By ANDREW PHIRI –

GOVERNMENT will soon engage World Boxing Council (WBC) Women’s silver champion, Catherine Phiri to explain to her the outcome of a fundraising drive initiated last year by the Sports Ministry.

The ministry set up a fundraising scheme which was aimed at empowering the Zambian boxing heroine.

Sports Minister, Chishimba Kambwili said the money raised through the bank was aimed at improving Catherine’s welfare and not buying her a house.

Kambwili said it was therefore not true that the Government was going to buy Catherine a house.

He said in an interview in Livingstone that if more money was going to be raised from the fundraising scheme, Government was going to empower Catherine the same way retired female boxer, Esther Phiri was treated.

Kambwili was reacting to a story aired on a local television station that the Zambian Government had not fulfilled its promise of buying Catherine a house as promised when her fellow boxer Charles Manyuchi was supported by his native Zimbabwe after he won his recent WBC fight.

“It is not true that we were going to buy Catherine Phiri a house. We said we were going to set out a fundraising scheme through the bank so that we can try and empower her the same way we did to Esther Phiri.

“I can assure you that we shall still pursue that and when funds permit, we shall definitely do that to empower Catherine,” he said.

If Catherine went to a television station to complain over a house, Kambwili said it was unfortunate because his ministry does not run sport through the media especially that the boxer even knew his office and that of the Permanent Secretary, Agnes Musunga.