BY DANIEL NHAKANISO
FELTON Kamambo’s reign as Zifa president came to an end yesterday when Zifa councilors revoked his mandate at an emergency meeting held in Harare yesterday.
However it remains to be seen if his dismissal will be ratified by Fifa, which has insisted that his board should be reinstated to pave way for the lifting of the country’s suspension by the world football governing body.
A total of 43 out of the 45 members who attended yesterday’s EGM voted for Kamambo’s dismissal, highlighting his unpopularity amongst local football stakeholders.
The axe also fell on board members Philemon Machana and Brighton Malandule, with the former having 44 of the 45 members voting for his removal.
The trio of Farai Jere, Barbra Chikosi and Sugar Chagonda, who were present during the EGM, were pardoned after pleading their innocence before the Zifa congress.
The Zifa councilors also resolved to reinstate vice president Gift Banda.
Banda was suspended by the Kamambo-board since January 2016; barely a month after the Zifa elections but the decision was never ratified by the association’s congress.
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Speaking on behalf of Zifa councilors, Northern Region chairman Martin Kweza said Banda as the association’s vice president would take over as acting president and lead the process leading up to the next elections.
“In terms of our constitution when Mr Banda was suspended by the then excecutive and he was supposed to be brought before congress which was then supposed to determine whether he was guilty, but this did not happen.
“The constitution is very clear, it says if it doesn’t happen the suspension falls away and the member remains part of the board,” said Kweza.
“Technically what it means is that Banda is the vice president of Zifa at the moment and again in terms of the constitution that in the absence of the Zifa president, the vice president shall take over and act as the president until the next congress where an election can be held if necessary.”
Kweza revealed that some members would be coopted onto the Zifa board which will be tasked with coming up with a roadmap for elections, undertaking of a forensic audit of the national association’s books and structural reforms.
He added that the Zifa congress would be writing to the Sports and Recreation Commission (SRC) to lift the suspension of the Kamambo-led board before engaging Fifa to have the country’s suspension lifted.
“After today’s meeting we are going to be sitting down to write to SRC, informing them of the outcome of this EGM and then ask them to lift the suspension of the excecutive committee. We expect them to do that. When that is done the next thing is for us to approach Fifa and start engagements so that Zimbabwe can be readmitted into the international football,” he said.
While the Zifa councilors expressed optimism that their EGM and its resolutions would be ratified by Fifa, there are fears that the world football governing body is going to insist on the reinstatement of the Kamambo-led board.
This is after the release of communication from Fifa last Thursday suggesting that the EGM’s outcome would not result in the lifting of the country’s suspension from international football.
The Confederation of African Football have given Zimbabwe, up to May 15 to sort out their football problems or else they would be thrown out of the upcoming 2023 Afcon qualifiers.
