Under fire Silver Strikers Chief Executive Officer Thokozani Chimbali has announced he will step down from his position when his contract expires on 30th March.
His decision follows a spate of verbal and physical attacks by the team’s supporters who have accused him of incompetence, citing the manner in which he handled the release of some of the club’s senior players such as Blessings Tembo and Levison Maganizo as an indication that he does not hold the welfare of the team at heart.
On Monday, a section of the team’s supporters stormed the secretariat where they seized office keys and forced Chimbali and other staff to vacate the offices before proceeding to seal the offices.
In a post on his Facebook page on Tuesday, Chimbali said he had made up his mind to walk away and would not seek a renewal of his contract.
“Silver Strikers is my home but when your life is at stake, consider your family first. My contract ends on 30th March 2023 with the company and I have asked the board not to renew it. Meanwhile I have decided to take leave till the end of my contract. Don’t take death threats lightly,” reads the post.
The general secretary for the team’s supporters committee, Henry Madzi Mayera, confirmed that Chimbali had been attacked over the weekend by some fans during a supporters’ committee meeting.
“We had our meeting at Silver Stadium as supporters. Surprisingly, Mr Chimbali appeared without being invited, so some furious fans forced him to leave,” Madzi Mayela said.
Silver Strikers fans are discontented with Chimbali’s reign as the club’s CEO after their side endured a miserable trophy-less season.
In the just ended season, the team finished fifth in the 2022 TNM Super League, were knocked out of the FDH Cup in the round of 32 by Dedza Dynamos and lost to Nyasa Big Bullets in the semifinal of the Airtel Top-8.
At the supporters meeting, one of the influential members, Noel Nthala faulted Chimbali and the club’s Media Officer David Daniel Dauda for the miserable 2022 season.
“Chimbali and Dauda must resign, they are not Silver Strikers blood. The supporters’ committee has been denied a chance to get money for juju due to Chimbali’s stubbornness, now he is making selfish decisions of firing good players such as Levison Maganizo and Blessings Tembo. We don’t need such a CEO,” said Nthala, who is popularly known as Ayesu.
In his reaction, Silver Strikers Limited Company General Secretary Peter Masiye said the issue would be handled amicably.
“We expect to meet supporters on Wednesday and hear their part. It’s normal to have such disagreements when a team fails to win trophies, but it’s a family issue. We will sit down and solve the problems,” Masiye said.
Before joining Silver Strikers in January 2020, Chimbali had been working as the General Secretary of the National Youth Football Association.
