Displeased PRO dumps BOKA
On Sunday, Botswana Karate Association’s (BOKA) executive committee received a painful kick where it hurts, dumped unexpectedly by their PRO, Keorapetse Dube.
Announcing his resignation with immediate effect in a letter penned to the BOKA President, Dube expressed his displeasure at the committee’s handling of recent issues.
“I prioritize my reputation hence I cannot afford to be seen in agreement of the unfair treatment of individuals and other member federations,” he explains of his instant exit in the strongly-worded letter.
Dube highlighted the fates of BOKA affiliate, Karate Nomichi Federation as well as suspended Secretary General (SG), Obusitse Dick, as being the basis for his decision to quit.
“Karate Nomichi Federation of Botswana’s membership has been unfairly terminated on allegations of non-payment of annual affiliation fee for the financial year 2022/23 but they had dully paid annual affiliation amounting BWP2000.00 only on 31st March 2022 through bank atm deposit as reflected on BOKA Bank statement,” outlines the former PRO.
Suspended in October last year, Karate Nomichi have been languishing in limbo ever since, something which did not sit well with Dube.
He was similarly annoyed with the way Dick has been left hanging.
The SG was kicked to the sidelines on 13 June for alleged insubordination at the AUSC Region 5 Karate Championship in Harare, Zimbabwe.
In his suspension letter, Dick was told he would be summoned for a disciplinary hearing after 21 days, when he would get the chance to respond to the allegations and defend himself.
However, almost four months later no hearing has taken place and Dick remains out in the cold, much to Dube’s dismay.
“The Secretary General had been indefinitely suspended from his Executive Board position and still being denied Justice,” documents Dube, who goes on to accuse the current executive committee of deceiving the General Assembly in order to pursue their own goals.
However, hitting back at the claims in an interview with Voice Sport on Wednesday, BOKA President, Mpho Bakwadi insisted he was surprised at the letter’s contents.
He maintained they worked closely with Dube, who was fully aware of the reasons behind every decision the association makes.
“First, let us discuss the Nomichi Federation’s suspension from the association. We did not suspend them for failing to pay their affiliation fee; they paid their affiliation fee, which took them five months to complete. They were expelled because they did not repay the P27, 000 funds they took from BOKA to support their Lobatse Sports Festival event, which was not an endorsed BOKA event because it was politically motivated,” Bakwadi explained.
On the issue of Dick’s suspension, the President admitted the matter was dragging on, blaming the delay on disciplinary board members being ‘held-up’, which caused an unfortunate postponement.
Bakwadi was confident the issue will be resolved soon, adding the suspended SG would be sent a letter, estimating the hearing could be held as early as next week.
As for the claims of misleading the General Assembly, the unimpressed President responded, “We are doing our job and following the proper processes to govern the association.
“He claims we were lying to the General Assembly by claiming Nomichi did not follow the proper procedure to affiliate, despite the fact that he is aware we have moved on from that and we are in an issue where the federation used BOKA funds to support a political party’s activation by hosting a sporting day at Lobatse.”
