daniel chigunwe
Eddie Chikamhi
Zimpapers Sports Hub
FORMER ZIFA Chief Operations Officer Xolisani Gwesela says the association’s Executive Committee members should declare their assets before assuming office as part of good corporate governance in the association.
Gwesela stressed previous pitfalls, which include abuse of office, embezzlement of funds, and the blatant lack of governance that led to the ban by FIFA in 2022, need to be nipped to avoid a recurrence of the challenges faced by Zimbabwean football.
“I’m going to propose a corporate governance framework for ZIFA itself, where board members will be required to declare their assets when they assume office and to ensure that board members do not abuse their positions and do not loot ZIFA monies that is meant for development,” said Gwesela.
“The corporate governance framework is also important to attract corporate sponsors because corporate malfeasance and not adhering to corporate governance tenets scare away potential sponsors.
“So, we need to come up with a framework that will assist us in ensuring that we adhere to corporate governance tenets.”
Gwesela, who served the association under three different administrations in the last 10 years, told Zimpapers Sports Hub yesterday that transparency is key in reviving Zimbabwean football. He said there should be robust structures to hold officials accountable. Many a time, corrupt ZIFA officials have gotten away with murder and avoided scrutiny under the pretext that FIFA does not approve of “third-party interference”.
“We need a compliance and governance committee that should be appointed by the ZIFA Congress. Its duty is to check on compliance activities of the ZIFA Executive Committee and provide a report each and every time there is a ZIFA Annual General Meeting.
“The purpose of this committee is to ensure that the ZIFA Executive Committee and the ZIFA Congress are adhering to corporate governance tenets, and when they breach these norms and values, it is the duty of the compliance and governance committee to report to the Congress that action is taken and the anomaly is corrected,” said Gwesela. Having served ZIFA in various portfolios under the administration of Cuthbert Dube, Phillip Chiyangwa, and Felton Kamambo, Gwesela is seeking to bounce back as a board member at the upcoming watershed elections.
Gwesela has worked for ZIFA as an administration instructor, chief operations officer, communications and competitions manager, club licencing manager, and acting chief executive officer. “As a former ZIFA employee, I had the privilege of sitting in those board meetings and writing minutes for the executive committee.
“I’ve had an opportunity to understand the various challenges bedevilling ZIFA, and it is my conviction that I have answers to these various challenges.
“I had an opportunity to realise the various mistakes that the various executive committees made, and it is time now to correct those mistakes and ensure that ZIFA becomes stable, prosperous, and produces excelling national teams, and ultimately football becomes the winner,” said Gwesela. He has also gained experience working for regional football organisations as COSAFA General Coordinator and COSAFA Media Officer and is a certified infrastructure inspector. Currently, Gwesela is a CAF General Coordinator.
He wants to see improved funding for ZIFA members to spur on development.
“The biggest problem bedevilling ZIFA is that ZIFA members themselves are underfunded. They are underfunded because in the past they’ve benefited little from FIFA development grants or FIFA forward funds.
“Our plan, and my plan if elected to office, is to ensure that the football development grants are shared equitably among the ZIFA members, so that the ZIFA members themselves that are responsible for development benefit from these development grants.
“I have seen that most of these development grants were allocated to national teams, which is an anomaly. The national teams should be fully funded by corporate sponsors and by the government.
“We have to ensure that the ZIFA national office is responsible for the payment of salaries for officers that work for ZIFA members.
“So it is my intention, if elected in office, to propose to the executive committee that we create a robust engagement policy with the government and with corporate sponsors so that the bulk of the money that we require for national teams comes from these two critical stakeholders,” said Gwesela.
He also said women’s football and junior football development should always take centre stage.
“If elected, we need to come up with a plan, a workable plan, to ensure that NAPH, NASH, and tertiary institutions play an active role within the ZIFA development matrix.
“Youth and grassroots football is the foundation of football. So, we need vibrant policies to ensure that youth and grassroots football thrives. We also need to see indefatigable national teams. “They can only excel when they are adequately funded. There should be a robust policy to approach government and corporate sponsors to ensure that we have enough funds for our Warriors, our Mighty Warriors, our Young Mighty Warriors, and our Young Warriors for their development. Once they excel, it means we have a prosperous ZIFA,” said Gwesela.The ZIFA elections are set to be held on January 25 with 38 candidates vying for the six board member positions. Six contestants have been short-listed for the presidency and 11 for the vice-presidency.
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