THE controversial Zimbabwe Football Association (Zifa) elections have come and gone with the incumbent president Cuthbert Dube winning another four-year term.
Former Zifa president Trevor Carelse-Juul forced the election into a run-off after Dube failed to garner two thirds of the vote.
Judging from reactions by Zimbabweans on social media such as Twitter and Facebook, few celebrated the former Premier Service Medical Aid Society (PSMAS) boss’s victory.
The reasons for the muted celebrations could be that ordinary people are still gutted by the sky high salary that Dube allegedly drew from PSMAS before he was forced out.
According to the government, the Zifa boss earned $230 000 a month in basic salary and had other huge benefits that he enjoyed.
This happened at a time PSMAS, a quasi-State enterprise, owed about $38 million in unpaid bills for medical services as at the end of last year.
Dube has argued that there was nothing illegal about the salary he got, but we doubt if he can pass the morality test.
As if this was not enough, it also emerged around the same time that the Zifa president presided over the rot at the State-owned Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC).
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ZBC senior management was also found to be paying itself over the top salaries while workers went for over seven months without pay.
Dube’s name features prominently whenever the sordid ZBC tale is told.
Therefore it came as a surprise that Zifa councillors found it necessary to entrust the future of Zimbabwean football for the next four years to such a man.
Granted Dube is innocent until proven guilty, it would have made sense for him to step aside until he clears his name.
It boggles the mind that the man would want to clear his name after winning a fresh mandate instead of giving his side of the story before seeking another term.
Zimbabwean football is still reeling from the so-called Asiagate scandal and the Zifa councillors could have done a lot of good by electing a president who will have the confidence of everyone.
