Eddie Chikamhi — ZIFA presidential aspirant Gilbert Muponda says he didn’t need to cut up the vote between himself and rival candidate Nqobile Magwizi after making a shock withdrawal from the race yesterday.
The Harare businessman as an alternative mentioned he was throwing his help behind Magwizi forward of the January 2025 election for the reason that two candidates shared the identical imaginative and prescient and values.
Muponda has been participating the soccer neighborhood for the previous two months with a sturdy marketing campaign hinged on 5 pillars that embody commercialisation, monetisation, corporatisation, standardisation, and modernisation.
His withdrawal was introduced simply 24 hours earlier than the shut of the nomination course of, which ends in the present day.
“I am partly dissatisfied with the withdrawal as properly, however I’m positive that you know the way elections work, that you’ve got a sure platform that you’re campaigning based mostly on, like your manifesto, your values, rules, and imaginative and prescient.
“If you happen to look across the candidates and also you see somebody who shares the identical imaginative and prescient with you, it means each of you will be chasing the identical votes, otherwise you get help from the identical quotas.
“So, Magwizi and I have been pushing a sure imaginative and prescient aimed toward commercialising soccer and bringing company sponsorship, company construction, and company governance into our recreation.
“Our {qualifications} are virtually comparable, our imaginative and prescient is sort of comparable, so it means we’re going to appeal to the identical votes, and we danger splitting votes between myself and him.
“There are different candidates who we’re nonetheless making an attempt to interact to say, ‘Why do not we stand down and provides sup-port to 1 robust candidate who represents our imaginative and prescient and values, and that candidate can go and win the election,” mentioned Muponda.
He believes Magwizi has the correct credentials to guide the sport.
“Nqobile Magwizi is certified, skilled, and has a clear, confirmed document of mobilising assets for the sport. He’s essentially the most deserving candidate who possesses the required expertise and experience required to remodel Zimbabwean soccer.
“I sincerely consider we share the identical imaginative and prescient, technique, and expertise to make our recreation nice once more, and as such I withdraw with full confidence that Nqobile Magwizi will rework the sport when given the chance to guide ZIFA,” mentioned Muponda in a Fb publish.
The ZIFA govt committee elections shall be held on January 25.
