Zifa 'capture' exposed

Former Zifa board member Felton Kamambo has fingered the local football mother body's president Philip Chiyangwa as the architect of the leadership crisis bedevilling the domestic game, after detailing how the politician-cum-football administrator had allegedly "captured" the association.

Kamambo, who was the Zifa board member responsible for Futsal and Beach soccer, announced his withdrawal from the Zifa leadership on Wednesday following the expiration of the constitutional term of office of the Zifa executive committee last Thursday.

His resignation came hours after Piraishe Mabhena, another board member (in charge of competitions), had also announced his decision to step down, plunging Zifa into a leadership crisis that leaves the local game facing an uncertain future.

Opening up for the first time on his decision to step down, Kamambo yesterday exposed how Chiyangwa's domineering leadership style since his election into office in December 2015 had allegedly reduced the Zifa board to a "circus" and "an extension of the presidium's captured hostages".

"Upon being elected into the Zifa board, I, alongside other board members, tried to embrace good corporate governance, best practices and constitutionalism during our two years in office, but we met with fierce resistance from the Zifa presidium, who unfortunately had captured the association," Kamambo said.

"Board meetings were not properly convened as the presidium did not respect the constitution in terms of due notice. No AGM [annual general meeting] was duly convened in compliance with the Zifa constitution as the presidium would convene meetings which were unconstitutional and unlawful in terms of due notice.

"Our Zifa board/exco [executive committee] was reduced to some circus as we were reduced to an extension of the presidium's captured hostages and no wonder why only the presidium would attend the so-called board meetings. How could one attend meetings not provided for in the Zifa statutes?"

The Central Region boss also revealed how board decisions were being unilaterally made by the Zifa presidium and anyone who dared to question was labelled a rebel and silenced by threats of suspensions and expulsion.

"Board decisions were taken by the presidium who happened to be beneficiaries of the decisions. We tried to engage the presidium to respect the Zifa constitution, but to no avail as anyone who raised pertinent issues of governance was labelled a rebel and no wonder why the late former Zifa board member, Edzai Kasinauyo, was hounded to his final resting place. MHSRIP. Edzai was cleared by courts of concocted match-fixing allegations, but was never accepted back into the Zifa board for reasons best known to the Zifa presidium."

The revelations by Kamambo come after a Zifa financial report compiled by Baker Tilly Gwatidzo auditors unearthed a number of anomalies with regard to corporate governance.

Kamambo also hit out at the Zifa leadership's failed attempt to co-opt the Premier Soccer League [PSL] Emergency Committee chairperson and women's football boss into the board following their recent resignations.

Dynamos boss Kenny Mubaiwa had been hastily co-opted into the Zifa board together with women's football chairperson Rosemary Kanonge, but the former turned down the offer saying his co-option was not done in accordance with PSL statues.

"Attempts to smuggle members from Premier Soccer League and women football show how desperate the presidium is to sanitise an illegitimate arrangement which violates the Zifa statutes for selfish reasons. Attempts to have the Zifa assembly regularise the co-options were resisted by some of our board members," Kamambo said.

"Why the presidium would want to unlawfully and unconstitutionally extend their stay at Zifa beyond their constitutional mandate needs to be interrogated. Isn't the fear to constitutionally relinquish power driven by an agenda to conceal skeletons from the football family in Zimbabwe and the general public?

"The association is best served by men and women who respect the Zifa statutes. Some of our members in football administration who think that Zifa is their personal property are mistaken and our game shall call such characters to order. Those who may have pillaged resources from our game must be held accountable.

"There are some rented voices in our midst who have been hired to denigrate all those who defend constitutionalism, but they must know that the game of football is bigger than individual egos and selfish interests."

While Kamambo maintains that the current Zifa board's term of office ended last Thursday, the trio of Chiyangwa, his deputy Omega Sibanda and board member (finance) Philemon Machana insist they will continue to wait for guidance from Fifa on the association's election roadmap.

Kamambo, however, said the move was illegal as the Zifa constitution has no provision for extension of mandate.

"It is a fact that the Zifa administration that was elected on March 29, 2014 would only be in office up to March 29, 2018 and any attempt to extend that tenure would not only be illegitimate, but would be unlawful, immoral and illegal. As we speak now, Zifa has three members who claim that they still have the mandate to run Zifa business yet their tenure ended on 29th March 2018," he said.