Maqonda Ndlovu
Namibia bagged six nominations for the African Union Sports Council (AUSC) Region 5 Annual Sports Awards (Rasa) 2023 which will be held in Eswatini on 24 June 2023.
This was announced by the Rasa organising committee in a media release made available to New Era Sport on Saturday.
Athletes, coaches, member countries, regional confederations, journalists and teams that produced outstanding performances in sports at regional and international levels will compete for awards in 12 categories.
Each category has three nominated persons.
Namibia Sports Commission (NSC) chief administrator Freddy Simataa Mwiya welcomed the nominations, saying the country is competing against the best in the region – South Africa and Botswana.
“It will be a tough competition,” he said.
However, Mwiya said as the NSC, they have an issue with the method of adjudication for the awards.
“The issue of voting is not fair because the selection was supposed to be based on merit rather than a popularity contest (voting). We are busy advocating a change as NSC. In Namibia, we have a panel that selects winners, and that’s what we have suggested so far.”
Mwiya added that Namibia’s six nominations are proof that sports are on the right trajectory in terms of inclusivity.
Chief executive officer of AUSC Region 5 Stanley Mutoya said the event will be celebrated under the theme, “Celebrating Excellence, Inspiring Innovation”.
“We now wait with bated breath for the night of the event where the winners will be announced,” said Mutoya.
The voting process, which will be held under the watchful eye of Grant Thornton Botswana audit firm, involved all the region’s stakeholders.
Winners from the national awards automatically qualify for the long list of nominees for the Rasa, from which the top three are selected and the winner is announced during the gala night.
Eight of the Region 5 member countries (except Angola and Lesotho) entered nominees for the 2023 Rasa edition.
Namibian nominees for Rasa 2023:
Junior Sports Woman of the Year
Christine Mboma, Athletics
Sportsman of the Year
Peter Shalulile, Football
Sportswoman of the Year
Helalia Johannes, Athletics
Sportsman of the Year with a Disability
Ananias Shikongo, Athletics
Sportswoman of the Year with a Disability
Lahja Ishitile, Athletics
The sixth nomination is Country of the Year