Karate committee TKOs suspended secretary
Calistus Kolantsho | Saturday January 21, 2023 06:00
Samuel has pleaded his innocence three months after being slapped with a suspension by the committee. He has written a letter to the committee on the eve of elections challenging his suspension.
BOKA is scheduled to hold elections during an Ordinary General Meeting (OGM) to be held in Gaborone tomorrow. “I received a letter dated October 13, 2022 that informed me that you suspended me from all BOKA activities.
The letter alleged that I engaged in corruption activities and that I am under investigation, the length of which, however, was not stated,” he said through the letter.
Samuel said in the letter that it is now over three months into the suspension and nothing is forthcoming and the suspension is indefinite. “I demand that you call off the elections and conclude my suspension, prove my guilty and charge me accordingly. Clear my name of the allegations and postpone the elections to allow me to campaign,” the letter reads in part.
But interim secretary-general, Dick Othusitse Tshepang responded to the letter in which he reminded Samuel that BOKA does not deal with individuals regarding elections.
“You are not a BOKA member and you are not entitled membership benefits. You become a member through registered BOKA affiliates. We also do appreciate the fact that you recognise the interim committee legitimate as opposed to your insubordination submissions,” he said.
Tshepang said Samuel was informed in December that he will not be allowed to contest for any BOKA position due to failure to hand over office to the interim committee.
“We confirm that the investigations on your alleged corruption practices and conduct are still ongoing hence you are advised not to interfere,” the letter reads. Tshepang reminded Samuel that he is serving suspension on both BOKA and JKA Botswana and therefore cannot be entitled to any benefits as far as elections are concerned.
Meanwhile, Mpho Bakwadi, who is running unopposed for president, said he is ready to hit the ground running. He told Mmegi Sport that his immediate task is to instill order.
“When we were appointed as the interim committee last year, we were tasked with putting the BOKA office in order, attend to issues of financial report and deal with the matter of Shukokai Karate Union, which was expelled from BOKA. We were also tasked with making sure that BOKA equipment is returned. We have achieved some of those things despite the difficulties we faced.
There are some people who refused to cooperate with us,” he said. Bakwadi feels BOKA members have confidence in his leadership and they trust he will bring back the glory days in karate. “We have to start grooming future leaders to avoid maladministration we find ourselves in. There will surely be a change but it will take time.
We are going to be firm and bring back discipline to the sport,” Bakwadi said. When asked about a strategy to bring peace within BOKA, Bakwadi said sport is voluntary and it is important to work together. He said karate has a small community and they need each other. “The standard of karate has gone down due to unnecessary politics. Karate for the disabled will be introduced; that is something that has been neglected for long. If we want results, we should be ready to inject funds into development,” he said.