Basupang’s story of pain and betrayal
Calistus Kolantsho | Saturday May 27, 2023 06:00
Under the chilly winter morning weather, I come face to face with Basupang at a local eatery. He indicates that he has been aware of my interest in his story, as we settle down. He believes that he has no story to share, but to me this is an unsung hero in local sport. A fortnight ago, Basupang dropped a bombshell when he resigned from Japan Karate Association (JKA) Botswana. A week after his resignation, his wife, Lere who was the chairperson also resigned.
When asked about the reasons behind his resignation, Basupang takes a long pause, stares into space and says it was no longer worth it.
“I spent the whole week not knowing what I should write down as my reasons for resignation. I was short of words; it is just many things put together over many years. I just thought it is no longer worth it. I have put it to JKA leadership, general meetings that our members have made me uncomfortable since 2008. I do not know where the issue was but I felt uncomfortable. People do not want to be controlled, they do not want anybody who can tell them not that was. I do not chastise anybody, I do not coerce anybody,” he said.
Basupang said as one of the senior karatekas in the country and experienced sport administrator, it will be difficult to be under the armpit of somebody.
“The only logical thing is to build something new. I am not building it for myself but for people following me. I have a club in Thamaga and they cannot remain behind. Anybody who also wants a new home under my leadership is welcome,” he said.
Basupang was the longest serving JKA chairperson, a member of the technical board, currently secretary-general of JKA Africa World Federation Sub Sahara.
He is a 5th Dan black belt graded by JKA World Federation and accredited instructor, judge and examiner-D license by World Federation. “I started karate (Shotokan JKA) at Lobsec in 1989 under Sensei Fisher Masilo, moved to Gaborone in 1993 and trained under Sensei Geoff Tembo. The organisation was called Botswana Shotokan Karate Union. It was changed to be called Jinseikai between 1993 and 1996. I then moved back to JKA Botswana around 1996,” he said.
Basupang said JKA suffered the first split upon his return. The other group under Sensei Jile Seema formed their own organisation called KaseHa Karate Do. The second split occurred in 2010 when Sensei Tshepho Bathai and a few others quit JKA to establish Karate Nomichi. Throughout this period between 1996 and 1997, Basupang and Sensei Solly Nageng stepped up to take over the reins from Tembo who left JKA in 2000 heading for retirement. Basupang was appointed vice chairperson in 1998, and he ended up being the acting chairperson until he was confirmed in 2000.
The same year, Basupang was appointed BISA karate national organiser. After four years, he requested to step down as JKA chairperson. The late Dr Mino Polelo replaced Basupang as chairperson in 2004. After a few months, he left to further his studies and Bathai took over as JKA chairperson. Basupang said he remained part of the technical board although he was at BISA.
“In 2008, Nageng requested me to come back because they were having leadership crises. Bathai’s leadership was challenged, and he also stated that he was fed up with being JKA chairman. He was also fed up with being BOKA vice president. I came back as chairperson and developed a strategy called JKA2020, it was a 12-year plan,” he said.
As time went on, things changed leaving Basupang astonished. “I do not know what went wrong, as a leader you always have challenges. In January 2018, JKA decided that they needed somebody else as chairman. A weekend before the elective meeting, my executive committee met to prepare reports, during that meeting nobody showed interest in challenging me. Even the vice chairman, Karabo Samuel wanted to continue in his role. I informed them that I had been a chairman for a long time and all I needed was one last term to complete the strategic plan. All together I had been chairman for 14 years,” he said. Basupang was left stunned when nominations were released a day before to see that Samuel was contesting for the position of chairman. “Samuel was elected with a clean sweep against me, it was a calculated move. I retreated back to the technical board and went back to resuscitate my club in Thamaga. Within six months, Samuel resigned citing lack of support even from people who forced him to step into the chairmanship. JKA was without a chairperson from mid 2018 until January 2019. Personally for me over the years, I was building Samuel to be chairperson when I stepped down,” he said.
Basupang said as a leader people always felt that he was overpowering everybody including his seniors. He explained that JKA Botswana constitution empowers the chairman, and when he acted people felt otherwise.
“During that same week ahead of the elections, the idea to remove me from chairmanship was engineered within the same people I was working with. That was confirmed by one of the members this past December when I informed him that I knew that he was one of the people who spearheaded my removal as JKA chairman in 2018. He told me that the issue came as an instruction, and they were following the instruction to remove me. It was not JKA as a whole but my own team. I decided to retreat back to the dojo and continue being a board member,” said the disappointed Basupang. He said JKA pleaded with Samuel to return, which he did and within the second year, during BOKA elections, he aligned with a camp against JKA leadership and he was suspended together with Sensei Keone Kgorotlhe in 2021. He said again, JKA was without a chairman, Sensei Benson Mophakedi was brought in as acting chairman.
“Mophakedi was not ready to continue with the position. I remember one afternoon, when I told him that it is hurting to see things taking a nose dive so fast. I depended on him to take over and Lere was third in the line. Unfortunately people lobbied Lere and Mophakedi withdrew from the race in 2022. Mophakedi said JKA had issues it was dealing with and felt that people thought he was the problem and when he felt Lere was the right person to salvage JKA,” he said.
Basupang said during her stay, Lere was able to clear the grading certificates debts. He said that is an issue that had been pending since the Bathai chairmanship, adding that even himself he found the debt pending.
“After I was removed from office, I pledged to sponsor the 2019 JKA national championships and that they should be brought to Thamaga. I was to pay for everything, the only thing the organisation needed to do was to mobilise to fill up the community hall. People decided to boycott the championship. Maybe they were tired of Basupang’s name. Only 80 participants took part. The next event post COVID-19 was the national championship in Francistown last year. I transported students from Thamaga. Together with my wife, we drove two vehicles and upon arrival at the venue, we only found officials. The championship proceeded with about 20 students despite people confirming during the week,” he said with disappointment written all over his face.
Basupang said the national championship was a flop despite many dojos in the north including the Re Ba Bona Ha Centre in Kasane which has 100 students. He said last year, the executive committee members resigned with black belts writing a letter to petition the leadership calling for an urgent meeting.
“They demanded a meeting and indicated that I should not attend the meeting. I was accused of using JKA money to pay for my trip to the World Cup in 2017. The reality was that I had personally paid from my own pocket for this trip,” he said.
Basupang said it looked like it was what prompted people to remove him from office in 2018. He said JKA was struggling to bring an instructor to Botswana because of the debt they had. The JKA technical board had resolved that black belts could go and grade in South Africa.
“I then paid for myself to grade for 5th Dan in Tanzania, upon coming back I was accused of using JKA funds because my wife was the chairperson. People went for grading in South Africa but nobody complained. During the AGM I requested the treasurer to confirm if I had benefited from JKA funds. We came to a point where our members became disillusioned,” he said.
Basupang was to be included for a position in the BOKA executive committee last year.
“JKA executive decided not to submit my name because of information that came out that it was an issue that engineered to be like that. The chairperson was misled to facilitate a decision while ill-informed. Such people had claimed that if they submitted my name, they were going to lose. It was not for me to be president but to be vice president. So I took this issue to the people I have been working with for a long and asked them what was going on only to realise that it was an internal sabotage that happened in 2018,” he said.
Basupang said he has even approached Mpho Bakwadi to enquire what happened to the agreement that was on the table. He explained that the agreement was for Bakwadi to be given a chance to be president and Basupang slotted as vice president.
“I asked him why he wanted to take everything. His response was that I should not blame him but the JKA executive committee. That is when I realised that I cannot stay where I am not wanted,” he added.
Basupang stated that he does not like power but to work and that everyone involved should work.