. . . Women’s soccer boss to face the music

Fungai Lupande : Court Reporter

Suspended Zimbabwe Women’s Soccer League chairperson Miriam Sibanda (pictured above) and her two suspected accomplices have a case to answer on allegations of stealing $20 000 meant to buy tickets for the Mighty Warriors team to fly to Ghana, the court ruled. Harare magistrate Mrs Vongai Muchuchuti-Guuriro dismissed the trio’s application for discharge at the close of the State’s case.The matter was adjourned to tomorrow for their defence case.

Sibanda (54), Benny Mamoche (45) and Fungai Magosvongwe (35) are facing theft of trust property charges.

In their application for discharge, the trio said evidence led in court was far below the threshold of a prima facie case.

They insisted that the $20 000 donation was given to the Zimbabwe Women Football (ZWF) to cater for expenditure related to the fixture against Ghana.

They said ZWF properly and transparently accounted for the donation to Freda Rebecca Mine and the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development.

“The former chief executive officer of the Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA) attempted to convince the court that the donation was given to ZWF with a specific instruction from Freda Rebecca Mine that it should be handed over to Zifa,” they said.

In her response, prosecutor Ms Leonellah Chitanda said all her witnesses told the court that the donation was supposed to be remitted to Zifa.

Sibanda, Mamoche and Magosvongwe were responsible for sourcing for donations for the national team.

They allegedly approached Freda Rebecca Mine in Bindura and requested a donation in cash to cater for air tickets for the Mighty Warriors trip to Ghana.

It is alleged that they received $20 000 from Freda Rebecca Mine.

However, the money was not remitted to the Zifa finance manager, instead the trio are said to have shared it amongst themselves.