FOOTBALL clubs and administrators in Gobabis are up in arms over the sudden involvement of some executive members’ spouses who were tasked with collecting money during the recent Cell One NFA Cup.

The spouses of Omaheke Region’s executive committee’s top three brass appeared at the gates of Lagere Stadium in Gobabis and began collecting money at the Cell One NFA Cup on the weekend of February 21.
Frances Jagger, wife to Omaheke Region Vice Chairman Jomo Jagger, and Hansiena Garunas and  Teobaltine !Haoses,  girlfriends of  Executive Chairman Crooks Nunuheb and Executive member Theobalt Kahure respectively, manned the entry points at the stadium to which 200 fans pitched up for the ten team elimination round.
Two weeks later however, the collected money is yet to surface. “My wife Frances collected money at one entry point and handed the money on Saturday to Crooks’ wife, but up to now the money is still not accounted for,” said Jomo Jagger.
On Tuesday, regional Executive Treasurer Johannes Shitukulu from Tough Guys football club confirmed that he had not yet received the gate-takings along with the financial report from the tournament.
“When I approached the leadership during the two day tournament to ask why their wives were the ones collecting money, Jagger said the committee had all given their blessings for such a scandalous move,” said Shitukulu.
According to Shitukulu, it is the duty of the treasurer to appoint gate collectors at the entry point, but this time he was ordered by Crooks to leave the issue alone.
“Crooks said anyone from the clubs willing to find out about the gate takings must report directly to him. Clubs are complaining this side and no one knows what happened to the money because it was supposed to be handed in less than 48 hours after the games,” he said.
Jagger now believes that the chairman and his wife misappropriated the money. “I am now busy compiling a report to be submitted to the Anti-Corruption Commission and NFA later this week because those were public funds misappropriated,” he said.
But clubs from the region interviewed by Informanté claim the trio plotted to have their spouses collect the money and are now up in arms because their deal turned sour after Nunuheb failed to hand over his share of the takings in good time.
It has also emerged that affiliation fees paid by clubs from Omaheke Region have not reached the NFA offices either.