The Voice (Francistown)
Mojaki Monnakgotla
25 March 2008
Francistown — A high-ranking member of the Botswana Football Association national executive committee, speaking on condition of anonymity, believes they were robbed of at least two awards, if not three, at the weekend's Botswana National Sports Council (BNSC) five-star awards for deserving athletes.
The reaction of many supporters who graced the occasion may just as well be testimony to that. When the names of the Coach of the Year were called, murmurs around the hall showed otherwise. Many believed the high flying Cape Town Santos coach, Major Bight, was the favourite to get Top Coach Award. And it couldn't be.
Bright's former charges, the Under-23, however, walked away with the Team of the Year award, a factor which made many football fanatics believe their mentor was also to walk away with something for his hard work.
Instead, the coach's award went to athletics' Moses Isaiah, who has five gold medals with different teams and individuals he drilled. Bright's good work wasn't, however, unnoticed as out-going chairperson, Dorcas Makgato Malesu, gave him a much deserved Chairperson's award, which she noted was her choice and opinion so nobody could complain.
Malesu was also bidding farewell to the sports fraternity after serving for five years as chairperson. She noted that the sport fraternity was a massive project, which builds one's character as experienced during her tenure.
"Even during my three years as a vice chairperson, there was never any challenger so it shows that there has been that fear to challenge me," Malesu jokingly boasted as she gave out her last remarks in the presence of outgoing country president, Festus Mogae - who was also awarded his stripes for showing so much support to the sporting fraternity.
Mogae, when announcing the Sportsperson of the Year, applauded Batswana for uniting in sports and flying the national flag high.
"There is, however, a problem with singing the national anthem and I believe this is because I cannot lead by example. I can just not sing and perhaps that's the reason why you still can't sing the national anthem. As for the national flag you have really flown it high all the time," Mogae said.
Malesu hailed Mogae for having created the Sports Ministry and increasing the funds awarded to sports from a mere P3 million to a whopping over P50 million.
The awards were painted all orange - a sure sign of a marriage that begun this year with P300 000 given by the cellular company, Orange Botswana, for the awards.
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