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Eddie Chikamhi-Senior Sports Reporter

THE Zimbabwe Republic Police are keen to interview the suspended ZIFA chief executive officer, Joseph Mamutse, as part of the investigations into the cases of alleged fraud and misappropriation of funds committed by members of the suspended ZIFA board led by Felton Kamambo. 

The ZIFA head of secretariat, who has been suspended by the Sports and Recreation Commission since November 2020 over a litany of transgressions, is wanted by police along with suspended board members Bryton Malandule and Stanley Chapeta. 

The trio are likely to face charges similar to those likely to be preferred against the board president Kamambo and board member finance Phillemon Machana who were arrested on Saturday. 

The accused have been acting in defiance of the Sports and Recreation Commission after their board was suspended last November under the SRC Act. 

The sports regulator was forced to act after red flags were raised over the alleged mismanagement of funds, allegations of bribery, sexual harassment of female referees and gross incompetence among many other vices. 

Kamambo and his right hand man Machana were picked up by the CID Commercial Crimes Division on Saturday. They spent a second night in police custody yesterday as they wait for a scheduled court appearance this morning. 

And, with the nature of charges that are set to be brought up against them, they are likely to face the fate suffered by the late Michael Mboma, a former ZIFA treasurer, who was jailed for crimes he committed during his tenure at the association’s office.   

ZRP spokesperson, Assistant Commissioner, Paul Nyathi, yesterday confirmed the duo will appear in court today. He added that Mamutse, Malandule and Chapeta were also wanted by the police for interrogation.

“Police have arrested Felton Kamambo, aged 52, and Phillemon Machana, aged 44 years. The two were taken into custody yesterday (Saturday). Police are also keen to interview Joseph Mamutse, Bryton Malandule and Stanley Chapeta. 

“The Sports and Recreation Commission made the report that these officials have been suspended in terms of the SRC Act but they continued to perform their duties and have been using the official ZIFA letterhead to make correspondence despite their status. 

“Police are also investigating cases of fraud and the misappropriation of funds that have been brought up against the (suspended) ZIFA officials,” said Nyathi. 

The ZIFA board was suspended in terms of Section 30 of the SRC Act last year amid accusations that Kamambo’s leadership had, among other charges, abused Covid-19 relief funds from FIFA and failed to account for money availed by the Government for the 2019 African Cup of Nations campaign in Egypt. 

There were also allegations of sexual harassment of female referees, which the suspended ZIFA board is accused of sweeping under the carpet. 

ZIFA board member, Malandule, who is also chairman of the ZIFA Referees Committee, and his secretary, Obert Zhoya, were fingered in the scandal. 

Mamutse was suspended in November 2020 after facing several allegations, chief among them being the breach of national Covid-19 regulations in the clearance of national teams for international assignments and the age-cheating scandal that saw the national Under-17 team getting disqualified from the COSAFA tournament in South Africa. 

While board members such as Sugar Chagonda, Farai Jere and Barbara Chikosi have accepted the suspension, Kamambo, Mamutse, Machana, Malandule and Chapeta continued to act in defiance and have been attempting at every turn to derail progress. 

Last week they wrote to FIFA requesting the international football governing body to consider suspending Zimbabwe after Kamambo was stopped from going to Cameroon to attend the closing ceremony of the delayed 2021 AFCON tournament. 

The suspended board members have also continued to abuse the official ZIFA letterhead in correspondence to both local and international football bodies such as CAF and FIFA. 

Mamutse has been acting as the hatchet man for the suspended ZIFA board members who have been releasing inflammatory statements against the authorities and also causing chaos in domestic football by suspending all officials that questioned the direction the game was taking. 

Kamambo was on Saturday picked up by police detectives at the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport while making arrangements to travel to Qatar for a FIFA meeting while Machana was picked up at his home. 

They are detained at Highlands Police Station. 

The duo of Kamambo and Machana is separately alleged to have fraudulently used public funds as well as changing ZIFA accounts to evade authorities in a matter related to the US$740 000 that was transferred from the association’s account to a bank account that belongs to Machana’s company. The matter is currently before the courts. Kamambo also spent most of his tenure last year desperately trying to clean his name at the courts after he was accused of bribing his way to the ZIFA presidency in December 2018.