Showdown looms

results of an election for the region’s chairmanship.
The indaba, Zifa’s last annual meeting before next year’s elective assembly, will be staged at the Zifa Village in Mt Hampden and could be a swansong occasion for some councillors, who might not manage to secure re-election for new four-year terms next year.

There will be elections to choose new leasers for all the Zifa structures, which will culminate in the polls for the association’s president in March next year.

Zifa on Thursday annulled the outcome of an election that had ushered in Saidi Sangula as chairman of Northern Region following appeals lodged by the losing duo of Douglas Chitongo and Francis Zimunya.

There were protests, too, from the trio of Maxwell Pfumo, Derick Matapuri and Owen Chandamale who are the chairmen of Mashonaland Central, Mashonaland West and Harare provinces over the manner in which the elections were conducted.

Chitongo and Zimunya, in their separate appeals, argued that there were procedural and constitutional flaws in the way the election presided over by the Zifa electoral committee headed by Harare lawyer Tererai Gunje was conducted after five hours of haggling.

The trio of Pfumo, Matapure and Chandamale in their joint petition also claimed some flaws in the election alleging that “we had advised the Zifa electoral committee of the uneven playing field created by the animosity that came as a result of improper meetings and procedures that obtained on the day’’.

A storm is, however, brewing between the two bodies in that Zifa not only ordered a nullification of the election results but indicated to the Northern Region that they would have to second a representative to sit in yesterday’s board meeting as well today’s annual meeting.

The Northern Region on their part insist that Sangula was legitimately elected and should thus lead them and represent them at the annual indaba.

But should Zifa maintain their stance then secretary-general Sweeney Mushonga and vice-chairman Willard Manyengavana are likely to stand in for the affiliate that is mandated to administer activities of the Division One clubs. Relations between the Zifa board and the Northern Region leadership have over the last few months been frosty amid suspicions by the association that the affiliate is “more of a rebel that ought to be whipped into line’’ while the regional chiefs allege that the mother body “has a hidden agenda to try and give the provinces more say in a constituency that should belong to and be run by the Division One clubs’’.

The issue of the status of the Northern Region chairmanship is understood to be high on the agenda together with debate on the suspension, expulsion and admission of members.

Zifa’s top policy making body will also have to ratify the election of former Warriors defender John Phiri’s as the Zifa board member for development. Phiri was elected unopposed to fill the post that fell vacant following Methembe Ndlovu’s suspension and subsequent ban over the Asiagate scandal.

With a lot having happened over the seemingly never-ending Asiagate saga, the councillors will be hoping to get an update from the Zifa board over the match-fixing scam that has somehow continued to override some key developmental issues and impacted on the association’s image.

Zifa chief executive, Jonathan Mashingaidze, in acknowledging the friction between the board and the Northern Region said the assembly had the powers to ratify all the candidates who would have been elected between its meetings.

Mashingaidze said the annual meeting would also deal with Zifa’s audited accounts, and consider an activity report that would be presented by the association’s president Cuthbert Dube.

“There is a lot of business to be dealt with during the meeting because there is also the issue of the budget for the following year which must be ratified by the assembly at its AGM.

“The accounts have already been circulated to members and the issue of suspensions, expulsions and admission of membership where applicable will also be dealt with. But the amendments to the constitution will not be discussed at the AGM as the matter has been deferred to June 13 when a Fifa delegation comes to Zimbabwe to dispose of that item,’’ Mashingaidze said.

It is also the first time that the assembly will be meeting since the board commissioned the Zimbabwe Football Trust. The Trust led by Tshinga Dube and including some eminent personalities from the football and corporate world, has so far done a sterling job to mobilise financial and material resources aimed at lifting Zifa from their precarious financial position.