Kobe raises hand again for Chiefs’ top post
Boitumelo Khutsafalo | Saturday December 3, 2022 06:00
Kobe took over the position on an interim basis following the resignation of the then chairperson, Edwin Mothulatshipi. The club will go for an elective meeting after successfully taking the team back to the society following intense bickering with another faction, which was running as a company. Kobe said the job is not yet done and he will soon avail the team that will support the quest. “We may have taken the team from the Pty Ltd but the groundwork is far from over. We are currently seeing an intensive fight from the Ramocha clan over the team legacy, his stooges are up in arms trying to destabilise the team but I can warn them to peacefully stay off tracks as now they are taking the battle straight to me and my committee and we shall give it back to them. We will deal with them in the most appropriate way and plans are advanced to finally silence and control these individuals,” he said. Both the society and the company have been fighting for control of the team and reconciliation efforts recently bore fruit with the company agreeing to return the team to the society.
However, Kobe said there are signs that the war is far from being over from the other faction. He said so far his interim committee has been able to secure the team's ground as well as the status of the club at the Botswana Football Association (BFA). He said the BFA had initially claimed it belonged to the company when it was never the case. “Our quest is to now secure the name of Mochudi Centre Chiefs from all those that use it without our authority and this will be done before the end of December. We also have our property being River Plate in Boseja where the team currently plays. We have also opened an office in Mochudi next to Selo Sesha Bar. The office is to facilitate all MCC football activities. Currently, we are after some furniture that belongs to MCC and a few individuals known to us stole it from our office in Kgabo Mall. This is a serious matter and will be addressed with the most attention it deserves. All our playing kits from different people who have been engaged by the team have been returned to our custody except one, which we will deal with the custodian amicably for their return. All in all, we have 75% of the team's property returned,” he said.
Kobe also revealed that they have assigned a structural engineer to secure 10 billboards in Mochudi, which they will leverage to improve the financial muscle of the team. He said they are also in negotiations for the development of the Skanska River Plate to have some form of stands before the first round concludes to increase the revenue stream of the team. He said the stands will help triple the capacity of the venue. “We are also looking at selling the perimeter advertising space in the ground and introducing a pay-per-view channel on Facebook to stream our games live. This will benefit all advertisements on the ground,” he said. Kobe said he will welcome any competition for the chairperson’s position adding that the more people can come forth to stand in any position, the more it will help the team grow.