Maqonda Ndlovu
Nine of the 12 active regions of Netball Namibia have requested that the chief administrator of the Namibia Sports Commission, Freddy Mwiya, organise an annual general meeting, which they claim the board has failed to do.
In a letter to Mwiya, which New Era Sport has seen, the council says the ‘NN Board has failed to host the 2023 AGM, with no communication provided’.
“We, the NN council, had thus moved to invoke the constitutional provision to pass a vote of no confidence in the current NN leadership. Failure to host the AGM is amongst several irregularities we have seen. It is for that reason that the undersigned chairpersons of regions as members of NN call upon your office to facilitate or intervene on the urgent call to host the AGM no later than 10h00 on Saturday, 17 February 2023, at the Sports Commission’s head office boardroom, which will be suitable,” the letter stated.
The council has suggested several agenda points for the meeting, including the presentation of financial and bank statements, issues of unconstitutional appointments and filling of vacant positions, the appointment of an internal audit committee, amendments to the constitution, and the proposal of a new logo for NN, amongst other things.
The council also wants the endorsement of the planning committee document. At the same time, they proposed the establishment of an independent committee to run the MTC Namibian Netball Premier League, and a review of the playoff regulations and format.
One council member, who spoke to New Era Sport on condition of anonymity, said they had previously engaged the NN exco, but received no response to their questions.
“We are questioning the executives’ travel. Money is being channelled to other things, while some of it is allegedly spent buying gifts for the president of South African Netball. We are waiting for the NSC to respond,” the council member said.
Mwiya confirmed that they had received the email, and shared it with their principals.
“We gave NN time to respond to the matter, and we agreed that they have to respond by this Friday at the latest. We want to allow them to respond to avoid biased decisions, and will take action after that.
We are managing the process well,” Mwiya said from Ivory Coast, where he is watching the Brave Warriors partake in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.
Acting NN secretary general Isack Hamata said they are aware of the letter to Mwiya.
“There has been no engagement between the NN board and council on this particular matter.
The letter has been addressed to the Chief Administrator of the NSC. It is just respectful and courteous if he responds to the people concerned. He has asked the board for its views on the matter, and such will be provided before the end of this week,” he added. When contacted for comment, NN president Rebekka Goagoses echoed Hamata’s views, saying NN will make a submission to the NSC as requested.
She said she would rather focus on raising funds for the U/21 ladies’ team for their World Cup qualifiers which are taking place in Pretoria, South Africa during March this year.
The NN exco held a meeting last night to discuss the letter and formulate responses, as requested by the NSC and the council.