LAST week’s article titled “Morocco boxers’ fiasco :more questions than answers” has attracted a sharp reaction from a reader of this column.
When the reader called to express his opinion on the article, he said it had hit the nail on the head and that he hoped it would help bring “sanity to sports administration.” As his call came in the midst of a meeting I was attending, I advised the reader to inbox me his take on the matter.
To recap, last week’s article bemoaned the embarrassment, shame and frustration four boxers from the Zambia Boxing Federation (ZBF) were subjected to after their government failed to find a niggardly K25,000 for air tickets to Morocco to participate in the International Boxing Association (AIBA) Kings Cup.
The Kings Cup is an important platform to showcase young talent from the continent by giving them the necessary exposure and, having under performed at the 2014 Glasgow Games, the Zambian contingent, which included Commonwealth bronze medalist Ben Muziyo, was expected to redeem itself by winning worthwhile medals and be in good stead for next year’s inaugural African Championships.
I said the Morocco fiasco raised more questions than answers like why the four boxers had been camped in the first place ahead of the tournament, presumably.a sign that government was serious about, or had the desire of, sending them to Morocco, but wondered whether the sole reason for camping them was to prepare them for disappointment.
I further wondered at what point the NSCZ realized it had no resources to send a team to Morocco-before or after camping the boxers. I also wanted to know whether the ZBF submitted a budget to the NSCZ for the tournament. Assuming they did, (which may explain the camping of the boxers), I wondered why government backed out of the deal so easily at the 11th hour. These questions were important as they spoke about the ability or a lack of it to plan, I asserted.
I went on to ask how long boxers, especially amateurs, were going to be subjected to this kind of treatment by their own government which claimed to support all sport disciplines and concluded by wondering which international organization would take Zambia seriously when it could abruptly pull out from important engagements like the Kings Cup.
In his email, the reader, who sought anonymity, said he wanted to add his voice to the issue. “It is without doubt that we have the wrong chair at National Sports Council (of Zambia) NSCZ ” the reader claimed.
According to him, the position (of NSCZ chairman) is part-time, but he (Mwamba Kalenga) had allegedly “taken it as a full-time job and hence has not given space to the general secretary to perform his duties as chief executive.”
In reference to Kalenga’s jibe at the ZBF which he urged to be sincere in its dealings and stop blaming government when it failed to raise money for international engagements, the reader said:
“He says that he will not look at any request (for funding) not submitted three months before the event! Let him (Kalenga) inform all federations world-wide if his three months notice is to work.” The reader further claimed that Kalenga “is busy travelling around under the pretext that he is attending sports functions when in fact he is just interested in the allowances that go with the same.”
The reader noted that the NSCZ has had chairmen who were top executives elsewhere and took this responsibility as an honour to serve the nation and not as a means of subsistence and cited Tom Mtine, Max Sichula and Chifumu Banda as some of the people who served diligently.
The reader concluded with a further allegation that, “We are reliably informed that he (Kalenga) now wants a vehicle for personal use.”
Comments: mwale.simon@yahoo.co.uk   0966 755574/0953744074