The Sunday Mail
Sports Reporter
HOPE Chizuzu is bitter at having been “suspended” by Zifa for his alleged involvement in the Asiagate match fixing scandal and is always looking at ways of destabilising the operations of the soccer governing body, an official has said.
His urgent application to stop the December 5 Zifa elections is defective and should be dismissed “without the need for the honourable court to ventilate the merits.”
These assertions are contained in Zifa chief executive Jonathan Mashingaidze’s opposing affidavit to Chizuzu’s High Court application.
Chizuzu, a freelance journalist, last week approached the High Court with an urgent application seeking to stop the impeding elections arguing that the Zifa electoral committee is not properly constituted.
However, in a response that is set to be filed tomorrow, Mashingaidze argues that Chizuzu is not a member of Zifa and has no locus standii (legal right) to challenge the electoral process.
“The most conspicuous fact arising from the application is actually that applicant is not a member of the respondent and therefore not eligible to contest in its elections,” reads part of the affidavit.
“The outcome of the election is of no consequence or prejudice to a rank outsider like the applicant. Accordingly the applicant cannot allege urgency where he cannot demonstrate prejudice.
“I am advised that any litigant who brings a matter to court, particularly under purportedly urgent circumstances ought to come to court with clean hands in the sense that he must be completely bona fide and must have made all material disclosures to the court.
“The applicant has failed in this regard as he has not made all material disclosures in his application.
“The applicant conveniently omitted to mention that he was barred from the respondent in 2012 for inappropriately interfering with football activities which are the exclusive purview of the ZIFA officials as outlined in the ZIFA constitution.
“This ban is still operative and it has become apparent that this application is a manifestation of spite and an attempt to seek revenge for the incident in 2012.
“His non-disclosure of the fact of the ban is clear evidence that he is mala fide (in bad faith) and dishonest in bringing this application and the application ought to fail on the basis of his no-disclosure.”
Mashingaidze adds that Chizuzu also intentionally fails to disclose that he was part to Saidi Sangula’s failed application to stop last year’s Zifa elections.
“It is interesting to note that applicant also conspicuously omitted to mention that in 2014, applicant was a party to a similar application that was filed by one Saidi Sangula, an associate of the applicant, under case number HC.2123 /14.
“The application concerned similar subject matter to this present application as it sought to interdict the holding of pending elections then on the basis of alleged improper constitution of the electoral committee.
“This application was dismissed by the Honourable Justice Mr Bere.
“In view of these facts, what (the) applicant is essentially requesting this court to do is to determine a matter of similar facts, between the same parties, that has already been determined and dismissed before.
“This cannot be countenanced and the matter ought to be dismissed on this ground alone.”
