WINDHOEK – The dust just refuses to settle in the drawn out debacle between the Namibian Sports Commission (NSC) and Special Olympics Namibia that has left media practitioners being sent from pillar to post.
At the centre of the storm is the unconstitutional appointment of Dr Kagiso Moloi as a board member of Special Olympics Namibia. Moloi, a medical practitioner of South African descent has been a board member of the Olympics movement over the last couple of years.
This is in conflict with the Namibian Sports Act of 2003, which prohibits non-Namibian citizens to serve on any sports umbrella body or association in any capacity whatsoever.
Moloi is among a bloated 10-member board that was recently elected to serve for a record nine-year term. He was previously elected to the plum position of chairman of Namibian Olympics but was quickly halted right in his tracks when it was pointed out that he was not eligible to stand for election as prescribed by the Namibian Sports Act.
To the contrary, Special Olympics claims that they were given permission by the very same NSC to have Moloi holed up in their structures as an ordinary board member – very much against the spirit of the Namibian Sports Act, that clearly disarms Moloi as a potential candidate.
New Era Sports sought clarity from the NSC on the apparent misunderstanding: “The act is very clear and prohibits any non- Namibian citizen to sit on a decision-making body as this is in contravention of section 25,” says NSC Chairperson Vivienne Katjiuongua.
In the meantime, members of the Special Olympics have been ducking questions and resolved to pass the buck while failing to identify the person within the NSC who gave them permission to accommodate Moloi.
By Carlos Kambaekwa