BY SPORTS REPORTER
IT never rains but pours for the suspended Zifa board after Zifa Congress approached Fifa informing them that the Extraordinary General Meeting that is set to revoke the mandate of the local football leadership will go ahead as planned.
The EGM has been set for 29 January 2022 where the suspended Felton Kamambo-led board is supposed to answer several issues among them failure to call for their Annual General Meeting (AGM), failure to appoint ZIFA Electoral Committee and diverting of Covid-19 funds to other purposes.
The suspended Zifa board members, who include Felton Kamambo, Philemon Machana, Brighton Malandule, Sugar Chagonda, Stanley Chapeta, Barbara Chikosi and Farai Jere, also stand accused of usurping the powers of the congress in key decisions.
While the suspended Zifa officials accused its secretariat of improperly calling for the EGM, the Zifa Congress members revealed that it was them who submitted a request to convene the meeting.
In a letter to the Fifa Legal Counsel on behalf of the Zifa Congress Members on Friday, Northern Region chairman Martin Kweza said due process was followed and the EGM Is in line with the association’s constitution.
“We advise that the members of ZIFA called for an Extra Ordinary Meeting, which meeting has been set for 29 January 2022. The suspended executive committee of ZIFA is however of the view that the meeting was set prematurely. In sharp contrast, we are of the firm view that the procedure we adopted is correct,” Kweza.
“In terms of Art 28(2) of the ZIFA constitution one-third of the members of ZIFA can request the executive committee to convene an Extraordinary meeting. This threshold was met, and in fact surpassed as is apparent from the attached request,” reads part of the letter.
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Kweza also wrote a separate letter to the FIFA secretary general Fatma Samoura titled “State of football in Zimbabwe” which painted a grim picture of the state of the domestic game under the suspended leadership.
The ZIFA members threw their weight behind the SRC’s decision to suspend the Zifa board while calling out the suspended executive members for their alleged failure to discharge their duties.
“We also note that the ZIFA board was inept in the way and manner in which it dealt with allegations against match fixing and sexual abuse by one of their colleagues,” Kweza wrote.
“It is again the view of the ZIFA Assembly that the board has not been diligent in the discharge of its duties and obligations:
- They failed to maintain amicable relations with key stakeholders, in particular (SRC)
- Failed to call an AGM for year ending 2021 as per our constitution
- Failed to protect the interest of its members
- Failed to protect the integrity of the game as clearly spelt in Article 2(f)
“In view of the above, more than one-third of the ZIFA Assembly signed a petition to call for an EGM, in terms of the ZIFA constitution Art 28(2). The members as conveners of the meeting, through the Acting General Secretary Mr Xolisan Gwesela, have served the members with a Notice and Agenda for the meeting,” he said.
The EGM has also been endorsed by the SRC, with chairman Gerald Mlotshwa describing the development as “interesting”.
