Thursday, 23 January 2025

MAGAYA CASE THROWN OUT

The Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA) elections will proceed as scheduled this Saturday after the High Court dismissed cleric, Walter Magaya’s appeal to stop the elections for lack of merit.

Magaya was challenging his disqualification from the ZIFA presidential elections scheduled for this Saturday, but his bid hit a brick wall at the High Court.

High Court judge Justice Tawanda Chitapi ruled that Magaya failed to produce any evidence showing that the education certificates he submitted were either equivalent or better than the minimum requirement of Five Ordinary Level passes.

“l accept that the minimum was a pass with 5 O’ Levels. A requirement to have 5 O’ Levels must be met. Just for the avoidance of doubt, if one relies on a diploma, the issue is not that a diploma is higher than the O’ Level, the applicant would be required to produce an O’ Level certificate even if he holds a PhD,” Justice Chitapi said in his ruling.

“In the present matter, the applicant has been coy in disclosing further information regarding his qualifications to correct the committee’sdecision. The challenge by the applicant cannot succeed.”

The High Court also ruled that Magaya should have produced an ordinary-level certificate in his affidavit, which was going to be easy for the court to correct the anomaly.

The latest High Court judgment comes after another aspirant, Temba Mliswa, withdrew his court challenge against his disqualification from the elections.

Other disqualified candidates are former Warriors captain, Benjamin Mwaruwari and administrator Gift Banda whose cases are before the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

This Thursday’s High Court ruling paves the way for the ZIFA elections to proceed on Saturday with six candidates vying for the presidency of the football mother body.

Businessman Nqobile Magwizi will be up against former PSL Chairperson Twine Phiri, United Kingdom-based football administrator, Marshall Gore, former ZIFA board member Philemon Machana, Northern Region Division One league Chairperson Martin Kweza and former Dynamos forward Makwinje Phiri.

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