Badminton president breaks silence on exit
Calistus Kolantsho | Saturday June 10, 2023 06:00
In 2022, Macheke and his executive committee were given a four-year term to lead the association. However, soon after assuming the position, Macheke came under heavy criticism, forcing him to quit his post. He was accused of failing to account for funds for a trip which the national team undertook to South Africa (SA) as well as money from sponsors. He is also accused of failing to inform affiliates and the Botswana National Sport Commission about the resignation of events manager, Edward Lesole. Speaking to Mmegi Sport, Macheke contested for election for the love of badminton. “People close to me requested me to contest for the position. Before taking on the role, I told them that I might have challenges, especially where I work. I came in with some reservations,” he said. Macheke said after the elections, he believed that he had a team that could take BBA forward. He said some issues existed such as administration and governance in the association. “There were no games, especially since it was post-COVID-19, of which we managed to start having more games. What was in my heart, you know as a leader you cannot share everything but I wanted badminton to be visible,” he said.
A few months into office, Macheke submitted his resignation. “Sometimes people who are voted are not fit for leadership roles. The current BBA executive committee is full of young people, unemployed and if employed they have never led an organisation before. An executive position needs someone who is in middle management or strategic management. We had assembled an energetic team but without experience. There was a gap in thinking between the team and myself. Internally some things were dragging me back,” he said. Macheke was worried that there was no confidentiality within the executive committee. He said that did not mean there was no transparency. He said it became a problem when the executive committee listened more to people outside. “That was the deal breaker; the previous committee members started influencing them. They started telling them that it was their success but things were centred on Macheke. Those things are normal but they need maturity. I believe those were some of the reasons I parted ways with the team. At a personal level, we are friends but we cannot click at a business level. I started to fight a lot of forces from outside,” he said. When asked about the funds, Macheke said the BNSC grant could not be deposited into a personal account. “Maybe I once had an allowance deposited into my account. But it hardly happened because I never travelled outside the country for activities. The only time I received an allowance was during the Botswana International, which was in Lobatse. I used a lot of my resources for badminton, maybe someone will tell you how much I spent. It will be shocking for me to get money from the BBA,” he said. Macheke said badminton is an expensive sport. “My wife will be shocked to hear that I took money from BBA because she knows how much I spent on this sport. Regarding sponsorship funds, we had six companies towards Botswana International, four of them in kind and the other two, in cash. I was the one who negotiated the sponsorships. The funds were deposited into the BBA account. I will then inform everyone about the money that came through,” he said.
Macheke said he has printed out financial statements, which he will present to the general assembly. He revealed that ahead of the Botswana International in November, some of the executive committee members pulled back and people could see we were not united. He said the members only came on the day of the event and the tournament was a success. “After the event, I requested the treasurer to compile a report so that we could retire the funds to the BNSC. But she took long to do that. We had to send a team for competition. The BNSC could not fund us and the team had to go into camp. When my committee was against something, they became against everything, even going to the extent of influencing players,” he said. Macheke said at one stage when the team was meant to travel, they would realise that the coach could not go as permission for release had not been sought. “I was hurt by that, really hurt to think how much I had worked to make sure that the trip was happening. The senior player, Tebogo Ndzinge in the team, had to take over as coach. We investigated the issue. We could not find anything substantial and the only thing I could do was to suspend the secretary-general, Thobo Bogatsu for 30 days,” he said.
Macheke said the suspension divided the executive committee. He said the situation became so tense that everyone turned against him. “An emergency meeting was called. I tried to find out the agenda of the meeting without any luck. I learnt during the meeting that (Edward) Lesole was the one who initiated it. He started saying he was not happy about a lot of things, especially the president who goes around claiming he was the only one active. That tore me apart; I had protected him when people were saying they were not participating. It really affected me a lot. I decided to resign in March,” said a disappointed Macheke. He said after his resignation, badminton elders pleaded with him to rescind his decision. Macheke said when he returned things got worse. His name was removed from the nomination as a council member for Badminton Confederation Africa. Macheke requested a Special General Meeting (SGM), which failed. He said that is when he decided to resign last month. “I will not come back if the current committee is in office, it is a big no. I still love badminton; I still believe we can go somewhere,” he said.