Almost two months after winning an assortment of medals at this year's Paralympic Games in Paris, Namibian athletes are still kicking their heels in frustration as they are yet to receive their performance bonuses from government.
At the Paris Paralympics, sprint sensation Lahja Ishitile and her guide Sem Shimanda scooped the country's only two medals.
She won gold in the women's 400m T11 race in a personal record time of 56.20 seconds, and bronze in the women's 200m T11 event in an equally remarkable time of 25.04 seconds.
As per the country's sport reward policy, which was endorsed by Cabinet in 2018 and implemented through the Namibia Sports Commission (NSC), the athletes were supposed to have received their performance bonuses around the time of their arrival from Paris.
The national sport reward policy aims to motivate and handsomely reward athletes who scoop accolades at regional, continental and global competitions.
The policy also makes provision for trainers and coaches, with their rewards ranging from N$50 000 to N$100000 for the various winners at regional, continental and major world competitions.
But since the policy's introduction, there have been constant hiccups around its implementation, as funds are never readily available to reward the various deserving winners.
That has over the years caused serious friction between the line ministry, the NSC and the various intended beneficiaries.
As for the Paris Paralympics, Ishitile was set to receive a sum of N$200 000 for her gold medal in the 400m race and N$100 000 for clinching bronze in the 200m event, while her guide Shimanda was also set to receive the same amounts for the role he played in guiding her to victory.
Meanwhile, their coach Letu Hamhola was to receive N$80 000 for the gold medal achievement, and N$40 000 for the bronze medal.
But almost over two months down the line, the two athletes and the coach have not yet received their performance bonuses, and frustration is starting to set in as getting to training venues and taking care of their basic needs has become an uphill battle.
Sharing her frustrations with New Era Sport yesterday, Ishitile said she has yet to receive her winnings from the NSC or government as promised to them - a situation she said is tampering with their training and wellbeing.
"I have not yet received the funds. I got a call from my coach last week to inform me that the funds would be processed to my account, but nothing has happened until now. Since then, I have not heard from the ministry or the sports commission. I am still waiting for the funds to be paid into my account as promised," said the award-winning sprinter.
Delays
Asked to shed light on the delayed processing of funds, NSC chief administrator Freddy Mwiya confirmed that funds have not yet been paid out to the athletes, as the process is still in the hands of the ministry.
"Once that is done, they will be paid," Mwiya said in brief.
Sports director in the line ministry, Jo-Ann Manuel, equally confirmed that payments are yet to be made, but promised that the issue will be sorted out within this week or possibly by next week.
She explained that the delay in releasing the funds was caused by a pending team report from the country's Paralympics management team, which was mandated to submit a report upon their return from France.
"The matter is with us. However, the management team has not yet submitted the team report, which is mandatory to confirm the rewards. This is the reason for the current delay. Once the necessary team report is submitted, payments should be completed either by the end of this week, or early next week," said Manuel.
The athletes are not only owed bonuses from the Paris Paralympics, but government is also yet to pay out cash incentives for winning from the Kobe Para Athletics World Championships that was held in May in Japan.
From that competition, Ishitile and Shimanda are each owed N$50 000 for winning bronze in the 400m T11 final, while sprinter Chris Kinda is to receive N$100 000 for scooping gold in the 400m T11 event. Kinda's guide Kelvin Goagoseb is also owed the same amount.
Their coach T'Neil Young is earmarked to receive N$50 000 for guiding the two athletes, while Hamhola is equally expected to get the same amount as Young.
Context
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Despite its continued struggles to honour payments to athletes on time, government has in the past defended the sport reward policy, saying its intensions and envisaged long-term impact remain noble, despite the financial constraints.
Government first shone the spotlight on the plight of local athletes when in 2012 Johanna Benson became the first Namibian athlete to win a medal at the Paralympics. Government rewarded her with a house at her hometown of Walvis Bay and N$170 000 in cash, amongst other prizes.
A street was also named after her in Walvis Bay.
Similarly last year, MTC and Nedbank Namibia constructed houses at Rundu in the Kavango East region for the country's 2020 Tokyo Olympics silver medallist Christine Mboma and teammate Beatrice Masilingi.
Their homes are valued at N$537 000 each. This support exemplifies the growing recognition of sporting excellence in Namibia, and the importance of rewarding athletes for their hard work and dedication.
At just 18 years of age at the time, Mboma won a silver medal in the women's 200m final at the Tokyo Olympics to become the first-ever Namibian woman to win an Olympic medal, and breaking the world U/20 and African senior records at the same time.
