Since assuming the position of FAZ vice-president, Richard Kazala has displayed some disturbing tendencies operating outside his mandate. Kazala has undermined his boss Andrew Kamanga on the premise he is the most popular of the two.
It was clear from the onset following the election of this executive committee in March this year that Kazala wanted to take centre stage in steering the ship. Acting on rumours, Kazala went atop to issue press statements without the approval of the executive committee barely a week in office. That set the tone there was to be a showdown.
Far from guessing, Kazala was obviously acting without thinking. He has harangued Kamanga even through to his suspension. It’s this mentality that made Kazala defy an audit directive, FAZ/FIFA statues and his president about executive committee members not discharging administrative functions.
As fate would have, that defiance led Kazala to dipping his fingers deep into funds that did not belong to his business. Suddenly, his fingers participated in the disappearance of K150, 000 which should go towards sustaining Zambian football.
And now Kazala wants to claim procedural impropriety in his suspension. Let’s face it, there are questions Kazala has not answered and in the absence of an explanation from him and his accomplice Blackwell Siwale, the duo is guilty of defrauding FAZ and its poor members.
i) Did Kazala and Siwale transact on behalf of FAZ?
ii) Is Kazala and Siwale authorized to do such business on behalf of FAZ without express permission from ExCo?
iii) How much did Kazala and Siwale collect?
iv) What did Kazala and Siwale declare?
v) Where is the difference? What is their version?
Both Kazala and Siwale must respond to these legitimate questions that led to their suspensions instead of jumping around with poorly crafted press statements that are only exposing their inconsistencies. Kamanga has put through, as instructed by the constitution, strong grounds to demonstrate Kazala and Siwale grossly misconducted themselves.
It does not help Kazala to be yapping in the media about Kamanga not following procedure. Kamanga, backed by article 28 of the FAZ constitution, acted in public interest to safeguard public funds. That is by any standard more paramount than what Kazala wants his supporters to believe. The funds Kalaza has chewed don’t belong to Kamanga either. He, too, has a duty to protect public coffers because the buck stops at him. It would have been highly irresponsible of Kamanga to watch Kazala wantonly abuse public funds in the manner they did in the old order.
This is why the legal opinion given by the FAZ legal committee throws its full weight behind Kamanga’s decision. And in case Kazala does not know, which is obvious, there is an exception to every rule. If Kazala’s defence is that he would not recognize the suspension because the FAZ president did not follow procedure, he is certainly pushing an already open door; a losing battle because there are what are known as extenuating circumstances when considering decision making.
Kamanga has both and implied and express duty to protect the integrity of FAZ. And acting on Kazala as prescribed in article 28 is one of them. Assuming article 28 did not exist, Kamanga could still have acted in similar ways because the circumstances justify such action. Conversely, Kazala does not have any ground to justify his theft because there was no basis to act on behalf of the secretariat which is fully staffed.
Read what Kazala says; “Mr Kamanga is the worst FAZ president, he has no regard for the executive committee who are supposed to be his supervisors.”
Firstly, Kazala is the worst vice-president to have served FAZ. By the way, how did he stoop so low? From a deputy sports minister to a kawayawaya committee member and now a ceremonial vice-president whose powers are only at the whims of the president. The idiot could not even gather courage to challenge the FAZ presidency and thinks Kamanga got it on a silver platter.
Kazala further claims that “the FIFA rule is that the president and general secretary should implement policies and draw authority from the executive.” Kamanga is quoting the FIFA statutes and FAZ constitution in his report, where is your authority Mr Kazalaski? Can you support your arguments not just ulebwata bwata kwati nimbwa ya mpele.
Kazala says, “these alleged suspensions are invalid, provisions of the constitution were not followed. I am still the FAZ vice-president.” Surely, whoever is advising Kazala is doing this man a huge disservice. The best Kazala would do is to engage into self-introspection, admit his infraction and make amends. Going on a warpath is not helping Kazala; it’s working against him.
It’s important for Kazala to realise that long gone is the time when they shared match appearance fees as if it were grounds nuts. Yes, he can buy a few souls here and there but not every councilllor is a merchandise ready to auction Zambian football.
Zambian football councilors are some of the most sophisticated decision makers. Their interest lies in Zambian game and not individuals. They have demonstrated this before and they are ready to show Kazala that those peanuts he is cheating them with are nothing but useless gifts.
Clearly, Kazala is misguided. Whatever white stuff he is sniffing, it is not ordinary chalk or lime. He must tone down on the grade of the white stuff going down his system. He may have a better perception of things although we all know that matters of the constitution are beyond his comprehension.
The post Opinion: Kazala Should Stop Behaving Like A “Rabid Dog” appeared first on Zambia Reports.