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Some top Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA) officials face arrest after an audit report which unearthed murky transactions made between December 2018 to November 2021 was handed to authorities for purposes of prosecution.
One supplier, it has emerged, prejudiced ZIFA of US$1 million in financial transactions that had remained hidden until they were uncovered by auditors.
ZIFA paid Rollertag Investments US$1,073,912,05 from a FIFA grant for the purchase of football equipment from 2019 to 2021.
The equipment has been rotting at the ZIFA warehouse in Mt. Hampden for more than a year, after beneficiaries complained that it was of poor quality.
Auditors also unearthed another case in which US$100,000 worth of goods were paid for but were never delivered.
The audit report also detailed how the Felton Kamambo led ZIFA board awarded itself hefty allowances totalling US$100,000 at a time referees and coaches were yet to receive their FIFA Covid-19 relief pay-outs.
Kamambo pocketed US$20,000, suspended acting vice president Philemon Machana took home US$18,000 while CAPS United owner Farai Jere who is a ZIFA Executive Committee member pocketed US$15,500.
Bryton Malandule, a ZIFA executive committee member took US$15,500, executive committee member Barbara Chikosi pocketed US$15,500 and fellow executive committee member Sugar Chagonda benefited U$15,500.
Auditors said they held a meeting with Chikosi on 15 September 2022 who explained that the US$15,500 amounted to board allowances due to her.
Reached for comment, a board member who declined to be named for fear of reprisal said the money extended to them were repayments for loans they provided as bail outs when Zimbabwe football was on its knees.
“This is not charity, Chief. We used our own funds to go to Cosafa,” they said.
Elsewhere, a ZIFA councillor, who features prominently in the forensic audit is alleged to have also skimmed external payments.
Jonga, owner of Rollertag Investments that prejudiced the football mother body of US$791,000 worth of substandard equipment, was said to have acted in common purpose with Onai Makamure to cheat ZIFA of US$2,304.26.
The pair reportedly acted as third parties in a 2019 transaction in which ZIFA was making part payment for an Air Zimbabwe flight to Cairo for the Africa Cup of Nations.
Auditors questioned why ZIFA was paying through third parties instead of directly to Air Zimbabwe.
Jonga’s company also provided loans to ZIFA in an unholy alliance condemned by auditors.
Auditors noted that in one instance, Rollertag, on behalf of ZIFA, on June 20, 2019, paid US$21,282.14 to Rennies Travel for air tickets for the senior men team’s travel to Cairo.
The auditors noted that “the lender was a major supplier of football equipment to ZIFA and this gave rise to a conflict of interest as outlined in the FIFA Forward Development Programme Regulations 8.”
The loan was repaid on September 14, 2019 through a transfer of Z$281,400 to Rollertag Investments.
The power behind the throne Conduit Investments, owned by suspended ZIFA vice president Philemon Machana, may have wielded undue influence over the association’s operations, enabled by the tens of thousands of dollars in frequent loans he made to the association.
Moreover, the company would provide ZIFA president Felton Kamambo with per diems during his travels, causing concern that Machana had become the power behind the throne.
“In 2019, 2020, and 2021, Conduit Investments was giving ZIFA some loans,” auditors said.
“According to the company search file from the Registrar of Companies, we confirmed that Mr. Phillemon Machana is a Director and a Shareholder of Conduit Investments. Mr. Givemore Chidhakwa who is a ZIFA councillor, is a co-director with Mr. Machana in Conduit Investments.
“At the time of these transactions, Mr. Phillemon Machana was a ZIFA Board member responsible for finance issues.
“As a result, we decided to confirm if Mr. Machana’s interest was properly declared to ZIFA as this was a situation which gave rise to a conflict of interest in contravention of the FIFA Forward Development Programme Regulations 8(u),” the auditors continued.
“On July 22, 2022, the ZIFA human resources manager, Mr. Alfonce Gwarinda, through an email confirmed that there was no declaration of interest which was made by Mr. Phillemon Machana.”
The audit report presents a catch-22 for ZIFA officials who were beneficiaries of some of the alleged corruption as they are still serving as part of the post Kamambo interim ZIFA board.
While Kamambo, Machana and Malandule were recalled by a ZIFA EGM held earlier this year, CAPS United owner Farai Jere, Barbara Chikosi and Sugar Chagonda remain part of the current ZIFA interim executive.
ZIFA interim president Gift Banda said board members “will officially discuss the audit at their next board meeting and the accused will be given an opportunity to respond.”
While the ZIFA board is the highest decision making body in between Congress, it is unlikely that those named for wrongdoing will pass any harsh judgement unto themselves.
Banda was serving suspension during the period under audit but he insists had he been part of the Kamambo board at the time, he would have fought to protect the integrity of the association.
“It’s on record that I am an advocate of following the constitution,” he said.
Turning to Zimbabwe football’s isolation from international football, SRC chairman Gerald Mlotshwa said various reforms still need to be implemented before re-engagement with FIFA.
“We are not in a rush to go to Fifa to ask them to lift the suspension…they are waiting to be guided by us and when we say we are ready, that is when we will engage.
“But we are not there yet. The lifting of the suspension is not a priority…when you are implementing reforms, it’s not an overnight process,” Mlotshwa said. ZimLive
