili Bullets Football Club unless they reapply for membership.”
Jere, who came into the limelight after coming up with a comprehensive concept document on commercialisation of the club two years ago, however, pointed out in his resignation letter that he is not against the “sponsorship from [President Bakili Muluzi] but, rather the procedure followed to change the club corporate name (registered name) to what it is today.”
“It is therefore my felt view that the decision by the executive board to change club name (mind you, not the decision to accept sponsorship) without prior approval of the AGM is in breach of the current club constitution, which we duly accepted to uphold during last year’s AGM,” wrote Jere.
He advised the club to follow some steps “before these major decisions are challenged in a court of law as some members of the club are contemplating to do in Lilongwe.”
Contacted for his reaction to the points raised by Jere, Jussab simply said: “What we have done is for the benefit of the club. Can Jere sponsor the construction of our new stadium, a trip to UK or give us the K20 million annual sponsorship? He should know that the trustees have powers to do anything. They can overrule anybody.”
Muluzi took over the Bullets’ sponsorship from fuel firm Total Malawi which had come to the club’s rescue after the withdrawal of Bata Shoe Company.
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