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Eddie Chikamhi, Harare Bureau
THE day which many local football followers have been waiting for has finally arrived as the Sports and Recreation Commission are this morning set to officially release the long-awaited ZIFA forensic audit report.
The document is expected to bring to an end the widespread speculation over the extent of the prejudice the association could have suffered during the abortive tenure of Felton Kamambo.
The forensic audit was conducted by BDO Chartered Accountants, at the instruction of the Sports Commission, who are the supreme local sports regulator in this country by law.
The authorities were keen to establish how public funds were handled by the association following extensive reports of corruption at the association.
The Sports Commission’s spokesperson, Elta Nengomasha, this week announced the forensic audit was complete and the official release of the report has been set for today.
The audit is widely expected to open the lid on the rot that has tainted the administration of local football for many years leading to a stall in development and lack of results on the international fora.
The announcement by the Sports Commission comes barely a month after a draft report, that was exclusively meant for the ZIFA Restructuring Committee, had leaked via social media platforms.
There were allegations Kamambo’s board may have misappropriated funds before their November 16, 2021, suspension by the Sports Commission, and their eventual recalling by the ZIFA Congress this year.
The leaked draft showed that some transactions that were conducted by the ZIFA board flouted corporate governance tenets and exposed that the management of funds at the association was done in a haphazard manner without board consultations.
Some of the questionable transactions, as gleaned from the draft report, are how the board members were awarded at least US$15 500 as administration fees from the US$1.8 million package from CAF and FIFA, at a time football clubs were struggling during the Covid-19 era.
The clubs also went on to get a pittance in local currency as a Covid-19 bailout package when football was struggling to stay afloat.
Other disturbing transactions are how the association received loans from a company owned by the former vice-president Philemon Machana and also repaid some loans without paperwork supporting the so-called debts or ratifications from the ZIFA board approving these loans.
The leaked draft report could just have been a mere indicator of what to expect in the official report that will be released today.
The Sports Commission could not entirely dismiss the leaked document but they confirmed in a previous statement that there “are certainly very significant sums of money received by ZIFA that cannot be accounted for during the review period of 1st December, 2018 to 30th November, 2021.”
“The Sports and Recreation Commission (SRC) has been made aware, from various media enquiries seeking its comment on the matter, that a DRAFT forensic audit report is circulating in the public domain,” the Commission said then.
“SRC’s wishes to advise the public that auditors contracted for the undertaking made separate presentations to the Restructuring Committee as well as the Commission of their detailed preliminary findings in respect of the financial affairs of ZIFA.
“There are certainly very significant sums of money received by ZIFA that cannot be accounted for during the review period of 1st December, 2018 to 30th November, 2021.
“The auditors have not signed off the forensic audit report. They will do so shortly. The ZIFA Audit report, once formally and procedurally presented to the restructuring committee that commissioned it, is ultimately intended for the benefit of the members of ZIFA to consider during their general meeting slated for the end of October, 2022.
“Accordingly, we advise stakeholders and the public alike to exercise reasonable caution in drawing any conclusions at this point based on an unofficial document.”
The audit report is set to be discussed at the ZIFA annual meeting set for next month. The AGM was not held in 2020 and 2021.
Online Reporter