ZIFA NC-1 MLISWA-0

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ZIFA won their first boardroom battle, in their quest to hold elections on Saturday without all the candidates who were disqualified ahead of the polls, when Temba Mliswa withdrew his challenge at the High Court yesterday.

The businessman was challenging the election process as well as the validity and legitimacy of the new ZIFA statutes, adopted by Congress last October, which are being used to conduct the elections.

Had his application succeeded, it would have meant that the entire process had to be done from scratch as all the Councillors would have been ineligible to vote in the poll.

Mliswa, who was a candidate for the ZIFA presidency before his disqualification, withdrew his case after Justice Chitapi ruled that his urgent chamber application was not urgent.

It’s the first victory for ZIFA in these boardroom battles but the elections could be halted if Justice Chitapi rules in favour of Prophet Walter Magaya tomorrow in his High Court application for a postponement of the polls.

Magaya, just like Mliswa, is also eyeing the ZIFA presidency and was disqualified from the polls by the association.

There is also another boardroom test for ZIFA in Lausanne, Switzerland, where Benjani Mwaruwari and Gift Banda win their case at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

The duo wants the elections postponed and also want their names reinstated on the poll sheets to enable them to battle for posts on the ZIFA board.

Benjani wants to be the ZIFA president while Banda is eyeing the ZIFA vice-presidency.

At the High Court in Harare yesterday, Mliswa and his legal team appeared before Justice Chitapi and, after a three-hour marathon, the judge ruled that the matter was not urgent as it was filed out of time.

Mliswa and his legal counsel had no choice but to withdraw the case given the elections are just around the corner. 

Justice Chitapi said Mliswa could still pursue the case but as a normal application. “This application is withdrawn by consent and the applicant will pay the costs of the hearing,” said Justice Chitapi.