ZKU crisis exposes SRC

A STORM is brewing in t he Zimbabwe Karate Union following a controversial decision by the executive to postpone the staging of their annual meeting amid claims by the organisation’s president Paul Danisa there was need to amend the constitution.

Danisa wrote to members on February 27 advising them of the postponement of the annual meeting.

Surprisingly t hough, t he ZKU’s actions have not torched any immediate reaction from the Sports Commission, who were quick to raise the red f lag over the rescheduling of the ZIFA annual meeting and the football association’s election roadmap.

That the same Sports Commission, who have always stressed that they take a huge interest in matters of annual meetings of t he association, have maintained silence on the ZKU’s move to f lout their union’s constitution has raised eyebrows.

Inevitably, questions have arisen on whether the Sports Commission’s push on the football association was because t he supreme sports body have vested interests in ZIFA affairs?

The Sports Commission were quick to warn ZIFA over the direction that Philip Chiyangwa’s leadership took pertaining to the association’s election roadmap, leading to a public fallout between the two bodies.

But, in the case of the karate body, that indaba has been postponed for reasons that have raised questions among t he stakeholders, many of whom believe t hat Danisa should have used the occasion of the annual meeting to move the motion to make the conditional amendments he has been preaching about.

Some within t he karate family suspect that the union’s president is not keen on holding elections anytime soon and “has chosen to hide behind the coming in of a new government in the country as one of the main reasons why the ZKU cannot stage an annual meeting yet the new dispensation that he alludes to has not pronounced any major policies t hat have forced associations into major constitutional changes’’.

“We would like to sincerely apologise to everyone for t he delay in holding our elective AGM. So many things have changed in the administration of sport at large since the ushering in of a new dispensation.

“There are a number of policies t hat we are mandated to comply with for t he smooth and effective running of National Sports Associations in Zimbabwe. Some of the deliverables would require us to realign our constitution with t he National Sports Policy which is in place. “We are working with t he SRC for guidance, once that process is complete, we shall advise of the AGM dates, which I believe would be between end of March and early April 2018. Kindly bear with us,’’ Danisa wrote.

But ZKU members contested the postponement.

“As members of ZKU, we are concerned about the failure of the executive to hold t he AGM as dictated by the constitution. We are proud of our achievements in the last f ive years and we don’t want to t hrow t hat away because of a constitutional crisis, it won’t look good to our sponsors,’’ the member said.

Danisa, however, cited t he clauses, which he said ought to be amended f irst but which the members believe should have been dealt with at the annual meeting instead of postponing the indaba.