HARARE – The much awaited upcoming Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA) Executive Committee election set for January 25 in Harare has continued to be cast in doubt.
It comes after some individuals who were disqualified from contesting owing to various reasons, are trying by all means to stop the poll citing their grievances.
A report by H-Metro suggests the pair of Benjani Mwaruwari and Gift Banda is seeking postponement of the election until their cases they lodged with Court of Arbitration of Sport (CAS) are resolved.
Apart from the two, other ZIFA presidential aspirants Prophet Walter Magaya and Temba Mliswa who were also disqualified, are challenging their disqualification at the High Court.
Magaya’s case was deferred to Friday by High Court Judge Justice Tawanda Chitapi who ruled that the application deserves to be treated as an urgent matter.
It means the High Court will hear Magaya’s challenge against his disqualification from the ZIFA presidential race on the day.
Magaya is challenging ZIFA’s new constitutional amendment that requires all individuals seeking to contest for president and vice president posts to be holders of five ‘O’ levels or equivalent.
Magaya who did not submit the required educational qualification, did not pass the eligibility test, and was disqualified from contesting in the January 25 election.
Reports suggest he was disqualified due to failure to produce an O’level certificate and also due to his pending court cases and a conviction of the Aguma scandal.
In 2019, a court convicted Magaya of fraud and fined him $700 (£540) for falsely claiming he had discovered a herbal cure for HIV and Aids (Aguma).
On the other hand, Mliswa’s case was also deferred to today (Thursday) by High Court Judge Justice Ngoni Nduna.
Mliswa is contesting the legitimacy of the ZIFA Congress, claiming there are some irregularities about the electoral process.
Mliswa contends that the ZIFA Congress’ mandate ended in 2022 at a time Zimbabwe was on a FIFA suspension, as a result, the councillors should not participate in the upcoming elections.
He argues that ZIFA elections should start from bottom to top, not vice versa.
All this has cast doubt on the ZIFA election.
However, with nine days to go, it remains to be seen whether the election will go ahead or will be postponed to another date.
