Sport struggles to attract best brains—Dr Tshube
Calistus Kolantsho | Monday October 20, 2025 06:00
Candidates who are contesting for the presidential seat are Tshepo Sitale, Yarona Sharp, and Ookeditse Malesu.
“What I mean by that is that it is rare to find the best accountant in the country at sport, it is rare to find the best lawyer in the country in sport, and it is almost rare to find the best finance person at sport. Typically, sport does not get the best leaders who are available in the country at that particular time, and there are a lot of reasons for that. Sometimes, sport is in the media for bad reasons, so because of that, they do not want to be associated with it. Just like politics, you do not find the best brains in politics,” he said. Tshube assessed the three individuals, starting with Sharp. He explained that Sharp is an average lawyer, not a top lawyer in the country. “She was on the board; she used to play basketball. I do not think she will have a lot of support from across the National Sport Associations (NSA) unless she comes up with a creative strategy. Her manifesto does not speak to what she will do for athletes but rather the incentives she will provide. She talks about appointing NSAs presidents as chef de mission. That is not a very elaborate, clear athlete-focused framework in my view. Regarding Malesu, sometimes there is a burnout, especially with voters as well as candidates, he has been doing this for a while,” he said. Tshube said Malesu might be seen as likeable, has leadership aspirations, and his experience in the military and karate (may be an advantage). He pointed out that he does not think Malesu has strong support and does not see him pulling it off, but if that happens, it will be better for him. He said Malesu’s manifesto talks about high-performance sport, taking Botswana sport to another level, and professionalism. Tshube said one thing that we never talk about is the ‘how part’.
“The frontrunner is Sitale, him being the senior vice president; he is a non-Olympic sport, and he has been very active. If you watched him three years ago, you could tell that he was going to run for president. He was the Rio 2016 Olympic Games chef de mission. He speaks about commercialisation of sport, he speaks about professionalisation of sport, high-performance sport, and those are the kinds of words people throw around. How come that he has been on the board for a long time, but this has not been done?” he said. Tshube said in his view, the BNOC presidency needs a strong person, because the Olympic movement rises above government, and for a long time, BNOC has not taken its place in Botswana sport. “It is just a space that celebrates Olympic Day, celebrates the Commonwealth torch, the Olympic torch and sends athletes to the Olympic and Youth Games. It has not really optimised its place properly, for example, if you look at their strategic plan and that of the Botswana National Sport Commission (BNSC) is a clear duplication. There is a need for a leader who will harmonise those things and ensure that BNOC stands out and becomes the federation for global sport,” Tshube said.
He said there are those leaders who, when they get into office, do not change anything; their motive is not to achieve success, but their motive is to avoid failure. Tshube explained that such a leader does not change policies or review anything, but in sport, there is a need for a high achiever. “I do not think we have had such a person in a while, and I hope Botswana can attract that type of thinking. BNOC needs that type of thinking, to say, 'Can we talk to government, ask to be given our funds directly, we do not need to be getting our funds through BNSC?' Then BNOC be involved in talent development because they send athletes to Youth Olympics, and those athletes are at the development stage,” Tshube said. He said BNOC must find a way to be merged with BNSC so that it has access to the huge chunk of the budget that goes to federations, so that development at that level aligns with BNOC.