IS THE PROPOSED FAZ EMERGENCY GENERAL MEETING A PANACEA FOR ALL FAZ PROBLEMS?

BACKGROUND

Over the weekend, we were treated to a Facebook-live video feed from the Minister of Sports Honourable Emmanuel Mulenga telling us that the National Sports Council of Zambia (NSCZ) had the previous week convened a meeting involving the Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) and other stakeholders like banned officials, disqualified FAZ candidates and lawyers for people with cases against FAZ in the courts of law. The minister was speaking from his offices not only on a holiday but on a weekend as well. Not sure why the minister couldn’t wait for a working day. What was the rush? Why did he make the announcements over a meeting he neither called and nor chaired?

Anyway, the minister told us that in the meeting FAZ and the said stakeholders are alleged to have agreed to hold a FAZ Emergency Annual General Meeting – I am sure he meant an Emergency General Meeting – at which all people with grievances about the running of the game would table their views and finally lead to the whole atmosphere of fights in football dissipating into nirvana – total peace, tranquility, cooperation, and bliss! “Abracadabra, abracadabra! Just like that all FAZ problems solved.

This is good news, right? I mean who doesn’t want to see Kamanga and Kalusha “kissing and telling it all”? Who doesn’t want to see the two working together and to see Zambian football going places? Which begs the question, is this Extra-Ordinary General Meeting being called really the panacea for all FAZ problems or the call for the EGM is just some hocus-pocus?

TRUE RECONCILIATION

The biggest problem we have right now over this issue is not the things the minister said. But what he didn’t say. During the press briefing called impromptu at Government House, the minister was sitting between NSCZ Chairperson Patrick Mutimushi (sitting left to the minister) and the acting NSCZ General Secretary Raphael Mulenga, who is the gentleman who kept nodding when the minister was speaking. But missing from the beefing was Kalusha and Kamanga the two main protagonists in Zambian football over the last decade. I mean it is them who are said to have agreed to the way forward so surely you cannot speak for them as if they are gagged.

Was there really reconciliation in this meeting? The minister himself reported that there was a near punch-up in the meeting. That to me doesn’t sound like reconciliation. I think what we need is not to rush into an EGM when people are clearly still not happy with each other and want to fight in front of the NSCZ without fear.

The timing of this ‘reconciliation’ is poor. When I first started talking of reconciliation, many of you readers thought I was being funny and one camp, which is known for its vicious attacks even insinuated that I had gone bonkers. But the government, FAZ, lawyers and many other shakers and movers listened and acted upon this issue. Many contacted me privately. However, a reconciliation meeting without Kalusha Bwalya personally attending doesn’t seem complete to me. Three weeks ago was the best time to do this reconciliation. Not now. Right now we have some decisions from the Court of Arbitration already made and we are remaining with one award to be made. The best route to go is to let that CAS decision to be made.

What is surprising is why the push for an EGM when there is an AGM on the Electoral Road Map of FAZ which was approved by FAZ Council and FIFA. The elective AGM can handle those issues of conflict raised. There is no justification for the EGM right now. Unless of course, the idea is to ensure that certain people are given a chance to stand for elections by rulings of that EGM.

FAZ NOT AWARE OF ANY EGM AGREEMENT

Interestingly, as the minister was speaking about parties have agreed to convene a FAZ EGM, the people who were not on Facebook and were reading newspapers were getting a whole different vibe. Government newspapers i.e. The Times of Zambia and The Daily Mail of Zambia of that same day, were both repeating that the NSCZ meeting didn’t end conclusively. So why was the minister the only one saying that the meeting was concluded and an EGM was the resolution?

Was the meeting called by the NSCZ minuted? Were the resolutions arrived at signed against by all parties so everyone is bound by the resolutions? How do you hold an EGM in the middle of FAZ elections? Who attends the EGM with some provinces yet to elect their representatives? Is the minister canceling elections? Why is the minister the one announcing one milestone of the reconciliation process as if the process has ended? It would have made sense if the minister’s speech was at the end and the minister then came in to announce peace and a final scenario.

LEGITIMACY OF THE EGM

The EGM is synonymous with Andrew Kamanga and Adrian Kashala. The agenda of the EGM and the call an EGM can only be made by the FAZ GS, Kashala. Therefore, the call made by the minister, at best, is merely guidance by a parent. And not a legitimate or legal call and convening of the meeting.

In looking at me calling the EGM illegal or illegitimate, I shall rely purely on the law and what it says. As the case would be, only members of FAZ and the Executive Committee of FAZ can call and convene the FAZ general meetings. “Article 29 Extra-Ordinary General Meeting” spells out how the EGM can be convened. There are only two ways it can be convened. Either the FAZ Executive Committee calls it in accordance to Article 29 (4) or if 50% of the delegates to the council write to the FAZ secretariat that they want an EGM spelling out the issues they want to be discussed, in accordance to Article 29 (1) and Article (2).

Now, who are the members of FAZ who become delegates to the FAZ Council? Article 10 of the FAZ Statutes clearly spells out the members of FAZ: “The Members of FAZ are: (a) The clubs of the Super League; (b) The clubs of Division One; (c) The clubs of the Women Leagues; (d) The regional leagues, each of which includes all clubs in its respective region; (e) The Coaches association; (f) The Referees association; (g) The Higher Education Institution association; (h) The Schools Association; (i) Futsal league (j) Beach Soccer League; and (k) The Players’ association. We already know who the FAZ ExComm is.

Then there is calling for and convening the EGM. Where do we stand now? Has the minister already called the EGM or he was calling for the FAZ ExComm to call for the EM?

Assuming that the minister and NSCZ have already called the EGM, it means that the call of the FAZ EGM by the ministry and NSCZ is irregular and illegal. In fact, FAZ, in the newspapers of the last 3 days says it has never called for such a meeting nor agreed to it. If the ministry has not yet called the EGM, who is going to call the EGM? Is it the ExComm or 50% of the members of the FAZ Council? That’s what the constitution demands. As of Monday, the FAZ GS reaffirmed the need to follow statutes as reported by the press. Earlier, Rix Mweemba said that FAZ would follow its statutes and not call for the EGM because NSCZ ordered so. Ordinarily, since the ExComm has categorically said they won’t call the meeting, it means that only members of FAZ can call for this. And a petition signed by 50% of members has to be completed. Since the EGM has 136 delegates, to hold this meeting, there has to be a petition signed by more than 66 delegates of the FAZ Council. This is a tough job to do because no one knows the mood of the clubs now if they even want this EGM or not. And who will go round asking clubs to sign and what will be the agenda?

Now let us imagine that the 66 delegates sign. The problem is that still, by law, FAZ GS Adrian Kashala is only compelled to call the EGM within 3 months. This already means having the meeting in mid-July assuming the petition is taken to FAZ today.

Talking of delegates, we have the issue of which FAZ Council to call. Do delegates come from the FAZ Council of 2016 to 2020 or 2020 to 2024? I am saying so because there are delegates who have already been voted into office. This includes both FAZ ExComm members and provincial delegates. Do these attend or do the previous committee members attend? It only makes sense that an EGM is called only after provincial elections are done when all provincial delegates and provincial committee members are put in place. Otherwise, we can have a situation where some provinces send delegates because these have been voted for already while other provinces don’t have delegates. Or in the provinces yet to have elections, delegates get selected irregularly.

We have spoken of the quorum of the EGM being 50% of all 132 delegates. Now, this is a big logistical requirement for an unbudgeted meeting. Is the ministry, who want this meeting, sponsoring it and paying for all board and lodging? Remember that in case the quorum is not met, the meeting has to be held the following day. This then increases the costs of accommodation and feeding for delegates. Bills, bills, bills.

Then we have the FIFA meeting coming up. Why aren’t we waiting for the FIFA envoy to travel to Zambia for the meeting with the minister and other stakeholders? The minister wrote to FIFA raising a lot of problems in the Zambian football fraternity and asked for a meeting to be held in Zurich but FIFA offered to come to Zambia to iron out these issues. FIFA also already guided that they will not recognize any decision of the High Court and National Sports Council in the letter which was circulated but that they would be traveling to see how differences can be ironed out. This EGM is a duplication of the meeting which FIFA wants to come and hold here. So why are we rushing into this EGM when the agenda of the meeting FIFA has called for with the minister is aimed at covering these very issues? Is the EGM a way to avoid the FIFA meeting a few days after FIFA agreed to the meeting? Remember that the minister is the one who called for the meeting with FIFA, not the other way round. In response, FIFA wrote to him only last week!

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One meeting cannot sort out decades-long problems some of which I have survived more than 3 republican presidents. A lot of background negotiations and bargaining has to call before the minister can comfortably announce a solution to these wrangles.

PART 2 will be posted this afternoon.