Chronicle EditorRicky Zililo in Gweru
THE National Athletics Association of Zimbabwe (Naaz) amended its constitution for the first time in more than a decade and set up district structures to solidify the process of talent identification and development.
The constitutional review process was conducted all night on Saturday at Naaz’s annual general meeting in Gweru.
Naaz president Tendai Tagara said his organisation’s constitutional review was aimed at strengthening the association by aligning it with World Athletics.
“Last year we had an elective congress and felt that we can’t look into the constitution going to elections. We said let’s forgo the constitutional review because had we done so, it would have been viewed as changing the constitution to suit particular candidates’ needs. Our constitution has gone for more than 10 years without review and that is not healthy,” said Tagara.
“I think two major things in constitutional review are grassroots development that we want structures at district level and we want good structures at provincial level. This will help in terms of development and talent identification and other aspects. We are also looking at terms of office for the leadership. SRC has been recommending that sport boards must have limited terms of office.
Looking at how long the term of office for president is, how many times can one serve. That’s the global norm. World Athletics term limits,” he said.
He said they also looked at how Naaz can intervene in governance at provinces.
Naaz now wants a four-year unbroken membership for one to contest elections.
Olympian Cuthbert Nyasango, the head of the athletes’ commission, was happy that his constituency was represented in the AGM.
“I’m happy to be part of the process of reviewing the Naaz constitution and it’s a positive development that finally, athletes can contribute in the decision-making process of Naaz. We are happy that there’s encouragement to set up district structures to help in development and talent identification. This will help create a big pool of athletes to pick national teams’ representatives from,” said Nyasango.
He also said athletes’ commissions in at provincial level to help address athletes’ challenges at a more personal level.
Naaz’s marketing commission met last week to devise how best to improve the association’s image to make it attract corporate partnerships.
“We have to attract more sponsors and establish partnerships to avoid getting stuck when we want to send athletes outside the country,” said Precious Tarakino, from the Naaz marketing commission. — @ZililoR
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