admin
Sharuko on Saturday
IT’S a horrible image, which I have struggled to shake off my mind — the way her voice was shaking and the way her tears just kept flowing down her cheeks.
The way she felt betrayed by the game she had always loved, and the way she really felt really helpless and, to a large extent, hopeless.
It quickly emerged to me that my presence, rather than providing her with the company she needed to feel a little bit secure, was even contributing to the sum of all her fears.
I didn’t know it then but I know it now.
How could she feel secure, in the presence of a man, a representative of the very species, which had transformed her into this shell of fear?
Into this human object of raging anger — a woman haunted by men, their presence a reminder of the abuse she had suffered, the pain — buried in her soul — which had been inflicted on her.
Into this withdrawn individual, who had long retreated into her own world – to try and deal with her scars alone, to try and nurse her pain alone and to try and deal with her demons alone.
‘You Will Never Walk Alone!’
That’s what the good folks, who are fans of Liverpool, had told her, again and again, in their favourite signature song.
And, how I wished I could sing for her that song, every word, every verse, of the most beautiful song in world football:
“When you walk through a storm, hold your head up high, and don’t be afraid of the dark, at the end of a storm is a golden sky and the sweet silver song of a lark.
“Walk on through the wind, walk on through the rain, though your dreams be tossed and blown, walk on, walk on, with hope in your heart.
“And, you’ll never walk alone, you’ll never, ever walk alone, walk on, walk on with hope in your heart and you will never walk alone”
But, in that chilling moment, it immediately became very clear to me that this wasn’t the moment to try and cheer this woman.
She needed more than just a feel-good song, being sung by a man with such a hoarse voice, which would even frighten horses, pretending to be the worst copycat of Luciano Pavarotti, in the history of music.
This was someone who needed specialist help, from those who are trained to deal with the horrors inflicted on the psychology of human beings, by fate or by hate, something which I was ill-equipped to deal with.
My journalistic instincts were telling me to go for the kill.
Telling me to just get the story and walk away but, my conscience kept reminding me that this wasn’t about getting a sensational scoop, but about feeling for a fellow human being.
I became conflicted.
There was a part of me telling me that the story, whose pursuit had driven me to this very meeting, in the heart of the capital, had long lost relevance, buried in the tears of this poor young woman.
Then, there was another part telling me that the real help, which I could give this woman, was to highlight her story, as much as I could, to a world, which she felt had betrayed her.
For the sake of others, the two she specifically mentioned, who were not there with us in that car, but whose stories were also a carbon copy of her heart-breaking tale.
For about an hour, or so, we just talked or, to be precise, she just talked, probably crying more than she talked.
She told me a horror tale of how it had become acceptable, if not fashionable, for those who were in charge of the local refereeing fraternity, to prey on female referees.
To treat them as their pet objects, people who were only there to satisfy their wild sexual fantasies, to treat them as sub-humans, sex slaves, a people condemned to worship their altar of Satanic decorations.
She took me to the darkest parts of the world, where evil rules, where progress has to be paid for in the form of sexual favours, where the abuse of women is normal and where their harassment is expected.
It was hard to listen to her story and I could only wonder how difficult it was for her to tell her painful tale, to a stranger she had just met that day, whose name she knew in the newspapers and whose face she had seen on television.
To her credit, even as she told me how she had been to hell and back, she managed to provide enough and, more importantly, consistent information, which was not a figment of her imagination but a powerful rendition of the horror she had endured.
By the time we parted company, her tears still coming down, I had so much respect for her, if not for her bravery to speak out, then for her strength to endure all that she had suffered, and still live to tell her story.
ZHOYA WAS PROTECTED BY A HORRIBLE SYSTEM
She gave me the contacts of her comrades, the brave women who had decided to fight against this powerful system, all of them referees, all of them victims of a broken community of alpha men, consumed by their imaginary power, who felt women were their toys.
Blessing Mpande was the odd one out.
Maybe, it was because of her other public service activities as a girl child activist and, unlike the others, she was fine with her name being printed in the newspaper and her face being attached to her story.
There is no question about her striking good looks, which probably explains why she became a target, but what these vultures didn’t know was that she was also a fiery and principled character.
Beneath those good looks was a strong woman, who knew her rights, didn’t believe in favours, and didn’t tolerate nonsense.
Blessing’s story was also a difficult one, being bombarded by messages from Obert Zhoya, who was her boss in the ZIFA Referees Committee, with proposals for dates at a hotel in Harare.
To her credit, she rejected these advances, even though it came at a huge cost, including being told that she had failed a routine referees’ fitness test, not so long after.
The message from those in power was simple but very clear — no one messed up with their grand vision to be the dominant bulls in the kraal, and anyone who crossed that line would have his career destroyed.
It was like a perfect Mafia set-up — you couldn’t say no to the Don, the Godfather.
And, poor Blessing Mpande, for bravely choosing the value of her principles, she also chose to write the epitaph on the tombstone of her refereeing career.
For years, they had confronted this monster, and fought for their rights, but now and again, they kept running into a wall, with their abusers being protected by the ZIFA leaders.
“I would like to put on record that the Zimbabwe Football Association and FIFA have been accused of ‘going silent’ over allegations that female referees were sexually harassed by ZIFA officials?” one of them wrote.
“I have been receiving these unwelcome sexual advances since September 2019.
“The allegations I make herein are backed by evidence in the form of phone call voice recordings. I then got the courage from the evidence I had, and learning that I’m not the only one [who] was subject to this harassment.
“I have been on the ZIFA (Referees) panel since 2019, I’m 30 years old. I expected to be treated with respect, not like a lady of the night.”
I asked one of them why they believed the ZIFA leaders were not interested in acting on their protests, and she said it was because of the “brotherhood” within the domestic game’s leadership.
And, it’s easy to understand, and appreciate, all the sum of their fears.
With all due respect, Zhoya was never a leading referee in this country but now, he was the all-powerful secretary-general of the ZIFA Referees Committee.
It probably didn’t escape their attention that Zhoya worked for the same organisation, GMB, as Felton Kamambo.
Zhoya was the GMB Lion’s Den depot manager when Kamambo successfully plotted his rise to take over the ZIFA presidency in 2018.
One can appreciate their belief, whether fair or flawed, among these female referees that Zhoya had very powerful connections in the game, helped in a way by those he worked with, especially Kamambo.
In June, 2019, these female referees must have glanced at the management team in charge of the Warriors at the 2019 AFCON finals, and picked out an unfamiliar name.
David Chigogo was part of the Warriors’ ‘security team’ in Cairo.
It was his first association with the Warriors and, incredibly, it had started at the Nations Cup finals.
A quick check revealed he probably only made the trip, which also came with some rich pickings of not less than US$15 000, because he worked for the GMB.
One can understand those who believed Chigogo was there, simply because he worked for the same company, with the new ZIFA boss.
And, for these female referees, all these were powerful messages that taking on anyone, who worked for the GMB, and this included Zhoya, would probably be viewed as an attack on the ZIFA president himself.
Therein lies Kamambo’s complicity in all this sickening drama, his silence was deafening, and it sent the wrong signals that he was either protecting the likes of Zhoya or simply turning a blind eye to the evil being perpetrated by an ally, a workmate, a friend or whatever you choose.
Others are claiming the implicated guys issued threats that, in the event they were sanctioned locally, they would not go alone because they had files of what others had done, in terms of inflicting harm, on women in the game.
Given some of the photographic material we have seen, in compromising positions, including those featuring some students who were on attachment at ZIFA, one can probably understand those arguments.
THIS FEELS LIKE OUR R KELLY MOMENT
In a way, this is our R Kelly moment!
This is about a king being undressed in public, about someone who believed he was the be-all-and-end-all being shamed for abuse of both privilege and rights.
Now that it has come to this, I can assure you that we will hear more, especially from the victims, who will line up, powered by the realisation that the owl, which was all along frightening them into submission, doesn’t have any horns at all.
Power tends to corrupt people.
For about a quarter-of-a-century, R Kelly was the king of R&B, a superstar who had such a squeaky clean public image, he was even invited to be among the stars who would use music to celebrate the arrival of the FIFA World Cup in Africa in 2010.
That’s where I met him, for one and only time, and it was one of my finest moments because I have always been a lover of his music.
Little did we know that beyond this public image of a nice guy, who emerged from the ghetto in America to become a superstar singer, was a monster who had made a life out of sexually abusing women.
A devil who used his powerful appeal to seduce countless women and then convert them into slaves of his sexual fantasies.
Then one day, it all caught up with him, thanks to the bravery of those who dared to challenge him, even though they knew that, by doing so, their names would be dragged into the mud.
In January 2019, “Surviving R.Kelly” premièred and it was a huge hit as it became Lifetime’s highest-rated programme, in more than two years, with two million total viewers, when it hit the screens.
Inevitably, there were consequences, and RCA Records cancelled their contract with Kelly and, the following month, the singer was arrested on 10 counts of aggravated sexual abuse.
For Lady Gaga, it was also a defining moment and the superstar told the world she regretted ever working with R Kelly and there were similar responses from other artistes.
R Kelly was sentenced to 30 years in jail for the way he had transformed himself into a specialist in abusing women.
Now, Obert Zhoya, who probably felt he was untouchable because he had some very powerful friends at ZIFA, has to deal with the consequences of his shame.
He has to deal with going home and telling his family that he can’t take part in any football activities anymore because he was banned for five years for abusing female referees.
He has to explain why his family’s name was trending on Thursday, going toe-to-toe with the final day of the transfer window, around the world.
He has to explain why he was making headlines in Taiwan, Jamaica, India, Ghana, Egypt, the United States, Canada, Switzerland and virtually all over the world.
The dethroned ZIFA board members also have to explain why they decided to ignore these brave women.
One only needs to read the media statement which they issued on September 30, 2020, reacting to a story in the Chronicle about these abuses, to see how they were all intent on protecting these guys.
“It is alleged that two members of the Referees Committee members sexually harassed some female referees,” read the ZIFA statement.
“As ZIFA, we take such allegations seriously.
“No complaint has been brought to our attention so far. We, however, note with concern that ever since the current executive committee assumed office, there have been spirited efforts by some noted individuals writing on social and print media to bring the name of the association into disrepute.”
Compare that with how the then CAF president, Ahmad Ahmad, responded:
“Although we have not been formally alerted of this shame, this is a problem that should be taken seriously.
“Even law enforcement agencies in your country should spring into action and investigate these very serious allegations to the satisfaction of both parties,” said Ahmad.
Ironically, a few months later, Ahmad fell, with sexual abuse being one of the issues which brought about his downfall.
It’s a sickening Men’s Club, this international football family and that’s why we even have a women’s team being called Man United or Man City.
To God Be The Glory!
Peace to the GEPA Chief, the Big Fish, George Norton, Daily Service, Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse and all the Chakariboys still in the struggle.
Come on United!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ronaldoooooooooooooooooooooo!
Text Feedback 0772545199
WhatsApp 0772545199
Email- [email protected]; [email protected]
You can also interact with me on Twitter (@Chakariboy), Facebook, Instagram (sharukor) and Skype (sharuko58) and GamePlan, the authoritative football magazine show on ZTV, where I interact with the legendary Charles “CNN” Mabika, is back every Wednesday night at 9.30pm
Online Reporter