Madzvamuse refuses to go

Sports Reporter
DEPOSED Zimbabwe Handball Federation president Amon Madzvamuse has refused to go down without putting up a fight and has declared that the recently held extraordinary general meeting which ousted him was unconstitutional and should be declared null and void.

Madzvamuse also fired a broadside at his successor, Simbiso Mpepereki, whom he accused of undermining his authority and de-campaigning him when they were preparing for their March 31 elections which were later aborted.

And this led to the extraordinary meeting which saw Mpepereki being elected as the new president of the ZHF after the term of office of the previous national executive committee, led by Madzvamuse, had ended on March 31 this year.

In a strongly-worded letter to Mpepereki, which is in the hands of The Herald, a defiant Madzvamuse declared yesterday that he was still the legitimate leader of the local handball mother-body and threatened to take stern action against “a rogue element in the ZHF”.

Part of Madzvamuse’s letter to Mpepereki read: “Amon Madzvamuse, the legitimate president (of the ZHF) has been quiet for (quite) sometime gathering facts and doing some action in the field of play as you know we were in Zambia, while you were unconstitutionally misleading the nation.

“I am back and it is high time action must be taken and deal constitutionally with (an) unscrupulous element who cannot allow clubs to play while he is campaigning.

“This is my last official communication to you my vice-president. STOP IT and be collective for once. We were in this interim (committee) together and you know what the SRC (Sports Commission) expects from us and do not involve our council members (in this issue) as they belong to us all.”

Madzvamuse said they were still seeking guidance from the Sports Commission on how they will hold their elections which were aborted on March 31 after some provinces failed to turn up and there was also no financial statement from the treasurer. “Once again the president Amon Madzvamuse is calling for the entire federation to seek guidance from the SRC. Individuals must campaign peacefully and do not join groups you do not know because very soon the face of handball is going to change and you do not want to spoil your future with new leadership coming on board constitutionally,” Madzvamuse said.

He added that he will soon be calling for “a proper” extraordinary general meeting where they will discuss, among other thorny issues, the holding of their elections.

Madzvamuse also said that he has since written a letter to the Sports Commission advising them that the extraordinary general meeting which ushered Mpepereki and his new national executive committee into office was unconstitutional and should be declared null and void.

“We are still going to be guided accordingly by the Sports Commission on how we should conduct our business leading to our elections and we don’t want any rogue elements to hijack this process,” Madzvamuse said.

Ironically, Madzvamuse also came into power at ZHF after a protracted battle to unseat the federation’s former president Agrippah Sora.

There has been “a civil war” in the ZHF since the aborted March 31 general meeting which later saw some disgruntled members of the federation’s national executive committee approaching the Sports Commission seeking clarification on how they should hold their elections.

These members later called for an extraordinary general meeting, claiming this was required by their constitution, and they elected a new national executive committee into office with former vice-president Mpepereki, who had now turned into a strong critic of Madzvamuse, coming in as the new president.

The federation’s former secretary-general, Alphios Magiya, was also elevated to the post of vice-president.

Clemence Tauro was unopposed for the secretary-general’s post while Stewart Sanhewe came in as the treasurer. Lilian Chiketa and Reginald Tsimba are the two commissioners.

The extraordinary general meeting was attended by nine provinces.

The Sports Commission, through their director general Charles Nhemachena, later said they were still to be appraised about the recent developments within the ZHF but indicated that they would give the new national executive committee their full blessings “as long as they are doing everything constitutionally”.