THE bribery trial of ZIFA president Felton Kamambo is likely to attract the wide interest of the football community, including the world governing body FIFA, as the Zimbabwe football leader battles to clear his name on accusations of vote-buying during the 2018 elections.
The ZIFA elections, for a long time, have been marred by such allegations. But this is the first time that a case of this nature has been prosecuted in Zimbabwe.
Interestingly, former president of the association, Phillip Chiyangwa, who lost to Kamambo in the December 2018 ballot, is the complainant and one of the two main witnesses. The other witness is Kamambo’s former campaign manager, Robert Matoka, who played the middleman’s role in the alleged bribery case.
According to Article 27.1 of the FIFA Code of Ethics, which deals with issues to do with bribery, both the giver and receiver of the bribe are equally liable for the offence.
FIFA, a body that has also been tainted by allegations of corruption over the years, are clear in their statutes that they do not condone such practices.
“Persons bound by this code shall not accept, give, offer, promise, receive, request or solicit any personal or undue pecuniary or other advantage in order to obtain or retain business or any other improper advantage to or from anyone within or outside FIFA,” reads Article 27.1 of the FIFA statutes.
“Such acts are prohibited regardless of whether carried out directly or indirectly through, or in conjunction with, third parties.
“In particular, persons bound by this Code shall not accept, give, offer, promise, receive, request or solicit any personal or undue pecuniary or other advantage for the execution or omission of an act that is related to their official activities and is contrary to their duties or falls within their discretion.”
Kamambo, who has always maintained his innocence, is accused of bribing about 32 councillors to vote for him at the last election that ushered him into office two years ago. He got 35 votes to Chiyangwa’s 24.
The COSAFA boss withdrew from a possible second round, handing Kamambo victory, after the first round had failed to settle the contest.
Kamambo had won more votes in the first round but failed to secure enough backing, according to the ZIFA constitution, to win the contest without the need for a second round.
Bribery charges were brought up by Kamambo’s estranged election manager Matoka earlier this year and the Police Commercial Crimes Unit acted swiftly.
The duo fell out after the elections and Matoka claimed Kamambo could have used unorthodox means, including bribing the electorate, to win the watershed elections.-The Herald
