Chiyangwa's challenger demands more reforms

ASPIRING Zifa president Felton Kamambo has urged world football governing body Fifa to delay the Zifa elections until next month to allow him equal time to campaign after a spirited bid by the incumbent Philip Chiyangwa to bar him from contesting recently hit a brick wall.

In a letter to Fifa general secretary Fatma Samoura, the former Zifa board member called for the levelling of the playing field, which until recently has been tilted in favour of the incumbent.

Fifa last week ordered the Zifa electoral committee to allow Kamambo, aspiring Zifa board member Mlungisi Moyo and Gift Banda, who is eyeing the vice-presidency, to contest in the upcoming elections, citing irregularities in the candidates' selection process.

Kamambo, however, wants the world football governing body to go a step further in ensuring that the elections are held in a credible manner.

"My appeal to you is that if these elections are to go ahead, they must be done in accordance with the Zifa constitution. I am recommending at least 30 days so that elections can be held on the 5th of January 2019 or any day after. This will enable me to have enough time to campaign like what other candidates were doing. Fifa must come and supervise the elections, but not Veron (Fifa's director of member associations for Africa and the caribbean, Véron Mosengo), who is a close confidant of Philip Chiyangwa," he said.

Kamambo also reiterated his call for the disbanding of the Vusilizwe Vuma-led electoral committee as well as the relocation of the Zifa secretariat from Chiyangwa's private business premises to a neutral office before the elections could be conducted.

"The playing field must be levelled to give all participants a fair and equal chance to participate. The current electoral committee must be dissolved for the reasons mentioned above and in my other communication. I have lost confidence in them because they are captured."

"The electoral committee has been breaching the Zifa statutes from day one and continues to do so. This is evidenced by this latest position in which the electoral committee has the audacity to review the position of the appeals committee which is a higher court. This has never happened elsewhere and it is an embarrassment to the football world particularly Zifa. I am convinced that with such a circus, the current electoral committee will not be able to deliver a credible, fair and just election that will be acceptable to both parties.

"The last appeal is that for the Zifa secretariat to relocate to neutral premises with immediate effect than being housed at the aspiring presidential candidate's office. There is need to bring finality to the Zifa elections for the good of our beloved football," Kamambo said.

The elections for the executive board member posts had been scheduled for yesterday, while those for the presidency and vice-presidency had been slated for Saturday next week.

The Zifa electoral committee then decided to reschedule the dates to December 16, 2018 after some candidates contesting in the elections further exposed violations of the electoral code and the Zifa constitution by scheduling the elections.

Meanwhile, Kamambo has rubbished reports that he is using funding sourced from an unnamed Confederation of African Football official in his campaign against the incumbent Chiyangwa.

"I totally dismiss this unsubstantiated report as false, malicious, outrageous and only intended to damage my reputation and person. This is designed to invite negative opinion from the public and more in particular from Zifa councillors as the Zifa presidential elections draw close.

"In any case, I don't need money to deal with Chiyangwa's shortcomings; all I need is the Zifa constitution, the electoral code, a pen and a computer," the former Central Region chairman said.