By Rainos Mukanya
Cuthbert Dube defied odds to beat Trevor Carelse-Juul by 44 votes to 14 in a run-off election in Harare Saturday night to retain the Zimbabwe Football Association (Zifa) presidency.
The first round of voting had seen none of the aspirants garnering the mandatory two thirds majority as Dube polled 34 votes ahead of Carelse-Juul with 14, Leslie Gwindi 10 and Nigel Munyati zero.
This saw Dube and Carelse-Juul going for the run-off.
Omega Sibanda was elected Vice President ahead of former Highlanders chairman Elkana Scott Dube polling 38 votes to Dube’s 20 votes.
Four board members were also voted into office and these are Tawengwa Hara, Benard Gwarada, John Phiri and Fungai Chihuri.
The elections were presided over by FIFA Development Officer for East and Southern Africa, Ashford Mamelodi.
The re-election of Dube is likely to surprise many as the odds were heavily staked against him. During his tenure in office he was widely criticised for his handling of the Asiagate scandal. Earlier this year Dube was forced to retire as CEO of the Public Service Medical Aid Society (PSMAS) following revelations that he had used his influence in the board to award himself hefty salaries at a time the society was failing to service its debts.
He was reported to be earning US$230 000 per month. He was also fingered in the ZBC salary scandal which culminated in the suspension of the broadcaster’s CEO Happison Muchchetere.
Dube was the ZBC board chairman during Muchechetere’s tenure as CEO. Meanwhile Zimbabweans have taken to social media to voice their disapproval at the re-election of Cuthbert Dube.
“This guy is not supposed to be the president of Zifa. Look at his fraud in other boards in this country, I don’t think he will do much,” wrote Tatenda Madamombe on Facebook.
Another commentator on Facebook, Garikai Goremusandu was even more gloomy in his assessment saying “Its a sad day for our football.” It remains to be seen whether Dube’s re-election will change the fortunes of the football mother body which has been wallowing in financial doldrums for some years now.
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