The Botswana Football Association (BFA) seems to have invited trouble by appointing Ookeditse Malesu as Chief Executive officer.
The appointment has irked almost all the BFA National Executive Committee members save for the BFA president Maclean Letshwiti.
Segolame Ramothwa the BFA first vice president will not support or defend Malesu’s appointment.
“I would like to dissociate myself from such an unprocedural act and will neither own nor defend it,” Ramothwa wrote to his colleagues in an email to the NEC members.
Ramothwa in his email to the NEC members explained that: “After having been hearing the rumour and some people asking some of us as to whether it was true or not that we had decided to appoint Mr Malesu as SG/CEO, last week Thursday, the president told myself and Mr (Marshlow) Motlogelwa that he would like to appoint Mr Malesu as the CEO.
“Both of us told him that we would not support such a move because the proposed individual has no clue about football neither does he have anything close to the required/needed experience for such a position that could compensate him for his gross football deficiencies.
“Furthermore, we (VP1&VP2) stated that the post has to be advertised and, if needed, head-hunting could be part of that process. We left the matter at that point hoping that we have at least shared our views,” reads the message.
The new BFA president is yet to reveal his road map and where he wants to take football to.
In his strong objection Ramotlhwa said, with due respect, Malesu knew nothing about football and had nothing to offer in that position “that we are aware of”.
He observed that the position has never been advertised and “we cannot be seen to be appointing our associates who do not meet the prerequisites of such a critical position. It is highly unprocedural and less than ethical to do things as suggested and I cannot be party to that”.
According to the FIFA template the secretary general/CEO should have a university degree in a management, business or related area or extensive management experience in a senior position in a significant corporate or sporting organisation. He or she should have proven ability to work actively with a board of directors and committees and must be highly developed in planning and policy skills, with proven ability to develop and execute strategic and operational plans.
The BFA CEO working in collaboration with and under the supervision of the President, the General Secretary shall provide strong leadership for the staff of the Secretariat and effective management in relation to all the operational functions of the Association, including competitions, football development, finance, marketing and commercial activities, communications, planning and all administrative activities.
The CEO is expected to have knowledge of sport, especially football. The person must have the knowledge of the major trends and issues facing sport, particularly football, at both international and domestic levels.
The CEO is also expected to have experience in working with, and developing strong relationships, with internal and external stakeholders, especially government.
As head of secretariat he/she is expected to have senior management experience with multi-functional knowledge and exposure to business including finance, marketing and commercial activities, human resources, communications, customer relationships, general management, event management and legal and the ability to guide the expert staff in these areas to achieve the objectives of the Association. He or she must have strong leadership skills.
The new CEO is expected to be introduced to the NEC members in a meeting scheduled towards the end of the month. From the rumours going around Malesu is going to meet a hostile NEC with some going to make life difficult for him.
