Kemoeng calls for more sport funding
Calistus Kolantsho | Monday July 11, 2022 16:00
Kemoeng was speaking during the Birmingham Commonwealth Games Team Botswana send off ceremony over the weekend in Gaborone.
He said there is need for an in-depth look into how things have been done all along and how they should be done going forward.
He said President Mokgweetsi Masisi’s Reset Agenda calls on all to look at what things to stop doing, what things to improve in and what things to start in order to catapult the country forward. Kemoeng said this challenge goes to everyone.
“I am not about to prescribe the way forward for you, but whatever we decide, it is time we have a closer look at the way we fund sport. We need to put our money where our mouths are. We need to put our best foot forward. We need to identify and go for the low hanging fruits,” he said.
He said there is need to stop pumping money into projects that bring no pride to the nation, projects that do not address the country’s unemployment challenges, projects that instead take jobs away from Botswana and give them to other countries, projects that are nothing but sentimental.
“We can no longer afford to throw money at projects that do not take us anywhere.
We can no longer afford defiant administrators; administrators who abhor accountability, who do not want to be asked to account. Administrators whose agendas are far from aligning with the aspirations of this country,” he said.
Kemoeng also said the rethinking should set the tone for Botswana sport going forward. He said anything that government puts into sport should be an investment for the future. He added that there would be more on this going forward.
Meanwhile, Botswana is sending a team of 36 athletes to the Commonwealth Games, which is the largest team the country has ever sent to the games. The medal target stands at eight. The team will compete in athletics, boxing, cycling, lawn bowls, judo and swimming. For the first time, Botswana will compete in the men’s 400m hurdles.
“The team is additionally fielding the largest number of female athletes to compete at the Commonwealth Games, with 16 members of our team being female. To crown it all, our lawn bowls team is all female, including their coach,” Kemoeng said.
He said whatever the result, they will be accepted.
“By all means avoid falling prey to the pressures of competition by imbibing banned substances that may prematurely end your careers. The consequences of this are normally unintended. In cases where they are intended, they are normally undesired,” Kemoeng said.
For his part, the Botswana National Olympic Committee (BNOC) president, Colonel Botsang Tshenyego said sport integrity should not be tarnished by doping. He said the excellence they talk about in sport does not include winning at all costs.
“We see you as heroes and heroines even before you leave for the games,” he said.