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CRYING FOUL . . . ZNSSA leader Eddie Chivero claims a number of candidates in the Zifa polls did not pay their nomination fees

Robson Sharuko Senior Sports Editor
IT’S D-Day for the Zifa elections today when the High Court in Harare is expected to make a determination that could either give the greenlight, for the polls to be held on Saturday, or derail a process by granting an order for an interdict of the holding of the polls under the current Electoral Committee.

Former Zifa board member Saidi Sangula wants the High Court to bar Zifa from proceeding with polls for the board members and presidency under the current Electoral Committee, which he claims violates the Electoral Code by having about 11 members instead of eight, and has people who don’t qualify for its membership.

The Zifa Electoral Code says, in Article 5 (1), that “the (Zifa Electoral) Committee shall be composed of eight members,” and in Article 5 (2), that “the (Zifa Electoral) Committee comprises (a) a chairman; (b) a deputy chairman; (c) six members.”

Sangula argues that the make-up of the Zifa Electoral Committee — Tendai Madzorera, Kennedy Sibanda, Cornelius Bwanya, Passious Masunda, Sello Nare, Musekiwa Mbanje, Elizabeth Banda, Tinofara Hove, Tachiwana Nyahuma, Charles Sibanda, Ralph Maganga, Jonathan Mashingaidze — is inflated and a violation of the Electoral Code.

Harare lawyer Lewis Uriri is representing the association in the case in which Zifa want Sangula’s application thrown out on the basis that it has “some technical flaws and has been brought before the wrong court’’.
It is zifa’s contention that:

“The High Court has no jurisdiction to hear this case because the association’s constitution is very clear that when there is a dispute one must go to the Electoral appeals committee and applicant has not followed that route from the start when he approached the Sport and Recreation Commission’’.

Zifa set up an Electoral appeals committee chaired by lawyer Tawanda Chitapi, which is tasked with hearing all appeals within 96 hours of a protest being lodged.

It is also the soccer mother body’s contention that Sangula is in violation of the game’s statutes by dragging his case to the court while they also argue that a technicality is presented on the basis that the applicant is challenging an election for which he has not confirmed his candidature.

The verification and confirmation of the candidates for the Zifa board was postponed from Saturday to Wednesday amid reports that one of them had not yet paid his nomination fees.

Yesterday, on the eve of the High Court sitting, the Zimbabwe National Soccer Supporters Association leader, Eddie Chivero, piled on the pressure on Zifa after making sensational claims that a big number of candidates who have filed their nominations did not pay the nomination fees as demanded by the association.

“We have gathered disturbing information that a lot of people who are queuing up for positions, or have already won positions at elections held in lower structures, did not pay the nomination fees, which we castigated as outrageous, but were just embraced in the system because they are ‘politically’ correct, in terms of the agenda that is being pursued, and are needed to vote in a certain direction,” said Chivero.

“We are demanding that the Zifa chief executive, Jonathan Mashingaidze, furnishes the nation with a breakdown of what everyone who contested the elections paid, where the money was banked, the receipts that were issued and what it was used for because we have gathered information that the rules are being bent to suit a certain agenda.

“Zifa is a public institution and it should avail such information for public scrutiny because the public has to have the confidence that the process is not flawed but credible and you don’t get that satisfaction when reports start to filter through that the rules are being bent and people are even being accepted, as candidates, when they didn’t pay their nomination fees.

“We have credible information that one of the candidates for the Zifa board didn’t submit his papers by the Friday deadline as demanded by the association, because he advised them that he didn’t have the money for the nomination fees, but three days later, three days after the deadline had elapsed, officials at 53 Livingstone Avenue called him to bring his papers and not to worry about the payment of the nomination fees.

“But that is only a tip of the iceberg and we know that even in the provinces and in the regions, the rules and regulations were ignored and certain candidates didn’t pay their nomination fees but still had their candidature accepted because they will be key when the voting for the board members and the presidency is done.”

Chivero said the fact that Zifa held elections for the Area Zones, which should have been the starting point in the election process, only last week, gives weight to the questions being asked about the credibility of the entire election process.

“The area zones are the starting point and those elections should have been held first so that those who win those elections then vote for the provincial leaders and the provincial leadership in turn votes for the regional leadership and it then goes on until we reach the board level,” said Chivero.

“But the area zone elections were only held last week and the big question then is who voted for the provincial leaders and what status did those people hold and, if their status was questionable, can we say that we provided the country with the right provincial leadership in our football whose election was above board?

“Why then was it necessary that we hold the area zone elections only last week when the higher structures had already been put into place and it’s like going ahead with the elections for the board and presidency before holding the elections for the regions when the regional leadership provides delegates who cast the votes in the board elections.

“It just doesn’t add up.”

The ZNSSA leader said it was interesting to note that Zifa had decided against using their lawyer, Ralph Maganga, in the case before the High Court and have engaged the services of an advocate.