Game of thrones
who is seeking the second bite at the proverbial cherry.
Both men are influential in both the political and business spheres of the country’s landscape. At this point, the pendulum can swing to any of the side. It is a hard one to predict and even a gambling man will think twice. The esoteric proverbial crystal ball will have to be administered in this case. Nevertheless, there can never been good horse races without the dark horse. Enter Ookeditse Malesu, another sports power broker whose influence supersedes the football world.
Malesu has been an influential figure in local sporting codes like karate, swimming, and football, having been the BFA secretary general at some point. Despite coming up against two heavyweights, who command influence in world football, Malesu and his team reckon they are thorough bred race horses with a fighting chance to cause a sensational upset. Nevertheless, the day after the Elective AGA is likely to dish out major drama; there will certainly be a whirlwind of emotions.
For the winner, there will be spoils of war and political prisoners on offer for the next four years. On the flipside, the losers will have to endure irreparable damage and casualties of war as their football administration career will have taken a heavy blow. By all means, the COVID -19 has disturbed the event as lobbying and campaigning out in the open is not possible. However, one can’t help but suspect that the wheels are turning behind closed doors and all three teams are covertly campaigning in BFA regions spread across the country. Team Letshwiti are starting the race on pole position and they are likely to win the sprint race from the starting line to the first corner.
In tow, Letshwiti has heavy hitters in his camp, including his influential 1st Vice President Marshlow Motlogelwa, who has moved up in BFA ranks over the years. The second Vice President is Masego Nchingane and Tsoseletso Magang will be the Women’s representative. Part of the incumbent’s arsenal includes the likes of Setete Phuthego, a reliable frontline soldier who is believed to be handling the covert ground work of rallying the troops at regional level. There is also Olebile Sikwane who is an influential international football agent but his role is not yet clearly defined within team Letshwiti’s barracks.
Thus far, Letshwiti has survived an attack from both Malesu and Sebego who formed a tag team and challenged the incumbent’s stay at Lekidi despite his mandate having allegedly come to a conclusion. Niccolo Machiavelli, Sun Tzu and Robert Greene would be proud of how all the three presidential candidates have conducted themselves up to this point. Recently both Malesu and Sebego found the rug pulled from under their feet when they were shockingly vetted out of the running for the president by the BFA Electoral Committee headed by Moemedi Letina.
What followed afterwards was a spirited and vicious dog fight that saw Letshwiti’s rivals winning an appeal to bring them back into the race. It was not long after that the SebegoMalesu attacked Letshwiti from the side as they wrote a letter to FIFA demanding that the incumbent be removed from office since his mandate has concluded. The two men argued that Letshwiti has an unfair advantage ahead of the AGA and might further complicate things for the next NEC.
Meanwhile, Team Sebego consists of individuals who have a bone to pick with Letshwiti. On Sebego’s side, there are soldiers who have defected from team Letshwiti; most are disillusioned or disgruntled by the Letshwiti style of management. Senki Sesinyi, who was in the Letshwiti NEC is a reliable soldier and well known king maker who is well versed in the visceral terrain of the Botswana football. The self-proclaimed Commander of the Ground forces who is happier in the trenches is never shy of guaranteeing victory for his team.
The Francistown Regional Football Association (FRAFA) chairman, Maokaneng Bontshetse who is vying for 2nd Vice President is another break away Letshwiti confidant who wants to see the current administration removed. For his part Malesu brings an air of mystery in the BFA race. A rather enigmatic figure who has been nomadic in the local sporting landscape, Malesu has not revealed his hand but seems to have an ace up his sleeve as he continues to exude confidence in the run up to the election.
Malesu has an experienced former BFA VP finance, Gabriel Ngele who served under the Sebego administration. Furthermore Team Malesu also have two more influential figures in the form of communication guru, Kabelo Brown and Entrepreneur and sports activist Joy Setshedi. Nevertheless, it is not in the football political sphere that things are at stake. The BFA and BPL secretariat also feature another intriguing chess game as careers and livelihoods are expected to be at stake. Should Team Letshwiti be successful, things might not drastically change at the BFA.
Influential yet reserved Chief Executive Officer, Mfolo Mfolo is likely to stay put in his plump position. The Letshwiti secretariat also consists of former journalists Tumo Mpatane as communications officer and Monnakgotla Mojaki as the acting General Manager at the BPL. There is also Setete Phuthego who is the Orange FA cup tournament director and Joseph Moakofi who serves as Head of Security and Logistics. However, the most intriguing animal within the BFA structures will be the new look Premier league after local affiliate clubs formed a private company to run their affairs.
Depending on which administration takes over there will certainly be new faces heading the new entity at secretariat level. Some of the names being dangled around for the position of BPL CEO include Monnakgotla Mojaki, Comfort Ramatebele, Thabo Styles Ntshinogang, Olebile Sikwane, Tariq Babitseng and Ace Orapeleng. Meanwhile, Botswana football continues to be a complex machine with many moving parts and most supporters and stakeholders are only exposed to the cosmetics. There remains a lot more influential figures who prefer to remain in the shadows.