War of words erupt at Professional Boxing AGM
Calistus Kolantsho | Monday October 30, 2023 16:00
It was clear that the affiliates meant business. They had tough questions for the executive committee members whom they last met 14 months ago when they were elected into office in Mahalapye.
Thuso Khubamang of Scud Missile stable said ever since the executive committee was given the mandate to run they PBAB, they have never held activities. “You have failed us as leadership. We only see you attending our activities which we organise ourselves, and you do not even assist us with anything. It is only right for you to do the right thing and resign,” he said.
Khubamang accused PBAB president, Seroba Binda of siding with Bond Ngubula, even assisting him to seek sponsorship. “We are not happy that you are always discussing issues with Ngubula excluding other affiliates. You were busy promoting his event that he held recently, but you never promote our events. You are biased Mr President and you should just resign,” Khubamang lashed out. Reacting to the claims made against him, Ngubula denied ever being assisted to find sponsorship.
He requested Khubamang to withdraw the statement but he (Khubamang) refused. The delegates called for the removal of discussing rules and regulations from the agenda. Larona Francis of Perfect Punch boxing stable said the structure of PBAB was incomplete. “We cannot sit and start discussing rules and regulations when we do not have commissions. The legal commission should be the one leading us in that discussion and telling us if the rules and regulations are properly crafted.
What I am saying is that the item should be removed from the agenda,” he argued. Francis stated that the document contains contracts for boxers, medical, and technical issues amongst others. He said the commissions should be the ones implementing the rules and regulations not the executive. Francis pointed out that the members of the executive committee were elected into their positions but it does not mean they have the knowledge to run professional boxing. He said the rules and regulations are the most critical in running the association. Ngubula said rules and regulations are the operating mechanism of the association.
He also said the PBAB is a small organisation and they should come up with a model that can work for it. “We cannot have many commissions because even the number of professional boxers we have is small,” he said.
PBAB president, Binda said the rules and regulations document has long been shared with the members and if they had a problem with it being discussed in the AGM, they should have informed the executive committee instead of waiting for the AGM. “We just want to discuss the document, not to adopt it. The document was tailored in partnership with the Boxing South Africa, which is advanced in professional boxing. We just need you to make some remarks on the document,” he said.
Meanwhile, the affiliates refused to adopt the agenda until PBAB legal advisor, Kagisano Tamocha cautioned them that if they refuse to adopt the agenda, it means there was no AGM. “If there is no AGM, you risk your executive committee being dissolved by the Botswana National Sport Commission (BNSC). You do not want that, because you worked hard to be recognised by BNSC,” Tamocha said.