When Kazembe Kazembe was on December 1, 2017 appointed Sport, Arts and Recreation minister, he was seen as the saviour who could bring an end to the long-suffering Zimbabwean football masses.
By Michael Kariati
Over the years, Zimbabwean football had been characterised by administrative upheavals, and ministers who came along — Andrew Langa and Makhosini Hlongwane — failed to resolve the never-ending chaos at the headquarters of Zimbabwean football.
It was then thought that Kazembe, who came into office under the new Emmerson Mnangagwa government, would bring smiles to the football family by bringing an end to the infighting and power struggles in Zifa, which were affecting performance on the field of play.
Sadly, though, six months down the line, Kazembe appears to have failed to resolve the circus at the football federation and, more importantly, appears scared to deal with the characters at play in the Zifa comedy.
Kazembe, just like Hlongwane before him, does not see anything amiss with Zifa dishing out $5 each to the Mighty Warriors after successfully representing Zimbabwe in international football.
The minister does not see anything wrong with a three-member Zifa board running Zimbabwean football instead of the required eight members.
The minister does not even see anything wrong with a Zifa leadership refusing to hold its elections as per its constitution despite being an affiliate of the Sport and Recreation Commission [SRC].
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Yet Kazembe sees something wrong in a Zimbabwe Cricket leadership, which was elected by an assembly that is not disputing its existence.
Kazembe is even bold enough to stand up and tell the nation that they are taking action on Zimbabwe Cricket because of an “outcry” from the public.
Yet Kazembe is ignoring the outcry against the continued hold on power by the current Zifa leadership despite calls by the Zifa Council to hold elections since March 30 when the polls were supposed to take place.
The minister does not even see the tricks that are being played at Zifa offices with regard to correspondence from Fifa on the Zifa elections.
There is a deliberate move to delay or to call off the elections and right now, the minister is the only person who can demand correspondence from Fifa and see what exactly it says instead of the twisted versions the public are being fed on.
There is no government interference if the minister steps in and orders elections at Zifa as per the Zifa constitution and as per the directive from Fifa itself.
Zifa are not disputing that Fifa have recommended elections, but have made it clear that they are not in a hurry to hold the elections … but why?
The SRC has played its part to try to have a legitimate Zifa board in office and now it is time for the minister to make sure that becomes a reality.
From the outset, however, the minister himself appears scared of the forces at Zifa. Otherwise action would have been taken as quickly as it happened at Zimbabwe Cricket. Let the minister prove us wrong!
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