… CN a public institution, not a factory
As human beings, we are guided by a significant number of unwritten yet common rules and regulations in the way we behave or ought to live within the confines of those rules.
However, there are three very crucial components that are very much in short supply when it comes to our supposedly esteemed sports officials and administrators and these are: integrity, morals and ethics.
The ensuing brouhaha in which Cricket Namibia (CN) reacted to its reported handling of the sacking of national under-19 cricket team coach, one Norbert Manynade, has prompted yours truly to put things into perspective, reductio ad absurdum.
Well, the author always has this often misplaced belief that education shapes a person not only in the way they behave but more crucially, the way they apply their minds including the construction of their arguments.
Literature tells us that red herrings are a form of irrelevance, which leads the unwary off on a false trail. A red herring is literally a dried fish which when dragged across a fox’s trail leads the hounds off on the wrong scent.
Deliberate introduction of irrelevant topics into a discussion is a frequently used ploy and sports officials are certainly not immune to it.
This is particularly effective because it may not be obvious for some time that the trail is a false one, since, typically, red herrings have intrinsic interest and seem at first to be pertinent to the question under discussion.
They are particularly damaging to debate when time to discuss the real issue is limited.
My learned colleague at the helm of Cricket Namibia, Dr Donovan Zealand, came out with guns blazing, accusing external forces for the current mess and much debated issue of transformation within Namibian cricket.
This burning issue of transformation is nothing new – it’s a crystal-clear Achilles heel for CN, and even attracted the attention of the foreign media, not so long ago.
Any reason why CN did not raise a finger when the foreign media reported about the lack of transformation in cricket but when we raise the same issue, we are branded biased and getting personal, subsequently accused of pursuing an agenda?
Interesting in itself for someone who is the proud holder of a doctorate (PhD) – one would have expected you to make a clear distinction between development and transformation – these two words are worlds apart.
Transformation is about creating a platform for somebody who would have otherwise not have had that opportunity to compete while development is the nurturing of talent. Please let us divorce the two entities FULL STOP !!.
Lest we forget, staging sporadic coaching clinics around the country cannot be classified as development – those are mini tournaments.
Development should be an ongoing process and people with appropriate expertise and knowledge must be appointed to monitor the successful implementation of such programmes.
Please pardon my ignorance, but did I hear you correctly claiming that Manyande has not been fired in your submission as was reported by the media and in the same breath revealed that his exit package is being prepared while he remains on the CN payroll?. I’m just wondering.
Please take note that CN is a public institution, governed by the laws and regulations of this beloved land of the brave, funded by the Namibian government. It’s not a factory.
Irrespective of the severity of the apparent offence committed by Manyande, people are presumed to be innocent until proven guilty, obviously via due process.
In this case, the brother was never hauled before a disciplinary hearing to explain his side of the story. He was summarily just slapped with a dismissal notice.
The audi alteram
partem rule
Audi alteram partem is a Latin phrase meaning “listen to the other side”, or “let the other side be heard as well” with the ultimate principle that no person should be judged without a fair hearing in which each party is given the opportunity to respond to the evidence against them.
Yours truly fully understands that one cant bite the hand that feeds you but ethics and morals should take preference. I rest my case.