Alois Bunjira: Zifa presidency should not be about “personal glory”

Alois Bunjira former Caps United and Warriors player

Personally I have no problem with anyone being the ZIFA President. Any Zimbabwean can be the ZIFA president as long as they are getting in there to change the face of football, to raise the game and to rebrand ZIFA.

As long as they are going to attract investors to the game and promote pure corporate governance of the game. As long as they know how football is run… As long as they are passionate about football and its development…

What I personally won’t like is someone who wants to get there just for personal glory, someone who gets there so that he can make trips to FIFA congresses, someone who gets there to steal FIFA grants, someone who gets there and destroys football further, someone who gets there and get ZIFA deeper into debt…..

The worst is someone who will get there with no plan to revive ZIFA and starts pumping his own money to fund the Warriors’ and other national teams’ African trips…. nor someone who would operate with a begging bowl. 

We don’t want another Cuthbert Dube situation where the President praises himself for pumping his own money into ZIFA.

We don’t want that. We don’t want the President’s money. We want ZIFA to be run by corporate partners and sponsors’ money, aided by the FIFA grants. The worst also is someone who will cry and blame the economy.

Everyone already knows what the economy is like. If you can manage, go for it. Just don’t come back and say I failed because of the economy. Don’t get in there if you are going to blame the economy tomorrow. Your eyes are wide open.

Good luck to the next President. But please, by all means, don’t repeat the Dube style. We appreciate how Mr Dube tried and pumped his own money. We just don’t want a repeat or a carbon copy. We all know how it will end!

Let us see the manifestos. The councillors should be wise enough to vote for someone with the best plan, especially about the ZIFA debt and someone capable. Please councillors, this time please have integrity and avoid selling votes and your souls.

Have a heart for Zimbabwean football. The incumbent should be judged by his manifesto, a manifesto that is penned fully aware of the economy. Failure to deliver on the manifesto should be deemed failure and subject for a recall.

Last but not least, I hope the journalists from all media houses display the same integrity that is being called for about the councillors. No selling of souls on this one please. We love our football. May the best candidate win.

Alois Bunjira is a former Caps United and Zimbabwe national football team striker who also played in the South African Premiership. By Alois Bunjira