High Court Reserves Ruling On Magaya's ZIFA Disqualification Case
High Court Judge Justice Tawanda Chitapi has reserved his judgment until Thursday next week in the case where Walter Magaya is challenging his disqualification from contesting for the Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA) presidency.
Magaya, who contends that his removal from the candidate list was illegal, has taken ZIFA to court.
According to NewZimbabwe.com, during Friday’s proceedings, Magaya’s lawyer, Advocate Thabani Mpofu, argued that the ZIFA ethics committee’s decision should be reversed, alleging that the ruling was made in an irregular manner that bordered on corruption. Said Mpofu:
What brings us to court is a simple and very straightforward issue. The requirement set out in the ZIFA Constitution is clear, it says ‘O’ Level or an equivalent qualification.
If a qualification issued by a university is even better than ‘O’ Level, on that, this application ought to succeed.
Magaya submitted a diploma from the University of South Africa (UNISA), which he argues is superior to an O’Level certificate. Said Mpofu:
The respondents show that they are alive to a fact that they have to give reasons for the disqualification. But what they have not done is to give reasons to say that the documents they received do not amount to a qualification.
What the Constitution establishes is a minimum requirement. The tariff in the statute is a minimum qualification.
The Electoral Code envisages that candidates may fail to meet requirements by failing to produce certain document… and when they fail, they don’t get disqualified.
Mpofu also pointed out that while Magaya was unable to produce his ‘O’ Level certificate, this does not imply he lacks the qualification.
He argued that, according to the ZIFA Constitution, a candidate should be given seven days to submit such documents.
Mpofu further contended that none of the respondents had the authority to disqualify prospective candidates.
He claimed that Magaya had a conversation with Lincoln Mutasa, the ZIFA normalisation committee chairperson, who clarified that the issue of qualifications was not the reason for Magaya’s disqualification.
Mpofu said his client will challenge Mutasa to dispute that.
Lovemore Madhuku representing ZIFA argued that Magaya’s application was not properly before the court. Said Madhuku:
The decisions of the respondent are not reviewable by this court. We don’t know the basis on which we as ZIFA are being brought to court.
During the hearing, Chitapi said ZIFA was supposed to bring a record of proceedings, which culminated in Magaya’s disqualification. Said Chitapi:
If that record exists, it should be brought before the court to ascertain who took that decision. Without the record, there is nothing to talk about. The rules say that they have a duty to ensure that the record should be made available.
The issue is the law says there should be that record, the submissions should speak on the action which was taken.
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