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Eddie Chikamhi
Zimpapers Sports Hub
THE possibility of the ZIFA elections going ahead as scheduled on January 25 comes under a severe test today.
Cases in which former Warriors fitness trainer Temba Mliswa and cleric Walter Magaya are contesting the ballot were ordered to be heard jointly at the Harare High Court this afternoon.
This comes as Bulawayo High Court Judge Justice Ngoni Nduna yesterday transferred Mliswa’s court challenge to Harare, where Justice Tawanda Chitapi is scheduled to hear the application for review by Magaya’s team at midday.
Mliswa and Magaya were among five aspiring candidates that were disqualified by ZIFA after failing an eligibility test. As a result, the duo has approached the High Court seeking the postponement of the elections, which are pencilled in for January 25, until their concerns were addressed.
After their appearance at the Bulawayo High Court yesterday, Mliswa and his lawyer, Musindo Hungwe, told the media the hearing has been postponed and will now be handled jointly by Justice Chitapi.
“I can confirm that we have made an appearance before Honourable Justice Nduna, who has indicated that he is of the view that the matter should be dealt with or presided over by the same judge who is dealing with a similar matter involving ZIFA versus Walter Magaya.
“So, the matter effectively stands postponed and has been transferred to Harare to be placed before Honourable Justice Chitapi, and we anticipate that we should be in a position to get confirmation of a date and time as to when we can appear and present our argument before Honourable Justice Chitapi in a short space of time.
“Effectively, the matter is being transferred to Harare to be placed before the same judge in a bid, according to the judge, to avoid a situation where we might get conflicting judgments,” said Hungwe.
Mliswa and Magaya, along with Benjani Mwaruwari, Farai Jere, and Gift Banda, were disqualified from taking part in the January 25 elections after they were adjudged to have failed an eligibility test.
Apart from the legal challenges at the High Court, which ZIFA have since disproved, the trio of Magaya, Banda, and Mwaruwari have since taken their case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), as prescribed by the association’s new statutes.
Magaya is challenging the decision by the ZIFA Ethics Committee to exclude him from running for the association’s highest seat in the forthcoming elections over a controversial clause that demands an O’ level certificate or its equivalent as a requirement, while Mliswa’s bone of contention is steeped more in the ZIFA constitution itself and the processes that resulted in the recent amendments.
“I think the two situations are in contrast,” said Hungwe.
“The relief that Prophet Magaya is seeking and the relief that we are seeking from the High Court are different. Our case is a matter that is steeped in constitutionalism. We seek observance of the ZIFA statutes.
“We seek observance of due process. But ultimately, they are deemed to be similar in the sense that both applicants, Prophet Magaya and Honourable Mliswa, seek a stay, a moratorium on the election pending determination of their issues.
“We have filed an application for a review that seeks to address the underlying cause of the lawfulness or otherwise of the constitution-making process, which culminated in the ZIFA Statutes 2024.
“So ultimately, we are saying that justice demands that an election that is being held pursuant to a statute that is under challenge ought to be held in advance, pending determination of whether or not that statute in question was lawfully put into place. Ultimately, both par-ties seek a stay in the elections,” said Hungwe.
Mliswa welcomed the recommendation by Justice Nduna to merge the cases.
“I think it’s a fair decision because we don’t want a situation where the Bulawayo High Court says stop the elections and the Harare High Court says go ahead with elections; then we have two orders.
“So, let one judge handle all that. I think that’s important; no two ways about that, because we will then have one judgment that is clear,” said Mliswa.
The former legislator supported his decision to approach the courts against the ZIFA and FIFA norms.
“I think the truth of the matter is that no one expected people to challenge it; as usual, they expected it to be taken to CAS because that’s what the statutes say.
“But again they want to argue and say, first of all, you deal with the internal structures that are there, but that does not say from the statues, they say CAS.
“That’s why this constitution is subject to too many challenges, like I always say, and people will challenge it, and it’s their right to challenge it. It’s quite an interesting time,” said Mliswa.
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