DATES for the Zifa elections will only be known in a fortnight when the association’s Electoral Committee provides the roadmap and timelines for the holding of the much-awaited plebiscite.
BY HENRY MHARA
This follows an order from Fifa that Zifa should hold elections as soon as possible, contrary to earlier claims by the association president Philip Chiyangwa that he still has two years to run.
The electoral committee met yesterday, for the second time in seven days, having converged again earlier this week, and announced, thereafter, that they will provide the roadmap for the elections in two weeks.
“We met today to prepare for the Zifa elections following the directive from Fifa. We are going to conduct these elections in accordance with the relevant statutes. The meeting today was deliberating on the way forward, the roadmap. We are going to finalise this roadmap within the next two weeks and thereafter is when we will start to conduct the elections starting from the area zones, the provinces, the regions and then the executive committee elections,” Zifa electoral committee chairman Vusilizwe Vuma said.
“This is a mammoth exercise that we are going to be conducting so we want to be very transparent and you ensure that you are briefed as in when and it is necessary,” he added.
The 10-member committee is headed by Vusilizwe Vuma, who is the chairman and deputised by Tinashe Tanyanyiwa.
Fifa’s order came after mounting pressure on Chiyangwa from different football stakeholders, including former Zifa presidents, who argued that his term of office expired on March 29.
- Chamisa under fire over US$120K donation
- Mavhunga puts DeMbare into Chibuku quarterfinals
- Pension funds bet on Cabora Bassa oilfields
- Councils defy govt fire tender directive
Keep Reading
A group of former Zifa presidents which includes Trevor Carelse Juul, Vincent Pamire, Leo Mugabe, Cuthbert Dube and Rafik Khan had set itself to challenge the legality of Chiyangwa’s stay in office.
They are set to field one candidate to challenge for the Zifa presidency post.
Chiyangwa has said he was ready to face any challenge in the election even though he has also been arguing that, he is entitled to a full four-year term from the date he assumed office in December 2015 following the departure of Dube midway through his tenure.
The Zifa boss beat Carelse-Juul, Leslie Gwindi and James Takavada on December 5, 2015 for the leadership of domestic football.
The Cosafa president has been running the association together with his deputy Omega Sibanda and board member finance Philemon Machana following the resignation of two executive committee members Felton Kamambo and Piraishe Mabhena on March 29.
The resignations of the executive members, and the subsequent failure to co-opt two more members to the board, left Chiyangwa’s executive illegitimate.
The Zifa executive committee operated with five members, following the death of Edzai Kasinauyo last year, while the Premier Soccer League (PSL) and women football seats in the board, were vacant.
According to the Zifa constitution, when 50% of the posts in the executive committee become vacant, the general secretary, automatically takes over the reins and arranges for elections within two months.
