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YADAH Stars Football club chairman Everson Chatambudza has come under the spotlight with the Harare lawyer being red-flagged for potential conflict of interest in a matter in which his club’s president Prophet Walter Magaya has dragged ZIFA to court over the association’s upcoming executive committee elections.
The company for which the Yadah chairman is a principal, Rubaya and Chatambudza, is representing Magaya in his High Court bid to secure an order barring the Normalisation Committee from holding the ZIFA elections on January 25, until his appeal over the requirement of Five Ordinary Level passes has been heard.
In the urgent matter which has been set for the High Court before judge Justice Tawanda Chitapi tomorrow morning, Magaya, a ZIFA presidential aspirant, is challenging the demand for an O’ Level certificate for candidates seeking to be either president or vice-president.
Magaya has also taken his case to the Switzerland-based Court of Arbitration for Sport, where fellow ZIFA board aspirants Benjani Mwaruwari and Gift Banda, have lodged their appeals.
However, it is the involvement of Chatambudza in the case, which has raised questions over “potential conflict of interest” with a legal expert yesterday noting that “the Yadah chairman co-authored the same ZIFA constitution that he is now challenging in the High Court”.
Chatambudza, however, insists he has not breached the code that defines conflict of interest. In his court application, Magaya admits that he did not submit an O’ Level certificate, but argues that he deposited superior qualifications to the electoral committee.
He was barred from contesting the elections on the basis that he did not submit an O’ Level certificate. The Yadah Stars president wants the High Court to suspend the elections until his CAS case has been dealt with.
However, it is Chatambudza’s role in the matter which appears to have raised eyebrows.
Chatambudza chaired a constitutional review committee that was set up by the ZIFA Congress, working with the Normalisation Committee, to draft the amended Statutes that came into effect on October 18, 2024. It was during the amendments that the clause requiring that those seeking to be president or and vice-president should have passed a minimum of 5 O Levels. The clause was inserted into the ZIFA constitution before Congress voted overwhelmingly to adopt the new constitution at an annual meeting in Harare, which was presided over by FIFA.
The legal expert, who requested anonymity, believes Chatambudza’s involvement on both the appellant and respondents’ side amounts to conflict of interest, perceived bias and ethical concerns.
Lincoln Mutasa and the two organs he chairs — the Normalisation Committee and the ZIFA Electoral Committee — are cited as first, second and third respondents in the matter.
“Under principles of professional ethics, an attorney must avoid situations where their personal interest or prior involvement may conflict with their duty to act in the best interests of their client,” the expert said.
“As the drafter of the constitution, the attorney may have access to privileged or confidential information that could unfairly advantage their current client.
“The attorney’s involvement in drafting the constitution may raise questions about their impartiality and whether they are seeking to interpret or challenge provisions they helped to formulate.” The expert also pointed to the “duty of fidelity to the profession”.
“The legal practice codes impose a duty on attorneys to uphold the integrity of the legal profession. Representing a client in such circumstances may give rise to public perception issues, suggesting an attempt to exploit insider knowledge or undermine the constitution’s provisions.
“While there is no absolute legal bar against the attorney representing a client in this context, their prior involvement in drafting the ZIFA constitution presents a material conflict of interest and serious ethical concerns. The most prudent course of action would be for the attorney to recuse themselves to maintain the integrity of the legal profession and avoid any perception of bias or impropriety,” he said. Chatambudza, last night told Zimpapers Sports Hub that he saw no anomaly in representing Magaya despite having participated in the drafting of the ZIFA statutes.
“Indeed, I was part of the ZIFA constitutional review committee,” Chatambudza said.
“But if someone then breaches that constitution to the detriment of a third party, that third party has the right to seek recourse and to engage legal counsel.
“The fact that I assisted in the drafting of the constitution doesn’t take away the fact that I am also a lawyer in my profession, I was a lawyer before becoming a ZIFA councillor.
“My taking part in the review committee doesn’t take away the third party’s constitutional right to seek a review of the interpretation of the statutes.
“So, I am not conflicted at all, I have been a lawyer for over 10 years and I know where there is conflict of interest,” Chatambudza said.
In the application that will resume in the High Court tomorrow, Magaya is challenging his disqualification on the basis that he did not submit his O Level certificates.
“It was concluded that the appellant did not meet the necessary criteria to proceed as a candidate, specifically due to the non-submission of his Ordinary Level certificates.”
Magaya contends that the electoral committee failed in their interpretation of the “minimum of five O’ Level or equivalent”.
“While it is admitted that the appellant did not submit proof that he has the minimum 5 O’ Level passes, appellant contends that an interpretation that a candidate for the position of president must produce an O’ Level certificate even if they hold superior qualification is flawed, unduly restrictive and grossly irregular in its defiance of logic such that no decision maker, properly applying his mind, would come to such a conclusion.
“Alternatively, it is argued that the provision is discriminatory and is/was deliberately set to exclude administrators and former players from the administration of the game.”
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