ZANU PF MP for Vungu constituency in Lower Gwelo, Omega Sibanda has asked Sport minister Kirsty Coventry to open an inquiry into a Kazembe Kazembe led fundraising committee accused of looting US$1, 3 million raised for the Warrior’s 2019 African Cup of Nations campaign.
Zimbabwe’s 2019 AFCON campaign saw players staging boycotts over bonuses and allowances.
Amid the unrest players threatened to boycott their opening game against hosts while Kazembe held a purse that could have averted the discontent, it is alleged.
In a letter written on April 19 to Coventry, Sibanda, who served twice as ZIFA vice-president, said over US$1,5 million was fundraised through the President Emmerson Mnangagwa initiated committee towards the players’ welfare in Cairo but a huge chunk of it never reached the players’ pockets.
“The only public funds that remain not acquitted are those fundraised with the help of HE (His Excellency) President Mnangagwa in 2019 for the Egypt Afcon. Over US$1 500 000 was raised from that and only US$216 000 according to the Zifa Afcon acquittal (see annexure M, N, O of the Zifa untold story document for proof of this acquittal even that was given to the SRC at the time by Zifa) was paid by the committee directly to players and not through Zifa accounts,” Sibanda wrote.
“This is where, in my view, where you should ask the SRC or the (fundraising) committee where the rest of the money, more than US$1,3 million went. It is of public importance that such information be shared because that remains the only outstanding unacquitted public funds channelled to football (by the government) but such was not under Zifa, but a committee established and composed of several ministers.”
The fundraising committee was headed by Home Affairs minister Kazembe Kazembe, who at the time was acting Sport minister.
He personally flew to Egypt during that chaotic AFCON campaign and addressed players but did not bring an immediate solution to the chaos.
“If the public gets wind of such, it will be damaging to the ministry and not to Zifa,” Sibanda wrote.
“The same Zifa Board acting out of maturity that is now being publicly attacked, chose to keep quiet realising those that make up the committee and how such might have been abused by certain elements for political expediency.
“To this extent you have never heard them defending themselves that maybe SRC allegations of public funds must be directed to Hon Kazembe’s committee fearing the damage such will bring to senior government officials. Your SRC seems, however, eager to force this board’s hand to divulge such details. The question is who is this SRC serving? Are they really serving the government and HE (His Excellency)’s interests or something else?”
Sibanda warned Coventry that she could have been misled by SRC on the reasons and the procedure when suspending the Zifa board.
“Hon minister, I reiterate herewith what I said in our meeting this issue was not handled properly from the start. I reiterate that all available information shows you were misinformed on the real reasons for the board suspension; you were misinformed on correctness of the SRC suspension procedure which clearly is even wrong with our own laws; you were misled on the so-called restoration road map which included formation of a football Restructuring committee and conducting of an illegal EGM by some Zifa delegates.”
Sibanda said, in his view, the only solution to this quagmire is the lifting of the executive committee suspension so that football can be restored to normalcy as no other process can take place that Fifa will agree to.
He added that Zimbabwe’s continued isolation from the family of international football could cost Zanu PF the 2023 election.
“I also would want to repeat what l said to you in our meeting that you and l belong to one governing party and it would hurt me to see your legacy in sport being decimated with things that can be avoided; the party that we belong to losing some votes in the 2023 elections because of bad decisions that were arrived at wrongly without due process,” Sibanda said.
