By SHAMAOMA MUSONDA –
AS the Zambia Amateur Athletics Association (ZAAA) gets heavily embroiled in legal battles in court on who should run the organisation, the athletes next weekend get back to business in the National Cross-Country championship in Lusaka.
ZAAA international relations and communications manager, Davison Mung’ambata said yesterday that the association was going ahead with its programme on the national calendar which starts on January 10.
He said the National Cross Country championship would attract athletes from around Zambia and would take part in various competitions for both the junior and seniors.
“We are commencing with the calendar and on January 10, the first event of the year take place and that is the National Cross country championship right here in Lusaka.
“We shall have senior’s men and women in the 12km and 8km races respectively as well as the junior boys and girls competing in the 8km and 6km competitions,” he said.
ZAAA president Elias Mpondela said the athletes would not be allowed to suffer just because one aggrieved party had decided to go to court and that activities will go right ahead.
“The ZAAA, with three As will continue to organise competitions for the athletes and the injunction does not stop us from organising competitions but talks about elections so the games start next week,” Mpondela said.
ZAAA has joined the injunctions fever which is trending in Zambia with Samuel Matete and four others filing an injunction restraining the Mpondela exexcutive from disqualifying them from contesting the elections which should have been held on December 27 last year.
But ZAAA filed an affidavit countering the interim injunction which sought to remove Phil Kubombela as general secretary with the inter-party hearing held on Wednesday December 31.
High Court judge Chalwe Muchenga ,who presided over the inter-party hearing, reserved his ruling on whether to allow or set aside the initial injunction which contested the disqualification of Matete and four others to January 12.