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Andy Hodges
It is clear that the upcoming ZIFA elections are probably the most important in the history of Zimbabwe football.
The candidates are in place and in a very short space of time a new ZIFA Board will be in place. I would rather today focus not on the individuals who will be campaigning for votes but on what happens after election day.
At ZIFA we have for many years elected a Chairman, in particular, who has produced glossy manifestos full of promise and dreams yet each without fail has been unfulfilled, broken and proven to be, with time, false promises.
Successive ZIFA chairman have promised more than the previous incumbent and either through money politics or sheer charisma have carried the day. Each, however, has done one thing and that is to gather power into their hands either through changing the constitution, controlling the ZIFA secretariat or through fear and intimidation.
This culture has to stop and it must stop NOW.
Councillors must in my opinion ensure the following.
The constitution must be amended to ensure the ZIFA Chairman does not have omnipotent powers.
Furthermore the Constitution should reflect fully the checks and balances that must exist to stop any one person or group dominating the board and running football as their personal fiefdom.
An oversight committee must be established made up of ZIFA councilors to ensure the board is operating under best practices and corporate governance standards.
The power of the ZIFA CEO must be heavily curtailed and the understanding that he/she is only answerable to the chairman must be rescinded.
The role, responsibilities and functions of the ZIFA CEO must be clearly defined and he must report to the Board as a whole and not only one individual.
All staff must be moved to performance related contracts which are assessed by the appropriate board committee and remedial action taken proactively on non-performance.
ZIFA needs to move to a situation where all Board committees are functioning, staffed with the appropriate and expert board members or co-options, being managed under strict corporate governance guidelines with clear reporting structures.
These would be a few suggestions but I am sure there are others. The concept is to take absolute power out of the chairman’s hands and into the board. Ensure all board committees are functioning properly, ensure strict corporate guidelines are in place, ensure the ZIFA CEO and staff are firmly under the control of the board not one individual and are managed proactively with performance related contracts in place with an oversight committee with clear terms of reference oversee in the short term the boards actions.
Why this oversight committee because it must be recognized by all that the issues in our football will be solved by all members of the football family and not one individual or a group of individuals, the council via this committee would participate in the structure of ZIFA and be unable to claim ignorance.
I now come to what I believe is the most important aspect of this election. Remember initially I stared that candidates will normally seek votes and receive them using various methods some fair and some foul.
However, each candidate particularly the Chairman candidates must be able to formulate a vision for football that covers ALL areas of the game and has deliverable timelines.
What the council should ensure is that whoever wins this election must be held accountable to their manifesto and one of the functions of the oversight committee made up of council members will be to monitor progress against this manifesto and board plans and again if such promises made by candidates was simply meant to promise the earth to get into power but with the knowledge the promises were unattainable then action must be allowed to be taken.
If not a situation will arise were another five years will elapse with broken promises and dysfunction.
The council before they elect their office holders must scrutinize each candidate’s plan for our football.
The council must not be concerned at the individual wealth of any candidate or their political connections, the councillors must only be concerned at which candidate has a coherent well thought out strategy with clear deadlines and importantly goals set that are achievable.
This is the crux of the matter.
Too often in the past have we been bamboozled by sweet talking candidate with glossy manifestos that promise a new beginning for football and each time in broken promises lie the ashes of our football.
I am not here to advise or to tell you good readers which of the candidates I would support I will say, however, and of course please do not follow this advice, that if I was able to vote on the fateful day for the chairmans position I WOULD PROBOBLY SPOIL MY BALLOT because to me each of the candidates for the chairmanship does not exhibit the necessary inclusive management skills or core internal passion and selflessness to negotiate us out of these treacherous waters.
Each I believe like their predecessors before them look at the election and position as achieving their own personal power and elevation.
If I can offer some advice to the councillors if you feel any candidate is seeking election for this very purpose, the wrong motives, please do not vote for such candidates.
Candidates who only appear at election time but are never seen again until then. Candidates who believe money is the only solution to solve our football troubles. No, do not vote for these candidates.
We need today a rare individual and group of individuals who only have the game of football, the ZIMBABWE nation and the 13 million football lovers at heart and devote the next five years to achieving that singular objective and achieve that goal without looking for personal glory or accolades but perform with utter selflessness.
Is there anyone like that amongst the candidates before us I wonder???
Andy Hodges is a former chairman of CAPS United
Online Reporter