
By Paul Nyathi
Highlanders Football Club Chairman Kenneth Mhlophe has raised an outcry at senior club members who drink beer at the club house on credit and fail to pay.
In a sensational Facebook post, Mhlophe warned the defaulting members to pay up the debts or risk him naming and shaming them.
“What kind of people are these who drink beer on credit and then fail to pay for it?,” fumed Mhlophe.
“If one does not have money to buy beer, they may as well go home and sleep than come and drink on credit then fail to pay,” fumed Mhlophe.
“If you don’t pay up your debts I am going to name and shame you. This is a public venture which does not belong to individuals” wrote the former Zimbabwe Defence Forces Colonel.
Sources at the sports club who spoke to ZimEye.com in confidence said that the club is owed amounts ranging into thousands of dollars by members who include some members of the current and former executive committees.
Some are reported to be club life members while some are former members of the technical team and former players.
The sources would not be drawn to disclose the names of the accused persons.
“We have submitted the names to the chairman and his executive its up to him to decide what to do with the names,” said the source.
“We are not talking of ordinary people here, most of them are highly respectable people who we can not deny the credit facility when they need it,” added the source.
Some of the amounts involved have been outstanding for over two years and yet the people just keep on drinking. Thats why we had to raise alarm with the executive,” said the source.
On visiting the Club House, ZimEye.com managed to establish popular people such as former Highlanders Chief Executive Officer Ndumiso Gumede, former player and coach Amini Soma Phiri and other senior club members as regular patrons of the club.
Highlanders Football Club owes close to a million dollars in debts. The club was once the richest club in the country affording to acquire varied assets that include the club house, club offices and a camping house.
Efforts to get a comment from Mhlophe failed at the time of writing.