The Ndebele royal family, whose forefathers founded the Bulawayo-based Highlanders Football Club, has condemned the imposition of former Manchester City striker Benjani Mwaruwari as head coach of the historic club and called for international soccer governing bodies to intervene.
Highlanders Football Club was founded in 1926 by Albert and Rhodes Khumalo, grandsons of King Lobengula, initially as Lions Football Club.
It has since become a significant cultural institution in Zimbabwe and is celebrating its centenary this year.
The club has been plunged into controversy following its decision to appoint Mwaruwari as head coach — a move that has sharply divided supporters, administrators, and football stakeholders.
The appointment is widely seen as the club caving in to pressure from its key benefactor, businessman Wicknell Chivayo, who reportedly made his continued financial support conditional on the former Warriors strike taking charge of the struggling side.
King Bulelani’s spokesperson, Bornman Khumalo, said that if Chivayo is dictating who should coach the team, the royal house condemns the move as unholy.
“If it’s true that private sponsors of Highlanders are dictating who should be coach of the team, we condemn that,” Khumalo said.
“But the strong message to our people is: let us stand up and protect our inheritance not just by word of mouth, but by raising resources to preserve our heritage.”
- Inside sport: No favourite for PSL title
- Inside sport: No favourite for PSL title
- Bosso spend US$50K on new-look club house
- Misfiring Bosso face high flying Chiefs
Keep Reading
He appealed to the Confederation of African Football (Caf) and the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (Fifa) to intervene in Zimbabwe’s soccer situation.
“Caf and Fifa must intervene because politics must not be allowed in sports,” Khumalo said.
Zapu leader Sibangilizwe Nkomo said “Trumpism is taking over the world, and it’s upon us as well.”
He said those with money have unlimited power and can do whatever they want, including breaking set rules, order, and constitutions.
“Every sector of our lives, including sport, will be governed by billionaires, and we won’t have a say whether we like it or not,” Nkomo said.
“ That’s the new order and the end of democracy as we know it.”
Last month, Nkomo warned political and corporate sectors to stop capturing football teams after Chivayo hinted at his plan to impose Mwaruwari as Highlanders coach without consulting the club’s members and management.
Chivayo had proposed that Mwaruwari takes over as head coach following the club’s decision to part ways with Dutchman Pieter De Jongh.
Mwaruwari has since been introduced as the team’s head coach.
Nkayi Community Parliament speaker Nkosilathi Ncube lamented that poverty was painful and that poor people were abused by politicians.
“My second thought is that politicians do not sponsor any organisation for social reasons; they do that only for political gains,” Ncube said.
“Chivayo is sponsoring Highlanders for political gains, and I think it follows the promotion of Peter Ndlovu.
“ He wants to win over Matabeleland, especially regarding the 2030 agenda.
“So they want to soften Matabeleland people’s hearts through those projects, and it’s very dangerous.
“Highlanders have been taken by Zanu PF, which is very painful for a team that belongs to the people, where they meet from different political organisations. It must not belong to one person.
“ Chivayo is now sponsoring a coach. He was supposed to give Highlanders the funds for a coach, not to insist on a particular one. That is where it is wrong.”
Ncube said Zifa must act although it was being sponsored by the same people.
He said these were projects aimed at winning over Matabeleland’s hearts, adding that it was sad that politicians were seriously seeking to politicise every sector, such that Bosso would soon be called Highlanders4ED.
Highlanders had recently engaged South African coach Thabo Senong, who had been hired only weeks ago and had since returned to South Africa while awaiting a Zimbabwean work permit. The club is now expected to compensate Senong following the abrupt change of direction.
According to insiders, the decisive meeting took place in Harare a week ago, where Highlanders chairman Kenneth Mhlophe and his deputy Fiso Siziba travelled to meet Chivayo.
It was during that meeting that the deal to install Mwaruwari was sealed.
Mwaruwari, a revered former national team captain, recently graduated with a diploma in football coaching from Leeds.
As part of the arrangement, Chivayo has reportedly pledged to personally pay the coach’s salary and provide him with a vehicle of his choice.
However, news of the development sparked an immediate backlash, with social media platforms awash with criticism, despair, and anger from sections of the Bosso faithful.
Chivayo has become a new soccer baron, with revelations that last year he stepped in to settle a US$27,000 debt owed to former coaches—a liability that had triggered a Fifa transfer ban and threatened the club’s ability to register players.
His intervention saw Fifa lift the ban.
Additional funding has reportedly gone towards clearing Highlanders player bonuses and outstanding debts, easing pressure on the club and improving morale.
Chivayo is also believed to have promised funding for Highlanders’ pre-season camp and assistance in recruiting quality players.
Mthwakazi Republic Party (MRP) leader Mqondisi Moyo expressed grave concern over reported interference by Harare-based sponsors in the technical and managerial affairs of Highlanders Football Club.
Moyo said such conduct represents a serious breach of football governance standards and a direct assault on the autonomy, dignity, and heritage of one of Africa’s most historic community-owned football institutions.
“The MRP reiterates its unequivocal position that Highlanders Football Club must remain strictly non-political and insulated from all forms of political manipulation and interference. Football institutions exist to serve communities and supporters—not political parties, individual power brokers, or hidden agendas,” he said.
“Under Fifa statutes Articles 14(1)(i) and 19, as well as corresponding Caf statutes and club licensing regulations, football clubs are required to manage their affairs independently and without undue influence from third parties.
“Sponsorship is a purely commercial relationship and does not grant authority to appoint coaches, dictate technical staff remuneration, or influence sporting and operational decisions. Any such conditions constitute prohibited third-party interference.”
Moyo said they noted with serious concern the growing pattern by Zanu-PF and its individual members of manoeuvring through vast and opaque cash injections to entice, induce, and compromise public institutions into political alignment and dependency.
