High Court reserves Mhofu judgment

Sunday Chidzambwa in which the association is seeking to have a default ruling issued against them rescinded.
High Court judge Justice Anne-Mary Gowora yesterday heard the matter in her chambers and later indicated that she could issue her judgment on Thursday or Friday.
Justice Gowora, who briefly heard the matter last week before deferring it to yesterday, this time went through written and verbal submissions made by both parties.
Chidzambwa is demanding US$67 000 from Zifa, which he claims constitutes unpaid salaries up to the time he resigned as Warriors coach to take a post at South African Premiership side Free State Stars.
The coach’s demands are premised on the claim that he was entitled to a US$5 000 monthly salary in terms of an agreement he entered into with the pair of former Zifa president Wellington and former chief executive Henrietta Rushwaya.
Zifa are not only contending that Chidzambwa was entitled to a US$2 000 monthly but the association also insist that the matter is a labour dispute that should go for trial before a Labour Court.
Justice Gowora, in making her ruling this week, will also make a determination on the jurisdiction of the High Court in hearing the dispute.
Both Zifa lawyer Ralph Maganga and Chidzambwa’s legal representative George Gapu emerged from Justice Gowora’s chambers to announce that “we can only wait to hear the outcome by the end of the week”.
After filing their heads of argument last week, the lawyers also opportunity to have their arguments heard by Justice Gowora.
“Judgment has been reserved for either Thursday at the close of business or Friday morning so we are waiting, both parties can only wait,” Maganga said.
Gapu of Scanlen and Holderness, however, argued that the default ruling made by another High Court judge Justice Lavender Makoni should be allowed to stand and that the matter had ceased to be a labour dispute when Chidzambwa tendered his resignation letter to the current Zifa board.
Zifa first vice-president Ndumiso Gumede and the soccer mother body’s chief executive Jonathan Mashingaidze were also on hand at the court to follow yesterday’s deliberations.
Crucially for Zifa, the current deliberations at the High Court also helped stall a writ of execution from being effected, which could have seen Chidzambwa attaching Zifa property such as the Zifa House at 53 Livingstone Avenue to recover his dues. Chidzambwa has received the backing of both Nyatanga and Rushwaya in his battle to have Zifa pay him US$67 000 and not the US$13 000 which the association acknowledge as the money they owe the coach.