Zifa councillors caught offside

Allan Foti, Sports Correspondent
NOT for the first time and true to form, Zimbabwe Football Association (Zifa) councillors appear to have shot themselves in the foot when they elected to abort the Annual General Meeting which was due to be held in Harare last Saturday.

At face value, the decision appears based on a need to ensure proper procedure is followed at the national association, but a more pragmatic reasoning suggests that a more selfish agenda influenced the Council’s decision in the capital last Saturday.

Practical reasoning suggests that in as much as the indaba was not procedurally convened, it was more important to deal with the items on the agenda as stipulated by the Constitution rather than choose to show their might over the board.

Careful reasoning also points to a council that did not understand that in 2018, there was a very strong likelihood that there would be two AGMs in the same calendar year: a historic first even for Zifa.

One would have thought that the AGM would go ahead and then by virtue of being the supreme decision making body, the Council would then sanction both the general secretary and the board for their blatant disregard for the association’s constitution and basic corporate governance principles.

Theirs seems to be a decision influenced by a need to prove their mettle and flex their muscles against what they now deem to be a rogue, disrespectful and often arrogant board.

As has happened quite often since he rose to power, Zifa president, Philip Chiyangwa’s advisors dropped the ball and failed to appraise him on the correct procedure to use when calling for such important meetings.

Quite often, the councillors have come to these meetings, murmured their displeasure behind the shadows, but go on to endorse both the meetings and the resolutions suggested by the board in the same gatherings.

However, last Saturday, the Zifa Council made probably the biggest mistake in its chequered history: not only did they set back the electoral process by possibly one year, but they also set in motion processes that have stripped the association of any semblance of corporate governance it had left. As of that ill fated Saturday, Zifa can no longer be looked at as a viable body corporate and all because the Council decided to develop a backbone at the wrong time and much to the game’s regression.

The Zifa councillors inadvertently handed Chiyangwa’s board another “term” in office! And he didn’t even have to break a sweat to ensure he stays in power. The councillors’ action means that the current board has been given a mandate to run the association’s affairs for another year.

The problems on that Saturday also laid bare the inept general secretariat led by the association’s lumbering chief executive, Joseph Mamutse who seems to have absolutely no control over one of his core mandates. Article 53 (2) (c) of the Zifa Constitution spells out one of the mandates of the chief executive officer as follows: “organising the Congress and meetings of the Executive Committee and other bodies.”

During the aborted Congress, the councillors, who make up the electoral court, refused to hold the AGM arguing that it had not been properly convened. It is reported that the councillors were not happy that notice for the AGM or ordinary congress had not been given according to Article 26 (2) of the association’s constitution which stipulates that “the executive committee shall fix the place and date. The members shall be notified in writing at least 60 days in advance”.

They also reportedly queried the AGM’s agenda which is said to have contained 20 items to be discussed including the ratification of Jonathan Mashingaidze’s recent life ban announced by the Zifa board.

Article 26 (3) of the same constitution also stipulates that “the formal convocation shall be made in writing at least 15 days before the date of the Congress. This convocation shall contain the agenda, the President’s activity report, the financial statements and the auditors’ report and any other relevant documents.”

According to Article 27 (2) of the Zifa constitution, the AGM’s agenda shall include the following mandatory items: (highlighted are some of the fundamental issues that would have been discussed at the AGM)

a) A declaration that the Congress has been convened and composed in compliance with the Statutes of Zifa;
b) Approval of the agenda;
c) An address by the president;
d) Appointment of Members to check the minutes;
e) Appointment of scrutineers;
f) Suspension or expulsion of Members (if applicable);
g) Approval of the minutes of the preceding Congress;
h) President’s activity report (containing the activities since the last Congress);
i) Report of the Electoral Committee;
j) Presentation of the consolidated and revised balance sheet and the profit and loss statement;
k) Approval of the financial statements;
l) Approval of the budget;
m) Admission for membership (if applicable);
n) Votes on proposals for amendments to the Statutes and the standing orders of the Congress (if applicable);
o) Discussion of proposals submitted by the Members and the Executive Committee;
p) Appointment of independent auditors (if applicable) upon the proposal of the Executive Committee;
q) Dismissal of a person or a body (if applicable);
r) Election of the president, vice-presidents and members of the Executive Committee (if applicable);
s) Installation of the chairman, deputy chairman and members of the Electoral Committee;
t) Any further items proposed by the Members or the Executive Committee of ZIFA.

Unfortunately for the councillors, the earliest possible date for the AGM is now 16 February which will be 60 days from the issuing of the notice as was their demand and grounds for resisting having the Congress last Saturday.

And while they sit back and wait to “procedurally” be given notice of the AGM, administratively affairs at the association have effectively been ground to a halt.

Urgent matters that make up the agenda cannot be dealt with outside of the AGM and as such, are likely to result in a manipulation of key issues like the association’s financial statements, addressing members’ suspensions and planning for the upcoming season.

Football in Zimbabwe waits as progress in the evolution of administrative systems stall due to failure to appreciate the importance of corporate governance and a jealous safeguarding of core corporate issues even in the face of a bumbling secretariat and legal structure within the association.

@AllanFoti