Corry Ihuhua
28 November 2008
BOXING chief Kelly Nghixulifwa is ready to knock out incumbent Namibia National Olympic Committee (NNOC) president Agnes Tjongarero when the body is set to elect a new president tonight in Windhoek.
Nghixulifwa is favoured by many codes to lead the body when elections are held at the Hage Geingob Stadium tonight.
He told The Namibian Sport that despite being surprised at his nomination for the presidency, he was ready to do battle against Tjongarero, who has been in office for 10 years now, while he also vowed to deliver the goods if elected.
Nghixulifwa is currently the leading candidate for the position and is backed by at least 11 codes from 17 fully paid-up members which have voting power at the congress.
"I am ready for the challenge after I realised that there have been so many wrongs in running the affairs of this body.
Once elected, I will promote a sound relationships between the NNOC and the various sports codes, the Namibia Sports Commission (NSC) and most importantly the Government," he said.
Former NSC commissioner Callie Shaefer is backed by a similar number of codes to take over the secretary general's position from incumbent Abner Xoagub.
Xoagub came into the NNOC office on the card of boxing, but has since forgotten the interests of boxers, said Nghixulifwa.
"He has forgotten the code of boxing since we nominated him for that position.
But the bottom line is to have someone who can carry the interests of all the codes at heart.
All the sports codes need fair and equal treatment by the NNOC, unlike the current situation were most are left to be begging for help from the body," said Nghixulifwa.
He also believes that there is currently a vacuum in the set-up since Frank Fredericks retired internationally and wants to see Namibian athletes compete favourably against the best in the world by exposing them more on that scene.
"We need to continuously upgrade the level of our coaches and we need the interest of all our sports people to come first before us who are serving them.
We need to do away with the tendencies of favouritism and arrogance from some members of the" Nghixulifwa said.
Meanwhile, The Namibian sport has reliably established that the majority of codes are also in favour of voting in Fanie Oosthuizen as the new treasurer, as the incumbent, Leon Hemmes, decided not to stand again.
Also, there is talk that Johan Knoetze, Joan Smit, Dawie Augustyn, Jesse Schickerling, Adios Aochamub and Quinton-Steele Botes are earmarked for the executive positions.
Xoagub said the NNOC has done a lot since taking over from former SG Aupapa Shipanga.
He said they managed to source funding of over N$2 million for the benefit of Namibian athletes and are also working on number of project.
He said one of the most important things they have achieved is to plan ahead and they have a 2010 Commonwealth Preparations Programme.
He also said that whoever is elected should bear in mind that they will not be in office to serve the interest of only one sport code.
"It is important for them to serve all codes equally and transparency also goes with it."
Xoagub said that so far, they have been accountable, transparent, fair and competent and he does not see any reason why the codes and the federations cannot keep them in office for another term.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 The Namibian. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
