Corry Ihuhua
28 November 2008
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NAMIBIAN sporting codes will know who will lead the Namibia National Olympic Committee by at least 21h00 tonight.
That is if everything goes according to plan and if the two presidential candidates accept the decision by the electorate.
The current Namibia Boxing Federation President, Kelly Nghixulifwa, is challenging incumbent Agnes Tjongarero for the position, while for the Secretary General position, incumbent Abner Xoagub goes up against Callie Shaefer .
But before the elections take place later tonight, I need to point out a few issues which can be important in deciding who the next president would be.
First, we all know that Tjongarero has virtually made the presidential seat her own for the past 10 years and in the past had no serious challengers to it.
I am convinced that the fact that the codes decided to nominate Nghixulifwa to the position means that all is not well in the body.
I should say that Tjongarero has became too comfortable in that position and according to certain codes, her style of running affairs has gradually put her out of favour with most of these codes who are made to beg for her attention.
It is widely believed that if Nghixulifwa takes over, he will be the man that can open the doors to many codes in terms of international exposure and most importantly, put Namibia back on the international scene through sending competitive, well-prepared athletes to world events.
Nghixulifwa has done a lot for boxing and in his capacity of the chairman of the Namibia Boxing and Wrestling Control Board, he has managed to give local promoters the chance to stage major international fights, while some promoters have boxers who are on the verge of world titles.
That makes him a rather favourable person to take over from Tjongarero and he is also well-liked by many because of his friendly nature and openness.
Despite that, Nghixulifwa does not have a rosy track record as he left the Roads Contractor Company (RCC) under a cloud of controversy as he resigned by mutual agreement with the RCC four months after he was suspended over claims of irregularities involving millions of dollars.
But I think that Tjongarero has brought her part to Namibian sport too, by working tirelessly through her two terms of four years each to make Namibian sport an important feature on the international scene, but unfortunately her time to go has come.
If Tjongarero insists on staying, she will be ridiculed and be labelled as power hungry and some will even call for her head saying that she has now overstayed her welcome.
She can run for president as it is in her democratic right and of course if nominated to the position, but as honourable as she is, Tjongarero can make peace by making way for others to also get the experience and lead the organisation.
But I am not the one to decide.
The voters will decide who the next president would be.
Also, it would be good to see new blood coming into the set-up.
It is also good to see the position of secretary general being contested.
This shows that there are people who care about the sport and for some reason are not happy about certain issues at the moment and that democracy is alive.
Although the current members who serve on the executive committee, including the secretary general, claim to be serving the sport for free (voluntary service) it will be good for whoever has been chosen to remember the needs of the athletes.
It should not be a question of serving for self-interest, but for the athletes who in my opinion are the rightful owners of the Olympic House.
They need to be catered for and their needs should be addressed in the best possible manner.
Let there be free and fair elections and let the best candidate win.
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