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Women's soccer boss goes to High Court
26 Aug 2016 at 06:27hrs | Views
Suspended Zimbabwe Women's Soccer League chairperson Miriam Sibanda and her two accomplices, Benny Mamoche and Fungai Magoswongwe, have challenged a court's decision to place them on their defence and have approached the High Court. This follows a Harare magistrate Mrs Vongai Muchuchuti-Guuriro's ruling that the trio have a case to answer on allegations of stealing $20 000 meant to buy tickets for the Mighty Warriors team to fly to Ghana. The trio's lawyer, Mr Blessing Mabusiso Bhala, applied for a review of proceedings at the High Court.The three will appear in court today. In their application, the trio alleged that the magistrate made a gross error in deciding in a matter between Zimbabwe Women Football (ZWF) and ZIFA.
"ZIFA and its members, players, officials and match players will not take any dispute to the ordinary courts unless specifically provided for in these statues and FIFA regulations. Any disagreement shall be submitted to the jurisdiction of FIFA, CAF or ZIFA," he said.
"In the absence of a complaint of theft by the giver of the donation, that is the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development or Freda Rebecca Mine, the magistrate had no jurisdiction to hear the dispute between ZIFA and ZWF concerning the donation. The magistrate's decision is irrational as it is so outrageous in its defiance of logic that no sensible person who had applied his mind to the question could have arrived at it," said MrBhala.
"It was a gross irregularity in the proceedings that the prosecution closed its case without calling Cecilia Matinhure to testify. The magistrate did not explain her decision and what weight she gave to Matinhure's statement. The magistrate postponed trial to allow State to coach a witness ZIFA financial manager Benjamin Dehwa who had become hostile on stand. The procedure adopted by the magistrate and the prosecutor, Mrs Leonella Chitanda Matowa, rendered our trial unfair."
On August 5, an application for discharge at the close of the State's case by the trio was dismissed by Mrs Guuriro.
Sibanda (54), Benny Mamoche (45) and Fungai Magoswongwe (35) are facing theft of trust property charges. They allegedly approached Freda Rebecca Mine in Bindura and requested a donation in cash to cater for air tickets for the Mighty Warriors' trip to Ghana. It is alleged that they received a $20 000 donation from Freda Rebecca Mine.
However, the money was not remitted to the Zimbabwe Football Association.
"ZIFA and its members, players, officials and match players will not take any dispute to the ordinary courts unless specifically provided for in these statues and FIFA regulations. Any disagreement shall be submitted to the jurisdiction of FIFA, CAF or ZIFA," he said.
"In the absence of a complaint of theft by the giver of the donation, that is the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development or Freda Rebecca Mine, the magistrate had no jurisdiction to hear the dispute between ZIFA and ZWF concerning the donation. The magistrate's decision is irrational as it is so outrageous in its defiance of logic that no sensible person who had applied his mind to the question could have arrived at it," said MrBhala.
"It was a gross irregularity in the proceedings that the prosecution closed its case without calling Cecilia Matinhure to testify. The magistrate did not explain her decision and what weight she gave to Matinhure's statement. The magistrate postponed trial to allow State to coach a witness ZIFA financial manager Benjamin Dehwa who had become hostile on stand. The procedure adopted by the magistrate and the prosecutor, Mrs Leonella Chitanda Matowa, rendered our trial unfair."
On August 5, an application for discharge at the close of the State's case by the trio was dismissed by Mrs Guuriro.
Sibanda (54), Benny Mamoche (45) and Fungai Magoswongwe (35) are facing theft of trust property charges. They allegedly approached Freda Rebecca Mine in Bindura and requested a donation in cash to cater for air tickets for the Mighty Warriors' trip to Ghana. It is alleged that they received a $20 000 donation from Freda Rebecca Mine.
However, the money was not remitted to the Zimbabwe Football Association.
Source - the herald
