FAZ ELECTORAL COMMITTEE UNVEILS FIFA APPROVED ELECTIONS ROADMAP
…campaigns open on Feb 22
The Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) Electoral Committee has unveiled the roadmap for the 2025 elective annual general meeting to be held on March 29.
Addressing the media, Electoral Committee chairperson Ronald Hatoongo said nominations will open on February 1, 2025 with FIFA having approved the roadmap.
Hatoongo was flanked by Governance and Review Committee chairperson Brian Msidi who confirmed that FIFA had given the roadmap a thumbs up after dissecting the FAZ constitution and Electoral Code.
“Then we will have opening of nominations which are governed by article 33 (8) that requires 45 days. We shall have eligibility checks, these eligibility checks should be done by 1st February 2025 (when nominations open). Once that has been done, of course this will be done by the governance committee now, previously it used to done by what was known as the Ethics Committee,” said the seasoned lawyer.
“Once the outcome of the eligible checks is done, people will be given an opportunity to appeal, those who may feel that the outcome is not fair or is flawed at law. The Appeals Committee will look at, after that there will be approval of valid nominations which will be sent to my committee for me to announce valid nominations and the official opening for campaigns for elections.”
“By 7th February 2025, we will close nominations and between 7th and 9th February if there are issues that may arise they will be given a chance to do that (clarify). By 9th February there will be no more review of people who have applied to be nominated that will be the final closing of (nominations).”
The two day window after the closure of nominations will be used for candidates to provide any missing pieces demanded by the regulations.
The Electoral Committee chairperson said that the final announcement of validated nominations for elections will be done on February 17, 2025 after which candidates who would not have been successful will have the right to appeal from February 17-18.
The Appeals Committee will communicate its final decision on February 22, 2025 and officially open the campaign window.
And Hatoongo said there was no breach as regards the dates for the elections as far as the FAZ constitution was concerned.
“We have dissected this constitution several times and we do not see any breaches whatsoever. This is so because the constitution is couched in general terms when it comes to elections. FAZ needs to insert a date of the elections going forward,” he said.
“Article 27 (2), article 33 (3) and article 79 of this constitution gives unfettered power to executive committee. We have bounced back this constitution to FIFA as we sit, and even this roadmap we bounced it off to FIFA, they also dissected our constitution and our code they have approved this roadmap. As you know the constitution of FIFA is superior to our constitution, ours is subservient to this constitution. They also have lawyers there who looked at these documents and they are in agreement with us. So there is no breach whatsoever.”
Meanwhile Governance and Review Committee chairperson Brian Msidi, who is a lawyer said no one except the executive committee could set the date for FAZ elections.
“It will be untoward for anyone to think that an AGM can be called at their whim. It is the mandate of the executive to call for the AGM which in this case will be an elective AGM. This announcement is preceded by a FIFA thumbs up if you like because we could not have convened in this manner if FIFA had a different view,” Msidi said.
On December 21, 2024, FAZ general Secretary Reuben Kamanga announced the roadmap for the 2025 elections after the executive committee approved the roadmap.
FAZ availed the roadmap to FIFA who have since given it their seal of approval paving way for the process to run its full course.
Provincial elections will commence on March 15 while the elective AGM will be held on March 29.
Under the revised and FIFA aligned FAZ constitution, provincial elections precede the main election.