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Innocent Kurira, [email protected]

THE impasse between Zifa Southern Region clubs and the leadership of Andrew Tapela-led executive which they ousted is far from being resolved after an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) meant to bring in sanity failed to take place.

The two parties were supposed to meet on Monday, May 1 at the region’s Bulawayo offices, following last month’s order by Zifa’s national taskforce.

None of the parties turned up for the scheduled meeting as it emerged that Tapela wrote to the national task force informing them that they would not be attending EGM describing it as unconstitutional.

They also queried part of the items on the agenda for the meeting.

First on the agenda was the review and determination of the mandate of the Southern Region Board, which the clubs claim its term of office expired in October 2022. Second is to renew or nominate the interim committee.

“The first one deals with determining the mandate of the Southern Region whose term of office had expired.

This scenario cannot be peculiar to the Southern Region alone unless it is designed for some ulterior motives.

“Apart from this and the fact that Mr Masepe had explained to the clubs the resolution taken by Congress on the matter, such a scenario is not provided for in the ZIFA Constitution.

“Every ZIFA Executive Committee derives its mandate from its affiliates through an election process presided over by an Electoral Committee appointed by ZIFA through a Congress resolution.

“Further to that, the Constitution does not provide for a situation where members can renew or nominate an interim Committee outside an election process as sought by item (2) of the notice.

Any actions must have reference to the constitution.

“Members cannot just wake up and gather to validate or invalidate the mandate of an Executive whose existence came by way of a legitimate election process.

It must be subjected to the same processes that brought it into existence. Anything outside this is simply child’s play,” Tapela wrote.

At the end of the 2022 season, Southern Region clubs decided against extending the mandate of Tapela, his deputy Gaylord Madhunguza as well as Mehluli Thebe arguing that their terms expired in October.

The trio refused to accept the club’s decision to boot them out, as they claimed the resolution was unconstitutional.

They argued extension of the national executive’s mandate by the Zifa Congress in October 2023 also covered the region even though Zifa Southern Region’s under Tapela didn’t attend meetings organised by the Banda-led board.

Speaking on behalf of clubs, Blessing Mbwanda said despite failing to hold the Monday EGM, their decision to boot out Tapela and crew stands.

“Firstly it was upon the request of Tapela to have an EGM so that he will come and exit his post in a respectable manner.

Looking into the agenda of the meeting, the resolutions made at the December meeting were not going to change.

“The league is on and clubs have been forking money from their own pockets to have the league running and we will continue in that trend.

“The clubs have the power to decide who leads them and we are exercising that power.

This is a Southern Region matter and we will not allow other regions to dictate how we should operate,” said Mbwanda.

Asked on the way forward with regards to the Southern Region impasse, Zifa spokesperson Xolisani Gwesela said: “We do not interfere with operations of the regions. Hopefully, a common understanding will be reached by both parties.”
— @innocentskizoe