AS Zifa President Philip Chiyangwa this week tried to
distance himself from the controversial sale of the association’s property in
Harare which would be under judicial authority, fresh details have emerged
suggesting that the association reneged on a deed of settlement it had reached
with one of its creditors Lazarus Riva to pay his money by April 30 2016.
The details emerge amid allegations that Chiyangwa and his
executive at Zifa have been shielding assets and association funds from
creditors by moving them to private entities and private business accounts.
Court documents seen by Standardsport suggest that Zifa,
through its legal representative — Itai Ndudzo — had agreed to pay Riva through
installments and that the money which he had attached through the sheriff of
the High Court be returned to the association’s account held at Steward Bank.
But to date, according to documents, the association is yet
to pay anything. Chiyangwa, through his private account held at Ecobank,
allegedly tried to deposit $5 000 on behalf of Zifa to Riva but later withdrew
the deal.
“In the event of the applicant failing to pay $5 000
installment due by March 31 2016, the outstanding amounts shall become
immediately due and executable,” read part of the order by Justice Joseph
Mafusire.
Documents suggest that Chiyangwa had committed to
personally pay Riva $5 000 so that he would not attach property at Zifa
Village, but the property mogul “rescinded” the deal although he had already
filled in a real time gross settlement (RTGS) with his Ecobank account held at
Borrowdale Branch which he later cancelled.
Zifa owes various creditors and it has allegedly engaged in
“unorthodox” means to evade paying them, with the more recent move being the
controversial sale of a property in Kensington, Harare by Marshal Jonga, who is
an employee of Chiyangwa’s Pinnacle Properties and a director at Zifa Private
Limited — a subsidiary of Zifa Holdings — and has a company which has a
business contract with the association.
Chiyangwa through his lawyers Mutamangira and Associates,
this week attempted to disown Jonga as one of his workers, but an advert placed
in the media by Pinnacle Properties on July 20 2017 with regards to the wrangle
over Nyarungu Estate, states otherwise.
The advert stated that Jonga, whose mobile number was
listed, together with Brian Chiyangwa and Bruce Chiyangwa, were the people who
prospective land buyers in Nyarungu Estate should contact on behalf of
Jetmaster Properties — a subsidiary of Pinnacle Properties — as they claimed
that land barons were swindling desperate home seekers.
Besides being an alleged staffer at Pinnacle Properties — a
company linked to Chiyangwa — Jonga is also listed as a director at Hansporte
Investment, a company which has commercial deals with Zifa and operates from
160 Enterprise Road, Highlands, Harare — offices owned by the Zifa president
and are currently being used by the association as its headquarters.
The Zifa president threatened legal action against The
Standard, claiming defamation following last week’s publication which claimed
that he — through associates — was stripping Zifa assets.
Court documents at hand suggest that Jonga together with
Zifa board member finance, Philemon Machana are the directors of Zifa Private
Limited and have been shielding the association’s assets from creditors.
In one of the court papers filed by Daisy Guest House
demanding more than $160 000 for services rendered to Zifa of which nothing had
been paid, Jonga in his affidavit to the court, stated that the Zifa
headquarters at 53 Livingstone Avenue was owned by Zifa Private Limited and
should not be attached by the creditor as it was a private entity’s property
with no relationship to the football association.
“I confirm that there is no relationship whatsoever between
Zifa [Private] Limited directors or shareholders and the Zimbabwe Football
Association. Zifa is purely a commercial entity and Zifa is a private
organisation of an associative nature,” wrote Jonga in his affidavit against
Daisy Guest House.
But audited financial statements for Zifa’s 2015 financial year
tabled at last year’s general assembly chaired by Chiyangwa and prepared by
Baker Tilly Gwatidzo chartered accountants, state that Zifa (Private) Limited
is a special purpose vehicle for the Zifa association.
Furthermore, documents from the registrar of companies
state that Machana was one of the directors at Zifa Private Limited.
Bank documents also suggest that at some point, Zifa moved
money from its Steward Bank account to Conduit Holdings — one of the companies
owned by Machana — with indications that it was meant to “protect” the funds
from creditors who have been raiding the association demanding their dues.
Machana confirmed that he runs Conduit Holdings and that
his firm had received Zifa funds with bank statements suggesting that the money
involved could be more than $100 000, but refused to discuss how these funds
found their way into his private business bank account, referring all questions
to Chiyangwa.
“I cannot comment my brother, suffice to say all is in
order. If you have anything to the contrary, feel free to inform the readers. I
cannot comment on Zifa issues anymore as said in my last email to you,” Machana
said.
Some of the funds, according to bank statements, were moved
on April 21 2016 to Conduit Holdings.
Chiyangwa was unavailable for comment although he had
previously stated that he was not willing to talk to this reporter and even
suggested that “you can write whatever you want”. Standard
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