By MOSES CHIMFWEMBE  –
HENSCHEL Chitembeya says Football House should not resort to desperate attempts to solicit for votes from councillors by justifying illegality ahead of the reconvened annual general meeting (AGM).
Chitembeya, a former Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) executive member, said discussing the league restructuring at the reconvened AGM billed for Lusaka next weekend would be a breach of the FAZ constitution.
“Let’s not resort to desperate attempts to solicit for support from the councillors. The constitution is clear on what should qualify for discussion at the emergency meeting,” Chitembeya said.
Chitembeya was reacting to a statement issued by Football House on Tuesday that there was nothing illegal in discussing the league restructuring at the forthcoming special indaba set for the Government Complex.
“FAZ should not distort the facts. What NOPAFA (Northern Province Amateur Football Association) proposed at the March AGM was the restructuring of the Division One league to avoid playoffs, which was defeated via a majority vote.
“The restructuring of the entire league was not part of the agenda at the AGM and, therefore, it can only be tabled at next year’s AGM,” Chitembeya said.
He said league restructuring was a new item and, as such, it did not qualify to be part of the reconvened AGM agenda because only deferred matters could be discussed as per FAZ statutes.
“League restructuring is a policy and constitutional issue that cannot be handled casually. It takes a year for a policy to be implemented and so if the much-talked-about (league) restructuring passes a vote in 2016, it can only take effect in 2017,” he said.
Chitembeya will be challenging incumbent FAZ president Kalusha Bwalya at next year’s elective AGM.
Meanwhile, another ex-committee member Keagan Chipango has challenged FAZ to declare the campaigns for next year’s elections open in the interest of transparency and fair play.
Chipango said in an interview yesterday that FAZ executive members had already kick-started campaigns in the guise of conducting administrators’ courses while spreading campaign messages.
“I am calling on FAZ to declare the campaigns open so that other candidates can go out there to sell their messages to councillors,” Chipango said.
He advised councillors to beware of campaign gimmicks that would not add value to the development of football in the country.
“The councillors must use their votes wisely and bring in the change they want to see at football house. They should not fall for things that only come during election time,” he said.