Major shake-up in NFA looming

THE Namibia Football Association (NFA) executive committee plans a major shake-up within its administrative ranks, with secretary general Alpheus Gaweseb expected to be axed before Christmas.

NFA executive members who met at Gobabis over the weekend saw the need to get rid of Gaweseb, who they said has done little to improve the administration of Soccer House. A source told The Namibian Sport yesterday that Gaweseb and current Brave Warriors team manager Markus Damaseb would receive their marching orders today as part of moves to improve the dented image of the game, after the recent congress which saw John Muinjo elected as president.At the moment is not known if Gaweseb would be charged formally and hauled before a disciplinary hearing or whether his fate had already been decided at the Gobabis meeting.The source said that the NFA executive was not impressed with Gaweseb’s competence in managing the affairs of the game.He is said to have largely failed to execute decisions taken by the executive with professionalism and a sense of urgency.However, The Namibian Sport is not aware of any previous warnings or disciplinary action instituted against Gaweseb.Gaweseb was linked to abuse of the association’s property after he could not account for a vehicle which went missing while under his care.According to the NFA constitution, the executive committee has the power to appoint and dismiss the secretary general, while the president also has the right to propose the appointment or dismissal of the secretary general.It also says that the secretary general must be appointed on the basis of an agreement governed by private law and must have the necessary professional qualifications.Gaweseb was appointed during the era of former NFA president Petrus Damaseb and his contract was renewed last year just before the latter’s exit from the NFA high office.However, the new leadership elected at last month’s NFA congress apparently do not regard Gaweseb as a competent official to steer the country’s number one sport code out of the doldrums.Markus Damaseb, who was made the team manager last year, even before the appointment of current Brave Warriors coach Ben Bamfuchile, is said to have failed in his duties of being in control of logistics for the senior team.The executive identified areas such as the lack of efficiency in arranging transport and accommodation for visiting teams on several occasions, while he also failed on several occasions to arrange travel documents for players in time.The source said the executive was not “at all impressed” with the complaints from some members of the coaching staff and players, especially when Namibia was involved in international matches.Damaseb was also a former executive member of the NFA.Besides the two being shown the door, there are also other areas of restructuring that the association will look at and, according to one of the executive members, it will just be a matter of time before “everything falls into place at Soccer House”.NFA spokesperson Beau Kauta did not want to confirm or deny yesterday that the executive committee had decided to get rid of Gaweseb and Damaseb, and said an announcement will be made today.”We have a press briefing where all these matters will be presented to you so that you can channel it to the public through your media institutions.I have nothing to say at this stage, because it is very unprofessional to deal with such sensitive issues before we decide to make it public.We will let everybody know about what is going to happen tomorrow (today),” he said.Asked about the quest of the NFA to make former Namibian President Sam Nujoma the patron of the association, Kauta said that was not on the agenda of the weekend Gobabis indaba.Former Prime Minister Hage Geingob is currently the patron of the association.The NFA’s new executive committee was elected at its congress held in Windhoek at the end of October, where Muinjo emerged as the new president after competing against Blue Waters chairman Hendrik Dawids.The new vice president is Korbinian Amutenya, while the new treasurer is Kornelius Kwela Kapenda.The other members are Jackey Gertze, Isaack Fredericks, Immanuel Nangolo, Patrick Mwilima and Vaino Amukwa.A source told The Namibian Sport yesterday that Gaweseb and current Brave Warriors team manager Markus Damaseb would receive their marching orders today as part of moves to improve the dented image of the game, after the recent congress which saw John Muinjo elected as president.At the moment is not known if Gaweseb would be charged formally and hauled before a disciplinary hearing or whether his fate had already been decided at the Gobabis meeting.The source said that the NFA executive was not impressed with Gaweseb’s competence in managing the affairs of the game.He is said to have largely failed to execute decisions taken by the executive with professionalism and a sense of urgency.However, The Namibian Sport is not aware of any previous warnings or disciplinary action instituted against Gaweseb.Gaweseb was linked to abuse of the association’s property after he could not account for a vehicle which went missing while under his care.According to the NFA constitution, the executive committee has the power to appoint and dismiss the secretary general, while the president also has the right to propose the appointment or dismissal of the secretary general.It also says that the secretary general must be appointed on the basis of an agreement governed by private law and must have the necessary professional qualifications.Gaweseb was appointed during the era of former NFA president Petrus Damaseb and his contract was renewed last year just before the latter’s exit from the NFA high office.However, the new leadership elected at last month’s NFA congress apparently do not regard Gaweseb as a competent official to steer the country’s number one sport code out of the doldrums.Markus Damaseb, who was made the team manager last year, even before the appointment of current Brave Warriors coach Ben Bamfuchile, is said to have failed in his duties of being in control of logistics for the senior team.The executive identified areas such as the lack of efficiency in arranging transport and accommodation for visiting teams on several occasions, while he also failed on several occasions to arrange travel documents for players in time.The source said the executive was not “at all impressed” with the complaints from some members of the coaching staff and players, especially when Namibia was involved in international matches.Damaseb was also a former executive member of the NFA.Besides the two being shown the door, there are also other areas of restructuring that the association will look at and, according to one of the executive members, it will just be a matter of time before “everything falls into place at Soccer House”.NFA spokesperson Beau Kauta did not want to confirm or deny yesterday that the executive committee had decided to get rid of Gaweseb and Damaseb, and said an announcement will be made today.”We have a press briefing where all these matters will be presented to you so that you can channel it to the public through your media institutions.I have nothing to say at this stage, because it is very unprofessional to deal with such sensitive issues before we decide to make it public.We will let everybody know about what is going to happen tomorrow (today),” he said.Asked about the quest of the NFA to make former Namibian President Sam Nujoma the patron of the association, Kauta said that was not on the agenda of the weekend Gobabis indaba.Former Prime Minister Hage Geingob is currently the patron of the association.The NFA’s new executive committee was elected at its congress held in Windhoek at the end of October, where Muinjo emerged as the new president after competing against Blue Waters chairman Hendrik Dawids.The new vice president is Korbinian Amutenya, while the new treasurer is Kornelius Kwela Kapenda.The other members are Jackey Gertze, Isaack Fredericks, Immanuel Nangolo, Patrick Mwilima and Vaino Amukwa.