Gibson Homela
Ricky Zililo and Lovemore Zigara Sports Reporters
FORMER Zifa board members Benedict Moyo and Gibson Homela yesterday accused some councillors that will vote in a new Zifa board on December 5 of scaring away candidates through their dodgy dealings. The former administrators said no sane individual with integrity to protect would participate in the elections meant to bring sanity to the embattled association.
Moyo and Homela said they are not surprised that with three days left before the nomination closes, only businessman-cum-politician Philip Chiyangwa and Leslie Gwindi had declared their interests in running for the Zifa presidency.
Homela, who served as a Zifa board member in the 1980s, bemoaned the absence of credible persons competing for the vacant board positions, saying the blame lies solely with the councillors. “The whole system is not clean and that is why credible people are staying away from these elections. Most of these Zifa councillors are corrupt and useless and must also be fired,” said Homela.
“I doubt if the affiliates they lead know that they can hold them responsible because they are the ones who created this mess. As long as there is a crooked Zifa council, then participating in the elections is a waste of time because as it is, some have already been juiced (bribed),” he said.
Homela said the elections were not going to solve the problems at Zifa. “The Zifa problems are bigger than these elections. It’s surprising hearing someone saying he will clear the $6 million Zifa debt without indicating how. If he uses his personal funds to clear it, how then will he recover his money?” Homela said.
Moyo, who served as a board from 2010-14, said some credible people could not afford the exorbitant nomination fees hence they were not participating in the elections. To participate in the presidential race, one has to pay $2,500 while the vice-president’s nomination fee is pegged at $2,000 and aspiring board members have to fork out $1,500.
“Who set those prohibitive fees? In the run-up to the 2014 elections, we were never consulted about the fees as a board and only a few paid those ridiculous amounts. I doubt very much if councillors had an input in the pegging of nomination fees,” said Moyo.
“Certainly these are not football figures, but they are tailor-made to suit certain individuals and some of them are alien to football. These individuals just want to make a name for themselves using football.
“Those with football knowledge are staying away because paying the ridiculous amounts is like making a teacher pay to teach at a school.” The outspoken Moyo said the pending Zifa elections were similar to match-fixing as the results are predetermined.
“These are not elections, but an event which has to be fulfilled just like Asiagate. There is a very bad culture among councillors who expect to be bought. Even on the day of meetings or on election day, you hear them soliciting for bribes.
“For them, election time presents an opportunity to fatten their pockets. If I can tell you, on the eve of elections, some of the candidates won’t see the councillors, who would’ve taken their money in exchange for votes. I saw it in the last elections where some partied the night away at a candidate’s place,” said Moyo.
Meanwhile, the Zifa Midlands chairman Brian Chishanga challenged Zifa presidential aspirants to “come out of the bush” and declare their interests instead of passing negative comments about councillors for endorsing Chiyangwa’s candidature.
The vocal Chishanga said aspiring candidates should not waste time telling councillors who or who not to endorse. “We are not falling over each other to embrace Chiyangwa, but it’s only Chiyangwa who has come out in the open with his manifesto. We saw his blueprint for the turnaround of the country’s football and we were impressed.
“Until such time when others come out of the bush and say what they have to offer, that’s when we will start to talk about them. At the moment, we can only talk about Chiyangwa,” said Chishanga. Chiyangwa has been on a countrywide tour selling his manifesto and was in the Midlands on Friday where he met football interest groups at a local hotel.
However, Chiyangwa’s candidature has not been without controversy, with a section of the football community questioning his eligibility and ability to rescue the local game.