Chapeta appointment yet to be ratified

Sikhumbuzo Moyo, Senior Sports Reporter
FORMER Zifa Central Region chairperson Stanley Chapeta’s cooption into the Zifa executive committee is yet to be ratified by the Congress, rendering all decisions taken by the board with his input a legal nullity.

Chapeta was coopted in October 2020 as replacement for Chamu Chiwanza who was fired from the board over a number of charges, including misrepresentation of facts after allegedly lying that he had the requisite five years of football administration.

It has since emerged that the various resolutions released by the suspended Zifa executive committee in which they claimed came with the full support of the entire board were in fact made by three board members, Felton Kamambo, Phillimon Machana, Bryton Malandule as well as Chapeta who should not have been on the board.

The trio of Premier Soccer League chairperson Farai Jere, Women Soccer League boss Barbra Chikosi and Sugar Chagonda have not been part of the decisions.

The Zifa constitution, Article 32.10 states that if more than 50% of the positions become vacant, the general secretary shall convene an extraordinary congress within two months to elect a replacement for the remaining term of mandate.

On Friday Kamambo, Machana, Malandule and Chapeta met and resolved to suspend Zifa spokesperson Xolisani Gwesela, Warriors manager Wellington Mpandare, PSL chief executive officer Kennedy Ndebele and all the 27 delegates who appended their signatures on the petition calling for the Zifa extraordinary congress in which there are plans to revoke the mandate of one or all the members of the Zifa executive committee.

All the accused persons face a litany of charges some of them being holding of meetings with the Sports and Recreation Commission as well as taking instructions from third parties.

Ndebele, who has eight counts, is also accused of working with Zifa Northern Region officials Martin Kweza and Sweeney Mushonga to try and overthrow a constitutionally elected Zifa executive committee.

However with Chapeta illegally attending Zifa executive committee meetings, the resolution to suspend these officials will hold no legal force as the qourum for such meetings was not met.

Meanwhile, an audio of PSL boss Jere to other members of the executive committee has leaked and lays bare that other members of the board are not being consulted before resolutions are made, including the latest decision to suspend employees and other councillors.

Jere tears into his colleagues and says it’s not fair to continue misleading the nation by claiming the decisions are by the order of the board when in fact it’s only three people.

“I am concerned personally with what is happening. We are seeing a lot of decisions which are being made, a lot of letters are being written which are being said by the order of the board, we are part of that board, we can not be excluded from the board because we refused to go to the Administrative Court.

Our argument was very clear, it’s still very clear that we submit our case to Fifa. Why are we being excluded from the decisions? Why, why are we being excluded, we see decisions being done daily, this is very unfair. Can someone justify why are we not being consulted in some of these decisions which are being made,” said Jere.

“We should all be consulted because we are a board, we make the body that is the board, we can’t all see things in the same light. How can we have someone among ourselves saying because you refused my idea, you refused to go to the Administrative Court you are no longer part of the board. Do we have to agree to everything? This is going too far now, we can not have a board with two people or one person and we say this is a board, I have never seen this.

Right now decisions are being made without our input, unless if you guys are saying there is another group which you have formed where one, two or three people are making their own decisions.

We didn’t want to go to the Administrative Court and we still don’t want but that doesn’t make us less of board members and others more. Let us be reasonable, let us be rational people, we can not work with malicious intents, prepared to fight everyone, life should not be like that.

We can’t have a situation where simply because one has a different opinion he then becomes an enermy, let us grow up people,” thundered Jere.