DUNCAN KGANGKENNA

Botswana Boxing Association (BoBA) has no functioning executive committee after the whole ‘think-tank’ quit in solidarity with three members who left following a vote of no confidence.
This development took place on Saturday during the BoBA ordinary general meeting at which they were to update the affiliates on the progress of the sport in the country.
The three members are Michael Moroka (vice president technical), Marks Nthusang (secretary general) and Phetogo Tsheko (competitions manager).
This was after Tsholofelo Boxing Club complained during the preliminary rounds of Keone National Championships that Mmoloki Nogeng should not be allowed to fight because he did not fight the number of required bouts to participate in the Keone Moooka Mageu Tournament. The committee has sent Nogeng to pre-Olympic training in Havana in Cuba, according to former communications secretary Willowbough Kemoen. He said the boxer was sent to Cuba under the Botswana National Sports Council (BNSC) Zebras Fund since he was excelling just like other athletes from various codes who benefit from the fund.
But the boxer missed two fights in July and August and the committee collectively decided to award him two bouts locally for which he had to go into camp to prepare.
Kemoen said they awarded Nogeng the two fights not to qualify him to fight in the National Championships but they were sincerely doing that because they had inconvenienced him. “We still could have awarded him two bouts even if he could have fought five or seven times. It was a collective decision to give him the two bouts,” said Kemoen. He said it was a pure coincidence that the two bouts that he was awarded gave him a total of 12 bouts and qualified him to fight in the national championships.
Asked why the three officials were the only ones subjected to the censure motion, Kemoen said they were the ones who were delegated to represent the committee at Glen Valley during the preliminary rounds of the tournament. He said the three were just messengers from the committee not that they were there in their personal capacities. He said they resigned because the whole committee together with the three officials collectively made the decision to award Nogeng the two bouts.
Kemoen also told Gazette Sport that Tsholofelo Club lobbied other clubs to pass the motion of no confidence. BoBA has 12 active clubs of which eight signed the petition; so the committee had to resign because they were in the majority.
Kemoen regretted the decision but was proud of their achievements during their tenure. By the time of going to press, Kemoen said they had to meet BNSC chiefs to brief them on the latest developments. He said they also have to inform the Africa Boxing Council (ABC), International Amateur Boxing Association (AIBA) and Zone VI as well. He said sponsors need also to be informed. BNSC will now be expected to appoint a caretaker committee to lead the BoBA to their next elections in May.
Meanwhile, the financial report was rejected. BoBA was granted P1 million by BNSC to be used in the 2009 season. The OGM approved the new boxing logo.