adminMakomborero Mutimukulu
BUSINESSMAN Trevor Juul’s Zifa presidential bid hit the quick sand last night while Phillip Chiyangwa, James Takavada and Leslie Gwindi’s papers were accepted without drama.
The Zifa electoral committee refused to accept Juul’s nomination papers as they did not have fingerprints and proof that he has been resident in the country for the past five years as stated in Section 32(4) of the Zifa constitution.
Reads the section: “The members of the executive committee shall have already been active in football administration for at least five years, must not have been previously found guilty of a criminal offence as defined under national criminal law and have residency within the territory of Zifa.”
Juul, who lost to Cuthbert Dube in the second round of last year’s Zifa elections, is domiciled in South Africa.
There were also reservations over the manner in which the businessman left the post of Zifa president during the 1990s.
Juul’s election agent Stanley Makombe disclosed they have been given until Tuesday to furnish the committee with the required information.
“Basically they raised three issues. One, they said they needed a police clearance that is addressed to them as well as fingerprints. The second issue has to do with residence. We produced title deeds that show that Trevor owns properties in Harare but they are saying one can own property in a country but not be resident in it. The other area, the third one, has to do with the manner in which Juul left the post of Zifa president when he served in the 90s. The committee is of the mistaken belief that he was suspended when in fact he resigned. On this one we have said the onus to prove that he was suspended is on them not us.”
Makombe is confident of meeting the Tuesday deadline.
Meanwhile, there were no such hiccups for other presidential candidates Chiyangwa, Takavada and Gwindi.
Chiyangwa was the only presidential candidate to make an appearance at the Harare hotel where the nomination committee was sitting. And the maverick businessman could not resist the temptation to take some pot shots at Gwindi who had questioned his credentials ahead of the nomination’s court seating.
“Gwindi is talking and hiding. I am coming from Paul Gundani’s funeral and he wasn’t there but he claims to be the football man. Maybe he didn’t have money for fuel but look he is my relative, muzukuru wangu (he is a nephew of mine), he should have called me and I would have gladly assisted him. He said I don’t qualify but the nomination committee gave my papers the thumbs up and am looking forward to doing battle with him on December 5.
The final list of candidates will be released on 15 November.
Bongani Ndlovu