adminHE believes the Zifa presidency is already in his bag, with at least 50 of the 58 councillors who will be voting on December 5 having pledged their allegiance, but Phillip Chiyangwa is still pulling all the stops.
Last night he flexed his muscles — again — as he launched his manifesto at a Harare hotel with a pledge to rebuild, restore and reposition Zimbabwean football.
And the catch phrase for Chiyangwa’s campaign is “Bhora kuna Phidza.”
However, amid the confidence in his camp, one gets the feeling that Chiyangwa is out to charm a constituency much bigger than the Zifa Assembly.
The flamboyant businessman seems to appreciate that although he has charmed the councillors, the ordinary fan — the owner of the game — is yet to be convinced that Phil is the deal.
In all honesty, Chiyangwa, for all his riches, has little reason to splash adverts in the Pess and print T-shirts when his target is a group of 58 individuals that can be reached through WhatsApp or other less expensive means.
The Zifa presidential candidate clearly recognises that fans are an important component of his envisaged Team Rebuild Zimbabwean Football. “This manifesto is a window to my heart, my vision for Zimbabwean football,” he says in the blueprint launched last night.
Chiyangwa argues that he is the right man to lead a process aimed at “healing” local football from fissures caused by polarisation.
“Over the years, I have watched and followed in the Press how our football has become polarised to the detriment of the same, how our executive committee had become toxic and divided, how our council had different camps . . .
“I believe I am the right person, by virtue of not having been involved in the personality clashes, to lead a deliberate conversation of healing and reconciliation, to lead and bring together players, coaches, Government, affiliates, corporates, fans, the secretariat and my board to a common understanding that we need each other.
“There is need to forgive and in the famous words of our President Cde R G Mugabe at Independence ‘to let our weapons be our ploughshares.’”
Online Reporter