Online Reporter
Eddie Chikamhi
Zimpapers Sports Hub
FORMER ZIFA Chief Operations Officer Xolisani Gwesela says the association’s Executive Committee members should be required to declare their assets before assuming office as part of a raft of measures towards restoring good corporate governance in the association.
Gwesela stressed previous pitfalls, which include abuse of office, embezzlement of funds and the blatant lack of governance, which 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 scares 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 times, 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.
