ZHF, Boxing ordered to hold elections

Ellina Mhlanga Sports Reporter
Sport and Recreation Minister Makhosini Hlongwane has ordered the Zimbabwe Handball Federation and the Zimbabwe Boxing Federation to hold their elections following the suspension of their national executives early this year.

The two are part of the three associations whose national executives were suspended for two years for failing to comply with provisions of the Sports Commission’s Act.

The other association is the Zimbabwe Wushu Federation.

After the three national associations’ executives were suspended, the Sports Commission indicated that interim committees will be appointed to run the associations and their mandate was to ensure that elections are held.

The Commission was supposed to come up with recommendations on the people that would make up the interim committees and then submit the names to the Ministry of Sport and Recreation for approval after which the former will announce the committees.

However, speaking at his offices yesterday, Hlongwane said he had directed the Sports Commission to see to it that the handball and boxing federations hold elections since the terms of office for the executives that were suspended had already expired.

“I have according to the law directed the Sports and Recreation Commission to go ahead and provide an environment for elections for Handball Federation as well as the Zimbabwe Boxing Federation given the fact that both the associations’ election time was due anyway by the time of their suspension.

“And therefore it cleanse up the act to allow them to proceed in the direction of having an election to put in place substantive executives for the two sporting codes,” said Hlongwane.

Hlongwane said a decision will be made on wushu in due course since their case was different from the other two.

“On Wushu I am still studying the recommendation given to me by the Sports and Recreation Commission. The case of wushu is kind of different from the others and we need to be exact in the way that we apply our minds to it,” said Hlongwane.

Sports Commission acting director-general, Joseph Muchechetere, said the elections will be held according to the two associations’ constitutions.

“The elections either way they are held in line with the constitution which is registered with the Sports and Recreation Commission. So in this case for Boxing Federation and Handball Federation the constitutions are still registered with the Sports and Recreation Commission.

“The SRC since it has been directed by the minister it will go ahead now to engage the stakeholders to determine the electorate for each association because these are the people with the voting rights.

“If they are properly constituted then we will call for the special general meeting. At that meeting that’s when the stakeholders will make a resolution on when the elections will be held.

“So we are moving with speed to make sure that we have invited all stakeholders, then we are able to determine the electorate at which they will pass a resolution because those are the constituted members with powers to make a notice, then we move on.

“In terms of both of them it’s inside 21 days, then elections will be done. So within a period of a month the elections would have been held in these two national associations that is from the time we contact them,” said Muchechetere.

Muchechetere said for wushu there is need for a complete overhaul since their structures are not in conformity with the Sports Commission’s statutes.

“The elections for handball were long overdue. These elections should have been held two years ago but because they were just fighting over things of a personal nature, it kept on dragging.

“So the Minister has simply said if their term of office had expired, the simplest thing is to go for elections that’s the national interest instead of appointing an interim committee, it will drag again.

“For boxing it is the same thing. They held their elections in 2013 and they were due to hold their elections in March, so it means their term of office had already expired. So the easiest thing again is to go for elections.

“The situation of wushu is so bad to the extent that it needs a complete overhaul. It starts from scratch, it means the constitution has been condemned. It means also that the structures that are there, they are not in conformity with our statutes,” Muchechetere said.