Letter to Francistown mayor
Dennis Keagile | Friday July 17, 2015 14:32
Many of us are already sick that for the first time since the establishment of organised football in the country, Francistown will not be represented. This is not only a concern, but also an embarrassment to all the residents of Francistown and the surrounding areas.
For a city with more than 100,000 people not to have a solid club that can be counted among the best in the country reflects badly on all the stakeholders of the city. For long the political will has been seriously lacking, if not negligent, to say the least.
Sport and sport tourism have never been part of the council’s agenda. It should be a genuine concern and not a politically motivated move. I have a lot of distrust for politicians for the simple reason that they can be very unscrupulous and dishonest, but I trust that you mean well.
Besides, as the first citizen of the town, this should concern you but do not just restrict this to football but rather extend to other codes. I know that for now your focus may be football because of its following and potential votes, but please Your Worship we need more in this town.
The town also looks dirty and not that attractive. I was also not impressed by the approach adopted in trying to understand the challenges facing sport in this town.
Yes, football is the national sport but we have other disciplines like volleyball, softball, netball and others that require your attention. But I must say I am encouraged and excited.
As an individual I know that you are a good person, sister and mother and hope that is exactly what you want to achieve as the first citizen of the city. Your Worship, the problem with Francistown football has long been there.
It is only that it got pronounced now with the relegation of TASC, Great North Tigers (GNT), TAFIC and lately ECCO City Greens. If I were to take you back Your Worship, we used to have Mophani Football Club, Cannibals and Young City Brothers; ooh! what a great and enterprising football these clubs played.
One would not miss a clash between Mophani and Cannibals. To add salt to the wound, we used to have Tati African Football Associates (TAFA). You must be very much familiar with the name because occasionally some people would refer to the town of Francistown as TAFA. But alas Mrs Mayor, TAFA is no more.
Your Worship, the Tati Company owns large chunks of land around the city of Francistown. I wonder if the company does participate in other issues of corporate social responsibility.
But let me warn you that we need a holistic approach with a lot of political will to get sport in this town kicking.
Take your time and meet with the key people, the Francistown Regional Football Association, the Botswana Football Association and the Botswana Premier League.
Be appraised with all the challenges; financial and otherwise. For now, none of the clubs have come up with any solutions except to appeal for funding and support. To be honest and frank with you, the likes of ECCO City Greens, GNT and TASC can join hands and make one team so that they can pull their resources together. It is only after you have done proper consultations that you can take a position as the mayor.
The other problem is too much control from the central government, which means that some of the interventions could be still-born as protocol and procedure would dictate otherwise.
Way back in the 1980s, Materspei College, Francistown Secondary school and Setlalekgosi used to be the feeder of clubs like TAFIC. Your Worship, I want you to challenge the clubs by coming up with a conditional assistance programme. Let there be a sport and tourism section within your council. Across the political spectrum, I have not seen any political will from the various political parties including your own Botswana Democratic Party.
I have also not seen any support from the City of Francistown, yet hosting big games brings some business to the small entrepreneurs in the catering and transport business.
The city has been quiet about the delay in the construction of the new Francistown stadium, a sure sign that the majority of our politicians do not understand the value and impact of sports to economic growth. Your Worship, escort şirinevler we want to see major events coming down here. We want to see the senior national team and international games being hosted in this town. In that way, the mind set will change across the board.
But let me congratulate you for showing concern. Talk to the President, Ian Khama to do something for the city. We badly need change and at least one club in the Premier League.