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(ZIMBABWE GUARDIAN) Dube elected Zifa president

Dube elected Zifa president
By: Ranganayi Chidemo
Posted: Sunday, March 28, 2010 6:18 am

HARARE business executive and entrepreneur Cuthbert Dube was elected the new president of the Zimbabwe Football Association at Prince Edward School in Harare on Saturday.

The former Premier Service Medical Aid Society (PSMAS) chief executive beat former Premier League Secretary General Leslie Gwindi in the race for football’s biggest job, polling 31 votes against Gwindi’s measly four votes.

The wide victory margin accurately mirrored the huge outpouring of public support for his candidature from football stakeholders and fans alike that had always believed he had the credentials to steer the country back to its former football glory.

Dube, who triumphed on his second attempt after losing the 2006 election to the outgoing president Wellington Nyatanga, will have lead a 13-member board which will have two vice presidents, for the first time in the history of Zimbabwean football.

Ndumiso Gumede, the former Zifa secretary-general who was retrenched by then Zifa administration led by Rafik Khan in 2004 was elected the first vice-president. Gumede — regarded by many as one of the best football brains ever to walk on Zimbabwean soil — made a triumphant return with a resounding 24-11 victory over former Premier Soccer League secretary-general Kennedy Ndebele.

Retired Mutare-based referee, Kenny Marange was voted the second vice-president. Elliot Kasu was elected board member-finance
.
The new board member for development is former Highlanders coach Methembe Ndlovu.

Other board member include former US-based Aces Youth Academy director Nigel Munyati, who also manages Philip Chiyangwa's business empire; and former Mighty Warriors coach Benedict Moyo.

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Dube has a distinguished career.

Under his wise leadership, PSMAS was in 2004 awarded a prestigious “Gold Medal” for Excellence in Business Practice by the Foundation for Excellence in Business Practice, an organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland.

Also in recognition for his hard work, dedication to improving the welfare of all Zimbabweans and his managerial skills, Dube at the end of 2003 was nominated Second Runner Up in the Manager of the Decade 1992 to 2002 in a competition run by the Zimbabwe Institute of Management.

Prior to that, in May 2003, the PSMAS Group CEO was voted co-winner of the prestigious Manager of the Year Award for 2002, an annual award also run by the Zimbabwe Institute of Management.

Prior to joining the Public Services Medical Aid Society, Dube was Chief Accountant at Shell Zimbabwe, becoming the first black person to hold that post in the organisation.

The new Zifa boss was relentless during his campaign. He went out and spoke so much about corporate governance and overwhelmingly convinced the voters. He said he would work hard to rebrand the beleaguered football association, which he said had the capacity to generate a lot of money, but suffered from poor accounting.

“I would like to thank everyone for the support they have shown. I believe that good times have come back to football. It is, of course, unfortunate that we come in when our football structures have collapsed.

But like all great strategists it is when things fall apart that they move in to bring everything together,’’ said Dube

He added: “It’s not Cuthbert Dube and his team that have won. Football has won.

“If you look at my hair it's grey I am no longer young. I would like to be the unifying father in football,” Dube said.

He said Zifa should be run like a business in order to ensure efficiency and profitability, maintaining that his major challenge was to bring money into the game and that, together with his team, they will work tirelessly in their first 100 days in office to ensure a smooth restructuring.

“Our first 100 days should see us trying to source sponsorship, that to us is the most pressing assignment that this new board will be working on.

“That’s our biggest and most urgent task; we are coming into a Zifa that is totally bankrupt. Our football stakeholders should also understand that we have a bigger task to accomplish in this regard and we are appealing to both Government and the corporate world to support this new board.

“We are saddened that we are taking over when our football is going through so much turbulence. But as strategists, we have to move in and make it our major challenge to bring back sanity into our football,” Dube said.

The elections were followed by ordinary business of the Zifa annual general assembly, whose detailed contents were not immediately released to the media.

Labels: CUTHBERT DUBE, FOOTBALL, ZIFA

posted by MrK @ 4:18 PM