Zifa drama just a myth

THIS past week, the Zimbabwean football fraternity found itself in the news for all the wrong reasons in respect of the tenure of office for ZIFA president Philip Chiyangwa, who was elected into office on December 5, 2015.

Elections at ZIFA are conducted in terms Article 25 of the ZIFA constitution, particularly Article 25.2, which explicitly provides as follows:

“Article 25 (1) Elections shall be conducted by secret ballot.

(2) Elections for ZIFA members shall be conducted in accordance with the ZIFA constitution and ZIFA electoral code.

(3) The Electoral Committee organises and supervises the election process and takes all decisions relating to the election according to the ZIFA electoral code,

(4) For a person to be elected, a simple majority (more than 50 percent) of the valid votes cast is necessary in the first ballot.

(5) If there are more than two candidates for one available position, only the two candidates that obtain the highest number of valid votes shall proceed to a second ballot. For a person to be elected, a simple majority (more than 50 percent) of the valid votes cast is necessary in the second ballot.

(6) For the elections of the president of ZIFA, the respective provisions in Article 38 of these statutes shall apply.”

The ZIFA constitution makes a distinction between elections of ZIFA members and those of ZIFA president, which are conducted separately in terms of Article 38 as directed by Article 25.6 of the ZIFA constitution highlighted above.

Article 38 of the ZIFA constitution is couched in clear and concise terms as follows:

“Article 38 (1) the president shall be elected by the Congress for a period of four years. His mandate shall begin after the end of the Congress which has elected him. A president may be re-elected once.

(2) For the election of the president, two-thirds of the valid votes cast are necessary in the first ballot.

If there are more than two candidates for the position of the president, only the two candidates that obtain the highest number of valid votes shall proceed to a second ballot. In the second ballot, a simple majority (more than 50 percent) of the valid votes cast is sufficient for a person to be elected for the position of president.

(5) If the president is permanently prevented from performing his official function and his position becomes vacant (e.g. death, resignation, unexcused absence from the Executive Committee for three consecutive meetings), the vice president shall represent him until the next Congress. This Congress shall elect a new president, if necessary.”

The text of Article 38.1 speaks for itself, once a ZIFA president is elected into office by Congress, he/she carries the mandate to exercise powers and carry out the duties of presidency for a period of four years.

Should there be vacancy for reasons stated out in Article 38.5, the vice president temporarily assumes presidency until Congress elects a new president in accordance with the terms of Article 38.1.

Interestingly, provisions of Article 38 in its entirety do not in any way make reference or allude to a replacement clause for the position of president.

In actual fact, the language for replacement can be found in Article 32, specifically Article 32.9, which explicitly excludes the president from the applicable replacement clause as follows:

Article 32 (9) states that if a position, other than that of the president, should becomes vacant (e.g. through death, resignation, unexcused absence from the Executive Committee for three consecutive meetings), the Executive Committee shall fill that position until the next Congress, when a replacement will be elected for the remaining term of mandate.’’

There can be no doubt that in the event of a vacancy in one of the positions for the Executive Committee, excluding that of the president, a replacement must be elected to see out the remaining term of his/her predecessor’s mandate.

In light of the provisions I have articulated above, it is my considered view that Chiyangwa’s election was in accordance with Article 38.1 for a period of four years effective from December 5, 2015.

Therefore his term of office as ZIFA president elected in terms of the ZIFA constitution and Electoral Code runs until December 2019.

The illusion that Chiyangwa came into office as a replacement to complete the mandate of Dr Dube is not only misguided, but rather constitutionally unfounded.

The ZIFA constitution registered in accordance with the SRC Act entitles Chiyangwa to exercise presidential duties and powers until expiration of the 4-year term effective from December 5, 2015. Falsehoods have been peddled that ZIFA is set to plunge into a leadership vacuum as mandate of the Executive Committee expires on March 28 2018, nothing can be further from the truth. The ZIFA Electoral Code, in Article 2.2, reiterates non-intrusion of Government in ZIFA electoral affairs and further asserts that elected internal bodies of ZIFA shall continue to exercise their functions until completion of the electoral process.

There is therefore absolutely no basis to allege that ZIFA will be without an Executive Committee to continue past the 28th of March 2018.