ZIFA audit exposes unaccounted money Felton Kamambo

Grace Chingoma Senior Sports Reporter

THE Sports and Recreation Commission say the ZIFA audit has failed to account for large sums of money following the completion of an audit report by a local firm.

This comes after BDO Chartered Accountants completed the association’s forensic audit which will be deliberated on during the ZIFA Assembly meeting slated for the end of October.

The ZIFA audit unearthed a number of irregularities in the manner the executive committee led by former ZIFA president Felton Kamambo conducted their business at 53 Livingstone.

However, the regulator has said they will only comment further after they have made public their official audit report.

A leaked audit draft report is circulating and has shown how financial transactions that were done by the ZIFA board flouted corporate governance tenets and showed that the management of funds at the association was done in a haphazard manner without board consultations.

In a statement released late on Monday, the Sports Commission board chairperson, Gerald Mlotshwa, said they are waiting for the auditing firm to sign off the report.

“The Sports and Recreation Commission (SRC) has been made aware, from various media enquiries seeking its comment on the matter, that a draft forensic audit report is circulating in the public domain.

“(The) Sports and Recreation Commission wishes to advise the public that auditors contracted for the undertaking made separate presentations to the Restructuring Committee as well as the Commission of their detailed preliminary findings in respect of the financial affairs of ZIFA.

“There are certainly very significant sums of money received by ZIFA that cannot be accounted for during the review period of 1 December 2018 to 30 November 2021.

‘’The auditors have not signed off on the forensic audit report. They will do so shortly.

“The ZIFA audit report, once formally and procedurally presented to the restructuring committee that commissioned it, is ultimately intended for the benefit of the members of ZIFA to consider during their general meeting slated for the end of October, 2022.

“Accordingly, we advise stakeholders and the public alike to exercise reasonable caution in drawing any conclusions at this point based on an unofficial document,” said Mlotshwa in his statement.

The contents of the audit report vindicate the Sports Commission who raised alarm on the way football affairs were being run by former ZIFA boss Kamambo and company.

The regulator was forced to suspend the ZIFA board last year over a cocktail of allegations that included reports of alleged sexual harassment of female referees by key technical staff within ZIFA and mismanagement and lack of accountability in the use of public funds.

ZIFA failed to give the matter of sexual abuse adequate attention despite several reports prompting the regulator to act.

But the Sports Commission were vindicated last month when FIFA found referee former ZIFA Referees’ Committee secretary-general, Obert Zhoya guilty of sexually abusing female referees and banned him for five years. The FIFA Ethics Committee also fined the disgraced former ZIFA Referee’s Committee secretary-general 20 000 Swiss francs for sexually abusing three female referees.

The Sports Commission also expressed concern over mismanagement and lack of accountability in the use of public funds in the aftermath of the 2019 African Cup of Nations campaign. ZIFA did not respond to the letter. The Commission also sought clarity on funds that were disbursed to the ZIFA board members and the purpose of the funds. All these inquiries were ignored but the forensic audit has since unearthed gross irregularities and how large sums of money were given to the executive members at a time clubs were struggling.

Some of the questionable transactions are how the board members were each awarded at least US$15 500 as administration fees at a time football clubs were struggling at the height of the Covid-19 era. Interestingly, the clubs received a pittance in local currency as a Covid-19 bailout package.

The ZIFA board members were paid a total of US$100 000 as budget–line item administration. Kamambo received US$20 000 while his vice Philemon Machana received US$18 000. The other four board members — Farai Jere, Bryton Malandule, Sugar Chagonda and Barbara Chikosi — received US$15 500 each.

The auditors wrote in their leaked report that they had a meeting with one of the beneficiaries Chikosi.

“We held a meeting with one of the directors, Ms. Barbara Chikosi, at 3 Baines Avenue on 15 September 2022 and she explained that her understanding was that the US$15 500 that she was paid was Board allowances which were due to her. We were, however, not availed information to show how and for what purpose the amounts had accrued,” reads part of the leaked report.

According to the ZIFA constitution, the board members are required to meet four times a year. And the stipulated figure per meeting for the members is US$1 000 for the president, US$750 for the vice-president and US$500 per sitting for each executive member.

However, it has since emerged that the board members were not owed any money as they were paid as and when they held their meetings since they came into office.

Furthermore, the hefty figures mean that the board met at least 31 times for them to accrue such huge amounts as sitting allowances. The auditing firm also noted that the association’s accounting method was skewed, making it difficult to trace some of the transactions.

The ZIFA Congress, which revoked the mandate of Kamambo, Machana, and Malandule, will table the audit at their meeting scheduled for end of this month.

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