By SANDRA MWILA –
ASPIRING FAZ general secretary Simataa Simataa has called for a complete review of the process of appointing a general secretary at the Football Association of Zambia (FAZ).
In a statement released yesterday, Simataa asked FAZ president Andrew Kamanga to repeat the process because he felt ill-treated by the unprofessional manner in which the process had been handled.
He said the playing field was not fair as there was some unethical behaviour in the process and that it lacked transparency.
Simataa last week made the 10-man shortlist of people vying for the FAZ general secretary from about 50 candidates, but a series of leaked information from the interviewing panel with some suggesting Simataa failed to produce a Grade 12 certificate during the interviews, have angered the former FAZ boss.
Simataa said he had a Grade 12 certificate, though an equivalent, since the time he was sitting for the secondary school leaving examinations, it was called Form 5 before it later changed name to Grade 12.
“Please be reminded that at the time I was sitting for my secondary leavers’ examinations, there was no Grade 12 but Form 5. I feel unjustly treated. I entered this process with the hope to see professionalism but alas, it has left me full of mistrust,” Simataa said.
Simataa also wondered why information from the interviews was in public domain.
“I call upon the president of FAZ to review this whole process in the interest of fair play, ethical conduct and transparency.
“How come all the pro-Kamanga applicants like Ponga Liwewe, Adrian Kashala and myself have been subject to negative reporting and innuendos concerning our qualification and suitability for the position?” he questioned.
The former FAZ chief said he thought the change of executive was a way for the football family to hold hands to rebuild and focus on developing Zambian football, but it had turned out to be otherwise.
He dispelled assertions that he failed to produce a Grade 12 certificate, saying in his application, he had sent a certified copy of his secondary school leaver’s certificate and wondered why there was demand for an original copy yet a certified copy of his University of Zambia degree was not questioned.
And FAZ club licensing manager Erick Mwanza has been handed a misconduct charge for issuing a statement to the press over the FAZ general secretary appointment without getting permission.
He has been given 24 hours to respond to the charge.
Sources said FAZ president Kamanga had before departure to Mexico for a FIFA congress issued instructions for Mwanza to be charged as his actions were undermining the powers of the acting general secretary.
This comes from a statement on Thursday last week on ZNBC that the committee handling the process of appointing the general secretary will forward three names to the president for him to choose from.
But Kamanga on Tuesday said at a Press briefing that there was no truth in the narrowing down, but that the process sugested he pick a name from the shortlisted names and propose his preferred candidate to the executive committee.