• MWILA
By MOSES CHIMFWEMBE and GRACE CHAILA –
SPORTS Minister Chishimba Kambwili has lashed out at embattled former Mr Zambia Sylvester Mwila, for failing to follow the right procedure when airing out his grievances.
Kambwili said indiscipline would not be tolerated in sports associations and that all aggrieved persons need to follow the right procedure within their structures, unlike always rushing to the press or the minister.
And Kambwili said the bodybuilders have the right to pass a vote of no confidence in the Danny Mkandawire-led Zambia Body Building and Fitness Federation (ZBBFF) executive committee.
The minister said this yesterday during a press briefing in Lusaka, that bodybuilders, who are calling for the removal of the current ZBBFF executive, have the right to do so since they were the ones who elected them in office.
“This is an act of indiscipline for Sylvester Mwila, to lash out in the press like that without following the right procedure. On the vote of no confidence, I feel the bodybuilders have the right to call for elections since they are the ones who decide on who should lead them,” he said.
Meanwhile, Copperbelt-based bodybuilders have thrown their weight behind the current ZBBFF, saying the reasons advanced by the midlands affiliates that met at the weekend lack merit.
The bodybuilders from various gyms on the Copperbelt on Monday convened in Kitwe at a meeting that was chaired by former Copperbelt Body Building Association (CBBA) chairperson Gilbert Moono to discuss the ongoing wrangles in the ZBBFF.
They resolved not to support the vote of no confidence motion that was passed by the midlands affiliates against the Mkandawire executive.
The current Mr Copperbelt champion, Honest Muyuma said in an interview yesterday that the bodybuilders from the northern region were not in support of the plans to remove the current executive because the reasons advanced lacked merit.
Muyuma, who recently condemned the two year-ban imposed on Mwila, said after gathering enough information on the matter, he had discovered that Mwila was in the wrong.
He said it was therefore disappointing that some gymnasiums were championing the removal of the executive that was merely trying to save the sport from public ridicule.
Muyuma warned that bodybuilders from the Copperbelt would not accept to be drawn into any schemes aimed at unseating the leadership.
“We feel a vote of no confidence that has been passed against the executive lacks merit because it emanates from Mwila’s ban. Kabwata Gymnasium where Mwila belongs should sort out their problems without involving other gymnasiums and for us on the Copperbelt, we will not support this move.
“We have discovered that what Mwila did was wrong and he should not have taken the matter to the media when there were proper channels for airing grievances,” he said.
And Moono called on banned Mwila to own-up and apologise in order to settle the dust in the ZBBFF.
Moono said the ongoing wrangles, if left unchecked, would result in the loss of credibility of the ZBBFF in the eyes of sponsors; a trend he said would have adverse consequences on the sport.
He said it was time for the warring parties to dialogue on the pending issues in order to ensure a smooth running of the federation.
“Bodybuilders on the Copperbelt are greatly disappointed on the ongoing developments in the federation. In as much as it is harsh for Mwila to get a two-year ban from the sport, people should not go to extremes of wanting to topple the executive committee, that is not the way to go,” he said.
