Karate war lands in High Court

Calistus Kolantsho | Saturday December 17, 2022 17:42

 

According to court papers that were filed yesterday, the applicant in the matter, JKA Botswana World Federation wanted a meeting scheduled for today to be declared “irregular and unlawful” calling upon respondents, Keone Kgorotlhe, Thabang Lesole, and Bikie Gasemotse.

The court granted the order to restrain the respondents from proceeding with today’s meeting. It further called upon the respondents, who were not present in court at the time, to appear on February 9, 2023, “to show cause, if any,” why the order should not be made final in “directing that a meeting scheduled for December 17, 2022, by respondents as being irregular and unlawful”.

As further stated in the papers, the respondents are instructed to pay the costs of the case.

The tension between the JKA Botswana executive committee and clubs started when the latter proposed a special general assembly.

One of the clubs’ representatives said that all they want is justice.

“We wrote a letter to the executive committee and we gave them 14 days to respond but they failed to meet the deadline. As we speak, Botswana has been banned by Japan, which is why black belt grading is done in South Africa. We owe Japan a lot of money but that is not something that our leaders want us to voice out. You complain, you are slapped with a suspension,” the source said.

The club representative said five executive committee members resigned and members were not informed.

“Some people were co-opted without the consent of the clubs. Why did they not replace those members with the runners-up from the elections?” the source wondered.

SportMonitor is informed that the clubs proceeded with the meeting in the absence of the respondents, allegedly acting against this morning’s court order.