FORMER Highlanders championship winning chairman and manager Ernest “Maphepha” Sibanda says he is still consulting on whether to contest in the club elections slated for February 1.
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Highlanders will hold executive elections for the chairman, secretary and committee member held by Peter Dube, Andrew Tapela and Charles “Six-One” Moyo respectively.
Dube and Moyo could be seeking new terms while Tapela is constitutionally ineligible to seek re-election after serving two terms.
Sibanda, who had been tipped to bounce back as team manager, yesterday said he was still assessing the situation and in a few days he would be able to confirm if he was taking part in the elections or not.
“I am still consulting, I have not made up my mind yet,” he said.
“I have got to sit down and see what is good for the club. I was suspended from the club, but that suspension was lifted and I am now eligible to contest any position. It all depends on me. If I wish to do so, I will be making a decision in the next two to three days.”
If he contests Sibanda could be challenging Dube for the chairman’s post, a position he has held before. Sibanda, a former Highlanders player, took over from Kennedy Ndebele in 2006 and went on to win the championship when Bosso was coached by Methembe Ndlovu.
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He was the last chairman to beat perennial nemesis Dynamos in a league match in that year, home and away.
In 2007, Bosso came second to Dynamos with 55 points while DeMbare had amassed 64.
The following year was terrible for the Bulawayo giants, who practically fought relegation, coming position eight behind Monomotapa, Dynamos, Njube Sundowns, Shooting Stars, Lengthens, Motor Action and Gunners.
Sibanda was to quit as chairman and did not seek re-election saying he had done his part as a player, manager and chairman and he was passing on the baton for others to take the club forward.
He won the championship as manager under the chairmanship of Roger Muhlwa and the late James Mangwana Tshuma.
In 2010, Maphepha was suspended from the club’s membership following financial irregularities regarding the transfer of striker Obadiah Tarumbwa to Belgium, but sought leniency and was readmitted to the club after paying back what was due in 2012.
Other sources at Bosso say Maphepha could be co-opted into the club’s board of directors as the team try to tap into his experience.
Others entering the race are former manager and team medic Emmett Ndlovu who will fight it out with businessmen Donald Ndebele and Innocent Batsani Ncube for the secretary post while Moyo is likely to face challenge from former committee member Wisdom Mabhena, whom he beat in the last elections.
