MALUNGA CHALLENGES ZAMBIA BOXING FEDERATION

By MICHAEL MIYOBA ORIENTAL Quarries Boxing Promotions (OQBP) manager Chris Malunga has charged that the alleged revision of the Zambia Boxing Federation (ZBF) constitution was fraudulent. In an interview, Malunga said the ZBF executive refused to hear guidelines from the National Sports Council which had directed the executive led by Kennedy Mubita to hold a seminar involving all the clubs who would revise the constitution page by page. Malunga said the ZBF executive took away the power for clubs to participate in making a constitution which would stand the test of time. Malunga said Mubita and his executive have been abrogating the ZBF constitution and NSCZ Act with impunity. “The whole process of revising the constitution was fraudulent. The executive was scared to meet the affiliates to discuss the process of amending the constitution. “When they were elected in office, the first thing the National Sports Council emphasised was to amend the constitution page by page to come up with a constitution which was going to stand the test of time. It advised that it would help us hold a seminar which would accommodate all club members. “We agreed but these guys did not call for a seminar, they chose a different process and told clubs to submit recommendations to MABA then MABA would summit to them to add or subtract. In short they took away the power of the affiliates to participate in the process of revising the constitution,” Malunga said. Malunga said for the past four years, affiliates have never seen any audited financial report when they have been depositing annual affiliation fees into the ZBF account. He said for the past four years ZBF has never held its annual general meeting and it is in arrears for failing to pay affiliation fees to NSCZ, the National Olympic Committee of Zambia (NOCZ), the International Boxing Association (AIBA) and the Africa Boxing Confederation (ABC). Malunga also noted that the proposal for people wishing to participate in boxing administration to have a Grade 12 certificate is meant to stop a lot of boxers who have represented Zambia at the highest level of the competition from taking part in boxing administration issues. He said there is need for ZBF to be inclusive and make decisions which will develop the sport instead of bringing anarchy. Malunga said the process of amending the constitution was not meant to deter some individuals from taking part in developing the sport. Malunga noted that 90 percent of people who have been involved in developing boxing don’t have a Grade 12 certificates but have done a lot to develop the sport.