Online Reporter
Sharuko on Saturday
By the grace of God we find ourselves here today, 25 years later, still standing and, like Johnnie Walker, still walking. And, as another year drifts to a close, we find ourselves celebrating the Silver Jubilee of this special relationship between the blogger and his readers.
IF this was a marriage, we would have been celebrating our Silver Jubilee anniversary this weekend.
That means 25 years of a solid relationship, a beautiful romance, a strong and unshakeable bond and a love story made in heaven.
For it was in dying embers of the last millennium, as 19 started giving way to 20 as the prefix of these living years, amid fears computers would crash and planes would come crashing down, that this blog came to life.
Nineteen ninety nine now feels a long way back – the establishment of the Euro and ‘Shakespeare In Love’ taking Best Picture at the Oscars.
It was the year we first heard about the new English words like dash cam, carbon footprint, epigenomics, vape and even the now commonly used word – texting.
It was also the year we first heard about the English word blog, which in a way represents everything about this column, its columnist (blogger) and the constituency of followers who make up its family.
By the grace of God we find ourselves here today, 25 years later, still standing and, like Johnnie Walker, still walking.
And, as another year drifts to a close, we find ourselves celebrating the Silver Jubilee of this special relationship between the blogger and his readers.
It’s been a remarkable adventure.
Together we shed tears when we lost Yogo Yogo, Gary Mashoko and Shingi Arlon in that horrible accident and, exactly 20 years later, we still carry the psychological and emotional scars of that tragedy.
Together we partied, especially that day when, after 23 years of waiting, we finally secured our place at the AFCON finals, thanks mainly to Sunday and Peter.
It’s not easy to keep a blog running, and relevant, for a year, it’s almost impossible to do that for a quarter-of-a-century in a world in which reading, and even eating, trends continue to change.
That we have done it is only because of the grace of God – somehow He made sure that an ordinary fellow from Chakari would do it and, along the way, create a special family and a beautiful bond with his readers.
Many don’t always agree with me, and neither do I always agree with them, but that is the beauty of democracy, isn’t it, that even though I might disagree with them I will put my head on the block for their views to be heard.
There are some folks who have told me that this blog played a big part in them passing their English language and literature exams, be it at O-Level, the basic qualification one now needs to be a ZIFA president, or A-Level.
If that is really the case, then I can only thank God because where I come from, we are not expected to be people who make such a profound impact in the lives of people across the country.
Thank you Zimbabwe for embracing just an ordinary boy from the compounds of Chakari, where every day we inhaled smoke from the mine but, through God’s grace, lived to be part of such a beautiful story.
A TALE OF FLYING LETTERS
Nine ZIFA presidents, and acting presidents, have come and gone during the course of the life of this blog.
Leo Mugabe, Vincent Pamire, Rafik Khana, Wellington Nyatanga, Cuthbert Dube, Philip Chiyangwa, Felton Kamambo, Gift Banda and Lincoln Mutasa have all led ZIFA in the past quarter-of-a-century.
A 10th ZIFA president will be ushered into office, in the era of this SOS blog, in the next five months.
A colleague, Isdore Guvamombe, one of the best writers and journalists of our era, told me this week that he has never seen an explosive ZIFA election like this one.
The first shots were fired this week when half-a-dozen letters were written by some anonymous fellows appealing for the disqualification of certain candidates for one reason or another.
Prophet Walter Magaya, Martin Kweza, Phil Machana, Nqobile Magwizi, Twine Phiri and Temba Mliswa have all had their candidature questioned in a blitz of letters calling for them to be barred from the poll.
Others, including Magwizi and Machana, have hit back, clearing the air and disputing the claims. Others have chosen silence, which is their right, while the jury out there has been feasting on all this drama.
My take would be that let all the candidates contest the election and let the best man win the poll even though, given the dark arts of the Councillors who actually vote, it’s not the suitability of the candidates which usually matters.
Instead, and sadly, it’s always the money, which some of these Councillors demand in a web of corruption, and who has the deepest pockets to pay them, which usually determines the race.
FIFA messed up terribly with their top-to-down prescription where the ZIFA board has to be elected first and then it will stage elections for its structures like the PSL, regions, provinces and districts.
This means that the Councillors, who for years have been the biggest threat to our game because of the corrupt way they choose ZIFA leaders, will still play the defining role as we battle to repair our battered sport.
Basically, what that means is that we are using water flowing from the sewage to try and purify the water that we want to drink and expecting that at the end of the day we will have something like ZLG.
Those letters should have been fighting this foolish arrangement, so that we first cure the cancer which is represented by these councillors, and lay down a strong foundation, built on ethics and integrity, for us to then build a strong ZIFA board.
All the councillors who received EcoCash payments from Kamambo, and ended up in court before being acquitted, will be voting in these elections.
Yes, their acquittal means they regained their freedom to vote but given all that controversy, didn’t it then make sense to deal with that constituency first before coming up with the ZIFA board?
Some of the issues raised in those letters are relevant but I have a problem with a game which, let’s say in Magaya’s case, allows him to host about 500 women, drawn from 16 teams, at his complex for a week for the Heart Cup, which passes without incident.
And, when it comes to him seeking the office of ZIFA president, we raise allegations related to how he abused women, yet we turned a blind eye when his money is oiling our women’s football.
If we felt that Magaya was not a suitable person to be associated with our football, because of allegations he abused women, then we should have raised those red flags when he pumped US$320 000 into the Heart League and Heart Cup for our women footballers.
We can’t accept him, when he is buying kits for all our women footballers, as he did in the Heart Cup, hosting them for a week, feeding them and giving them a platform to showcase their talents.
And, then reject him – basing such rejection on allegations of abuse of women – when he seeks higher office in the game.
That is what is called the gross abuse of a person – telling him you like his money but you don’t like him.
It’s the same weakness as the Peter Ndlovu/Wicknell BMW X6 gift.
We can’t say we were fine with the same businessman donating a car to our then Warriors coach Kalisto Pasuwa and we have issues with him donating a car to a former Warriors captain.
If this blog was a person, and a United States citizen, it would have been now eligible to seek office as a Congressman because you have to be, at least 25, to do that.
If successful, in that pursuit, the blogger would be reminded that 25 years ago, the US lawmakers acquitted President Bill Clinton in his impeachment proceedings.
That’s a long time ago.
Sadly, the blogger can’t be a ZIFA president because you have to be, at least 40, to qualify for that role.
Peace to the GEPA Chief, the Big Fish, George Norton, Daily Service, Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse and all the Chakariboys still in the struggle.
Come on Warriors!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Khamaldhinoooooooooooooooooo!
Text Feedback: 0772545199
WhatsApp: 0772545199
Email: [email protected]
You can also interact with me on the ZTV football programme, Game Plan, where I join the legendary Charles “CNN” Mabika on Wednesdays
