The Sunday News
Mehluli Sibanda, Senior Sports Reporter
THE prosecutor in the case of the two suspended executive committee members, Matshobana Ncube is pushing for a guilty verdict to be delivered against Modern Ngwenya and Israel Moyo, sources said.
Vice-chairman Ngwenya and secretary-general Moyo are being charged with insubordination for voting against a recommendation by the club’s human resources sub-committee to extend the contract of chief executive officer Nhlanhla Dube until the end of the year.
Dube’s two year tenure as Bosso’s head of secretariat came to an end on 30 April. The executive met a day before to consider whether to accept or reject the suggestion by the Human Resources sub-committee with the collective decision by the Bosso hierarchy being to throw out that advice.
Ngwenya and Moyo appeared before a disciplinary hearing two weeks ago charged with defiance which emanated from that executive meeting where a decision was made not to renew Dube’s contract. In his closing submissions, Ncube, of Ncube Attorneys who are the Highlanders lawyers is said to be pressing on for Ngwenya and Moyo to be found on the wrong side of the law.
On the part of Ngwenya, Ncube submitted that the second in charge of the Bosso executive, among other charges decided not to pay attention to provisions of the club’s constitution, which state that the CEO is employed by the executive in discussion with the board.
“In terms of section 22.1 of the club’s constitution, the CEO of the Club is appointed by the Executive Committee in consultation with the Board of Directors. You ignored the provisions of the constitution and acted in a manner designed to undermine constitutional order calculated to bring the name of the club into disrepute and without regard to the sensitivity of both sponsors and members,’’ Ncube said.
For Moyo, Ncube put forward that the SG, knowing well that the HR sub-committee had recommended that the CEO’s contract be extended to the end of 2019, he decided to hastily reject that suggestion.
“It is thus prayed that the 1st and 2nd defendants be found guilty on the first charge each faces and be dealt with in accordance with the Club ordinances in so far as the punishment is concerned,’’ concluded Ncube.
Byron Sengweni of Sengweni Legal Practice, the lawyer representing Ngwenya and Moyo in the matter has also sent in his closing submissions where he states that the club has failed to prove the case against his clients. Sengweni describes Highlanders chairman Kenneth Mhlophe as not being a credible witness whose evidence cannot be used to find Ngwenya and Moyo guilty on the charges they are facing.
He is basing that on the fact that Mhlophe at the hearing refuted that he had instructed Moyo to write to Dube conveying the outcome of the executive committee meeting not to renew Dube’s contract, but when minutes were presented as evidence, he conceded that he had given that instruction.
“Further the evidence of Mhlophe cannot secure a conviction for he was proven to be inconsistent and that to be a witness who has no respect for fact. This witness flatly denied that he had directed the Secretary (2nd Defendant) to write a letter to the Chief Executive Officer informing him of the outcome of the Executive Committee meeting in question yet when presented with the minutes of the hearing which he was given a chance to read, he confirmed that the minutes were a correct reflection of what had transpired,’’ Sengweni stated.
Sengweni presents that the submission by Ncube that the HR subcommittee is superior to the executive is bizarre because in terms of the Highlanders constitution, that is not the case.
“The Executive Committee is the Supreme administrative duty of the Complainant. In terms of Article 7.7 the Executive Committee is empowered to appoint sub-committees which shall be wholly answerable to it. The Chairman Mhlophe’s testimony that as the Executive Committee they are junior to the Human Resources Committee is ridiculous when read together with Article 7.7,’’ wrote Sengweni.
His closing submissions are that Highlanders have failed to prove a case against Ngwenya and Moyo, therefore the two should not be found guilty.
“The complainant has failed to prove any of the charges laid against the Defendants, in fact it abandoned the termination of contract because of the absurdity of the charge. To date it has not been put to picture as to what provisions of the constitution exactly, the Defendants actually breached. ‘It is somewhere there’ or ‘it is implied’ on the constitution cannot sustain a conviction. The Defendants will pray for their acquittal,” concluded Sengweni’s submission.
With both parties now having filed their closing submissions, a decision on the matter is now imminent. Ngwenya and Moyo are understood to be prepared to appeal to the Zimbabwe Football Association if an adverse judgment is released by the tribunal handling the case.
@Mdawini_29
