Chronicle Editor
Sikhumbuzo Moyo, Senior Sports Reporter
ZIFA president Phillip Chiyangwa, his deputy Omega Sibanda and executive committee member in charge of finance Phillimon Machana believe the work they have done in the two year period they have been in office is testimony that they deserve a mandate to be in charge of the national game for the next four years.
The Zifa national elections are on this Sunday where Chiyangwa will face off against former executive committee member Felton Kamambo while Sibanda will contend with former Southern Region boss Gift Banda. Besides Machana, four other candidates Bryton Malandule, Stanley Machana, Mlungisi Moyo, Sugar Chagonda and Chamu Chiwanza are vying for the four executive committee posts.
“Action speaks louder than words, our works are there for everyone to see and its all done through the book which is our constitution. We don’t use emotions or grandstanding gimmicks that is a fact which I am certain our noble congressman and woman are fully aware,” said Sibanda.
He said the executive has despite meeting the objectives of the association, fully exercised their powers as enshrined in Article 34 of the amended Zifa Constitution which read as;
“The Executive committee shall pass decisions on all cases that do not come within the sphere of responsibility of the congress or are not reserved for other bodies by law or under these (Zifa) statutes, shall prepare and convene the ordinary and extraordinary congress, shall appoint chairmen, deputy chairmen and members of the standing committees, shall appoint chairmen, deputy chairmen and members of the judiciary bodies, shall appoint the chairman, deputy chairmen and members of the electoral committee.
May set up ad-hoc committee if necessary at any time, shall compile the regulations for the organisation of standing committee and ad-hoc committee, shall appoint or dismiss the General Secretary on the proposal of the president. The General Secretary shall attend the meeting of all the committees ex officio”.
The article also says the executive shall propose the independent auditors to the Congress, shall decide the place and date of and the number of teams participating in competitions of Zifa, shall appoint the coaches for the representative teams and other technical staff, shall approve regulations stipulating how Zifa shall be organised internally, shall ensure that the statutes are applied and adopt the executive arrangements required for their application.
The executive committee, according to Article 34, may dismiss a person or body or suspend a member of Zifa provisionally until the next congress.
“The constitution also states that there shall be a technical director, a position which has also been fulfilled as we have a very competent technical director whose duties also involve conducting Caf courses who some are of the mistaken view that those must be done by Zifa when in actual fact they are the purview of Caf while we only implement them as an association and all that we have done. We have also held Cosafa tournaments, successfully so for that matter and all our representative national teams from the juniors up to the senior squads are participating in various competitions include Naph and Nash teams,” said Sibanda.
“The finance committee headed by Machana has been able to provide audited financial statements to the congressman and women annually and as we speak those accounts have been given to the delegates who will attend this weekend’s Indaba as per the requirements of the constitution. The president will in his speech unveil a full package of what the delegates are rightfully supposed to and will get, not just free entry into football matches but we want them capacitated through such programmes like Fifa diploma and masters courses, which are lifelong but all these packages will be unveiled by the president,” said Sibanda.
The Zifa vice president further reiterated the good working relationship they have with the Premier Soccer League and said the association fully supported the need to align the PSL season in line with Caf requirements.
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