By Liness Gunde
Management of Zomba Gymkana Golf Course on Tuesday disclosed that inadequate financial resources were affecting the operations of the institution.
Gymkana Club Manager, Dickson Bonongwe told Malawi News Agency (Mana) that at first, the Club was running smoothly because there were adequate financial resources.
Bonongwe said, in the past, apart from the money generated from club activities, sponsors were readily available to help and maintain the golf course.
“Various players such as commercial banks, telecommunication companies supported us and the place looked beautiful and nice. However, since management changed from white to Malawian, everything changed and things are no longer the same,” Bonongwe said.
Bonongwe said despite making several attempts to seek support from companies; all the club gets are promises.
“For the golf course to be slashed and cleaned, we need about K500,000 but this is very difficult for us to mobilise on our own without any sponsorship,” he said.
“Even the money we get when people play golf is not enough for us to take care of the course and as a result, it is used to pay salaries for the staff members,” he added.
According to Bonongwe, the golf course was expected to be slashed this month, saying it won’t be possible due to financial constraints.
“Despite the Coronavirus outbreak, we don’t have funds to clean the golf course and we will wait until next month when we have raised enough money.
“If things do get better with us we may resort to asking government to support the club with funds to renovate and maintain the course,” Bonongwe said.
George Chitseko, who is a regular golf player at the club, claims that poor management has affected patronage at the course.
“I think it is all about management, this club used to be one of the best and the most utilized. This is, however, not the same this time. Management needs to do a lot of work on it,” Chitseko said.
