Tumiso Rakgare said upon arrival at the ministry headquarters, there was a lot he had to learn before he could make any change.
“The first few months of my arrival, there was a COVID-19 pandemic. I believe the pandemic assisted me in quickly understanding the programme of the ministry because I had ample time to read and learn more about the ministry. I also looked at the Botswana National Sport Commission (BNSC) and the Botswana National Olympic Committee (BNOC). After appreciating MYSC programmes, I met with some former athletes such as Diphetogo Selolwane, Isaac Makwala, Glody Dube, and Nijel Amos. That was a time when we were preparing for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics,” he said.
Rakgare said Amos’ request was that instead of athletes being rewarded after competitions, funds should be invested into preparations. He said Amos argued that when teams leave for competition, they should have prepared well. He said that is why Debswana Mining Company was able to allocate sponsorship to athletics. “I want to give credit to Amos; he came up with this idea. We used to see companies jumping on board when a team came back with medals. I was clear on the issue of sponsorships, ensuring that the government paves the way for sporting organisations to attract sponsorship. When I came in, softball was on the verge of losing the BoFiNET sponsorship, Spar had terminated its netball sponsorship, Mascom had ended its sponsorship with volleyball, and BTC had ended its sponsorship to the BFA for the Premier League. I came during a tough time and sport cannot survive without the private sector,” he said.
Rakgare admitted that they have not successfully changed the landscape but they paved the way and enabled the private sector to operate in a conducive environment, which is why companies such as Debswana and First National Bank are on board.
“FNB had agreed with the BFA that they are going to sponsor The Mares and Zebras. But I said to them, ‘No!’ they cannot sponsor Zebras because it belongs to the government. I would rather have the FNB sponsorship going towards the Women’s League and the Premier League.
By then, The Mares had just qualified for the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) for the second time. We ended up agreeing that women needed to be inspired. Lucara Mining also came on board to give The Mares rewards. The relationship between the private sector and government is very important,” he said.
Rakgare said the national team rewards were little, noting that when Amantle Montsho finished in position four at the 2012 London Olympics she was paid P5, 000. According to the 2012 incentive package for national team athletes, athletics was in category two and the appearance fee was P2, 000. There was P100, 000 for winning a gold medal at the Olympics, P75, 000 for silver, P50, 000 for bronze, P10, 000 for finishing in the top four and P5, 000 for the top eight finish.
“Athletes needed motivation and dignity, that is why I changed the incentives package. Now when you win a bronze medal you get P100, 000, silver P200, 000 and P250, 000 for a gold medal. Our relay team that brought silver from the Paris 2024 Olympics, each member received P200, 000, excluding P30, 000 for qualifying for the Olympics. Daily allowances are now P800 per night. On top of the cash incentives, I convinced the government to allocate houses to the medallists,” he said.
Rakgare said they used to give football clubs stadiums for free because he did not want to hear that clubs had failed to pay players. He said unfortunately clubs abused the special dispensation and still failed to pay players.
“I was pushing for good governance. You cannot run good sport with administrators who do not have good governance. Situations of misusing funds, it is not a good thing. There should be principles of good governance in our sport. There were also internal fights within members of executive committees and there is no company that wants to associate with that,” he said.
Regarding the High Court matter between the Botswana Karate Association (BOKA) current committee and the ousted committee, Rakgare said if indeed the BNSC was paying legal fees for BOKA, it is a good thing because it is an indication that they do not condone lawlessness.
“I was going to be ashamed if I was part of the previous committee. They did not do good for the sport. Their issues are heartbreaking because it was individuals within BOKA, not the entire executive committee. Somebody within the committee connived with a thug-cum-politician. I do not want to mention names, but they came in to defraud the BNSC on the BOKA Dojo project. Such people should be banned from sport for life,” Rakgare said.
Rakgare explained that sport should align its strategy with the government Meetings, Incentives, Conference and Exhibition (MICE) strategy, hence they decided to bid for AFCON 2027. He said the bid was not only about football but changing the infrastructure of the landscape. Rakgare revealed that one of the stadiums that was in the AFCON bid book is going to be constructed.
“The stadium will be built very soon. I will not mention where but we want to increase our infrastructure,” he said.
The minister said he was happy that during his tenure, funding for sport increased for the first time in history. The budgets increased and the BNSC received P114 million during the past financial year and in the current financial year, they have received P216 million. He said the BNSC development budget increased from P27 million to P100 million.
Rakgare said he has achieved what he wanted, which is that government should give sport the attention it deserves.
“There were internal fights between the BNSC and the BNOC. It was something that upset me because it was elders who were involved and I wanted that to end. I gave them an assignment in 2020 that we should work on so that we bring harmony between the two organisations. We could only do that by removing some of the responsibilities of the BNSC to the BNOC,” he said.
Rakgare acknowledged that there were some sport administrators who did not like him as they felt he did not give them the attention they deserved.
“I have had a good time as a minister. Unfortunately, as a sport lover, COVID denied me an opportunity to serve sport the way I wished. As you know, I am being blamed for the absence of School Sport. I came in during a dispute over the teachers’ allowances. As a ministry we do not negotiate with unions, they negotiate with the Department of Public Service Management (DPSM). You see the predicament I found myself in? It was something beyond me,” he said.
