Yadah Stars Football Club president Prophet Walter Magaya has now sought the help of the High Court to try and stop the January 25 ZIFA elections.
The matter has
been set for this morning (9am) before High Court Judge Justice Tawanda
Chitapi’s Chambers.
Magaya is one
of five ZIFA presidential aspirants who were disqualified by the Electoral
Committee for having failed the association’s ethics and integrity test.
ZIFA made the
pronouncement on December 23 and also listed the six candidates who had made it
past the ethics test.
The others, who
fell by the wayside in their bids to become the next substantive ZIFA president
after Felton Kamambo, are CAPS United president Farai Jere, Benjani Mwaruwari,
Gift Banda, and Temba Mliswa.
Outgoing
Premier Soccer League chairman Jere is the only aspirant who took his
disqualification in his stride, while the quintet of ex-Warriors skipper
Mwaruwari, former ZIFA vice president Banda, former Norton legislator Mliswa,
and Magaya have launched protests in the courts.
Apart from
taking to the High Court in Harare this morning, Magaya has also lodged an
appeal against his disqualification with the Court of Arbitration for Sport in
Lausanne, Switzerland.
Mwaruwari and
Banda also have a joint appeal at CAS, which, according to the ZIFA
constitution and the Electoral Committee, has been mandated to deal with all
protests pertaining to the decisions taken by the committee on the polls.
Mliswa’s appeal
is with the High Court in Bulawayo. According to the High Court notice of
today’s hearing, Magaya, through his lawyer Everson Chatambudza of Chatambudza
and Rubaya Legal Practitioners, is seeking an interdict against the staging of
the elections.
“Take notice
that the above urgent chamber application for interdict will be heard and
determined by the High Court of Zimbabwe at Harare before Honourable Mr.
Justice Chitapi T on Tuesday the 14th of January 2025 at 0900 or soon
thereafter as counsel may be heard,’’ read the notice.
Magaya filed
the application on Friday.
Mutasa, who is
both the chairman of the Electoral Committee and the Normalisation Committee,
was cited as the first respondent. His Electoral Committee are the second
respondent, with the Normalisation Committee the third.
In both
committees that Mutasa chairs, he sits with Rosemary Mugadza and Nyasha
Sanyamandwe.
Following a
declaration by FIFA and in order to manage the transitional and reform period
that ZIFA have been undergoing since July 11, 2023, Mutasa’s Normalisation
Committee are for the purposes of the watershed polls, also sitting as the
Electoral Committee. And the Electoral Committee yesterday confirmed receipt of
the High Court notice on Magaya’s application.
“ZIFA has
responded with utmost urgency, and we have since done so through our external
counsel because we cannot do so ourselves since we are actors in the election
and have been cited as respondents,’’ the ZIFA Electoral Committee said.
“The same
counsel will represent all three respondents,’’ the Electoral Committee said in
a brief statement.
“The main issue
at law is that this case is already before another competent court, which is
CAS.
“At first
instance, that Court (CAS) should be allowed to complete its proceedings and
make a determination before it can be taken to another court,” avers the ZIFA
Electoral Committee. Justice Chitapi is not new to ZIFA matters, having chaired
the association’s Appeals Committee in 2016, which also included lawyer Tich
Garabga and then Harare Deputy Mayor Chris Mbanga.
Although
neither the full texts of the Magaya’s application nor Mutasa’s defence outline
were immediately available, the matter before the High Court this morning has
drawn interest beyond just the ZIFA corridors and the country’s borders.
FIFA, which
have literally been administering Zimbabwean football through the Normalisation
Committee, will be keenly following proceedings from their base in Switzerland,
as will the Confederation of African Football in Cairo, Egypt, and COSAFA in
Johannesburg, South Africa. Herald
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