Shock as BOKA PRO quits
Calistus Kolantsho | Monday September 18, 2023 12:46
He indicated that he was not happy with the way the executive committee is handling matters brought forth. “I officially inform you of my immediate resignation from the BOKA executive committee. Nomichi membership has been unfairly terminated on allegations of non-payment of annual affiliation fee for the financial year 2022/2023, but they had dully paid the fee amounting to P2,000 in March 31, 2022 through bank ATM deposit as reflected in BOKA bank statement. The federation also wrote to BOKA in that regard,” he said through the letter.
Dube said the secretary-general, Othusitse Tshepang Dick has been indefinitely suspended from the committee and still being denied justice. He argued that the committee is prone to misleading the general assembly in pursuit of achieving their personal interests.
In October 2022, the BOKA interim committee took a decision to suspend Karate Nomichi from all activities. The reasons given in the suspension letter was that the federation had not paid affiliation fee for 2022/2023 and they had used BOKA funds for their own activity. Nomichi membership was terminated in February 2023 for failing to pay the affiliation fee. Speaking during the Annual General Meeting (AGM) that was held on Saturday, BOKA president, Mpho Bakwadi said Nomichi was expelled due to two significant issues, failure to pay affiliation fee and failure to repay funds they used for the Lobatse Sports Festival. “Nomichi was given an opportunity to demonstrate their affiliation status but were unable to do so.
They were also requested to settle P27,000 for the event that they held but did not comply,” he said. Responding to the address, Dube informed the delegates that Nomichi had paid affiliation fee. “I confirm that Nomichi has paid. I have seen the payment confirmation letter and the deposit receipt; the treasurer and other executive committee members have seen those documents. Of course the president was not present during that meeting when the documents came through. If you want to expel Nomichi, it is better if you find something else that you can use, not the affiliation fee,” Dube said to the surprise of the delegates. According to a letter written by Nomichi chairperson, Moemedi Mpebe dated March 10, 2023, he had deposited P2,000 into the BOKA bank account in March 31, 2022. Mpebe said through the letter that the bank statement will indicate that the payment had been made. For his part, BOKA vice president-administration, Moemedi Nthapelelang said it remains unclear what the P2,000 payment was for. He said there was no proof that states what the payment was for and they do not want to make assumptions. Nthapelelang stated that they have procedures in place that should be followed to make things easy.
“The procedure is that after payment has been made, you go to BOKA office, present proof of payment and inform them what the payment is for. You will then be issued with a receipt. We have not received proof that this payment was for affiliation and for which financial year,” he said. Shitoryu-Shukokai Union chairperson, Keorapetse Mogopodi said BOKA does not provide receipt to affiliates when they pay affiliation fees. “For all the years I have been paying affiliation fees, I have only one receipt.
Your fellow executive committee members could have advised you properly, now you are defending something that is not being done. This is how BOKA works, it is always on a defensive mode. But we are hopeful the Bakwadi-led committee will change that,” Mogopodi said. For his part, Mabuni Federation chairperson, Thupa Thupa said since the office confirmed that payment has been made, it means there was an administration lapse. He said the motion that calls for reinstatement of Nomichi can be considered provided that there is evidence provided for the payment. He said the office can therefore do the needful. Meanwhile, Bakwadi said the financial report cannot be presented due to the absence of the treasurer, Kemmonye Seletamotse.
He requested the delegates to grant the executive committee three weeks in order to sort out the issue. Bakwadi added that they can only account for the three months they have been in office. Ofenetse Bakwadi of Hayashi-Ha said the absence of the treasurer was a concern, and failure to present the financial report has always been an eyesore for BOKA. He said they do not want to repeat the same mistakes of the previous leadership. Another delegate, Kufukan chief instructor, Otto Tafa said the AGM was initially set for June and was postponed to September, which means the executive committee had enough time to make sure that the treasurer was present. “We continue to abuse our constitution. There have been rumours of misappropriation of funds spread around and we might end up believing them. Even in the last meeting, the financial report was not presented,” argued Tafa.