Felton Kamambo

The move, however, was seen as rebellious and Kamambo together with his colleagues were controversially banned from all football activities for three years by the association. The suspension saw him disqualified from contesting in the polls, but an appeal to FIFA reversed the decision.

At the age of 20, Kamambo was already in management at the Grain Marketing Board and, thus, his obsession for football manifested, thanks to the nature of his job which saw him being transferred from one district to another. “I helped form Kadoma Grain Tigers in the early 1990s when I was transferred to that area. I then went to Murehwa where I discovered that there wasn’t a serious football team in the area. We formed Murehwa United, a team that played up to Division Two and I was also a player there,” says Kamambo. From Murehwa, he went to Sanyati where again he oversaw the formation of Sanyati FC. In Kwekwe, he masterminded the birth of Silo United. “I love grassroots football a lot and I am one person who can spend a day watching football at a growth point,” remarks Kamambo. He reckons Silo United as one of his most treasured achievements. This team produced a number of players who went on to play in the Zimbabwe Premier Soccer League. The likes of Takabva Mawaya, Edmore Chirambadare and Makai Kawashu are some of our products there. Kamambo re-launched Grain Tigers early this year and the team recently won promotion into the Northern Region Division One league.^[1]

Kamambo once served as the Zifa Central Region chairman.

Football Career

Kamambo played for the now defunct Mhangura Football Club.

Career In Business

Kamambo is a senior manager at the Grain Marketing Board (GMB).

Events

Arrest

On 12 February 2022, Felton Kamambo and board member responsible for finance, Philemon Machana, were arrested on various allegations.

Kamambo and Machana were arrested by Criminal Investigations Department (CID) officers for fraud and contempt of the Sports and Recreation Commission Act, which was applied in their suspension on 16 November 2021.

The SRC suspended the Kamambo-led ZIFA on 16 November 2021 on several allegations, chief among them the board’s failure to account for public funds. Kamambo, however, continued to issue statements in the capacity of ZIFA president and used the official ZIFA letterhead in all his correspondence. Kamambo allegedly fraudulently used public funds as well as changed ZIFA accounts while under suspension. The suspended ZIFA board even went on to suspended members of the ZIFA secretariat and Premier Soccer League governors, moves which resulted in the SRC involving the police leading to the duo’s arrest.

Felton Kamambo and Machana were held at Highlands Police Station.^[2]

2023 CEO

It is reported that FIFA have rejected the appointment of Nyasha Kadenge. She had emerged a surprise choice for the vacant ZIFA CEO post. “FIFA insisted thorough background checks be made, and from “FIFA insisted on a thorough background check being made and from those checks, in terms of FIFA ethics, Kadenge was not satisfactory.

ZIFA been without a substantive CEO for nearly two years after then-general secretary Joseph Mamutse went AWOL, refusing to continue his duties in the absence of then-president Felton Kamambo. Chief operations officer Xolisani Gwesela acted as CEO until last month, when the Normalisation Committee dissolved his post along with those of technical director Wilson Mutekede and national teams general manager Wellington Mpandare. The Normalisation Committee are now coming up with an alternative name. The development also came as a FIFA delegation flew into the country on 8 October 2023 to conduct a club licensing workshop for Premiership sides in Harare on 10 October 2023. ^[3]

Reference