Masumbika serves last term as region president
Calistus Kolantsho | Thursday July 6, 2017 14:55
Masumbika was retained unopposed as the regional president during the Region V elections held in Maputo over the weekend.
His vice president is Aurellio Mazias of Mozambique. Joe Rugweto is the secretary general, deputised by South African, Albert Marais. Cornelius D’Alton of Namibia is the treasurer.
Masumbika was first given the responsibility to lead the Region in 2013. During that period, he was serving as the Africa Karate Federation (UFAK) third vice president, a position he retained early this month.
Masumbika told Mmegi Sport this week that when elected for the first time, he promised to change the way the Federation was run. He said he has informed the members on his decision not to seek another term when his current reign ends. “Region V Council was stagnant.
We wanted to be members of AUSC Region V Games and also join COSASA games. We have applied for membership to those two bodies.
We were given the requirements of which we have adhered to. We want our athletes to compete in those games,” he said.
Masumbika said some of the requirements could not be submitted before being approved by the congress. He said such requirements such as the code of conduct and strategic plan were approved during the weekend meeting in Maputo. He said they have met the requirements of AUSC and are now waiting for a response from COSASA.
“If we join these organisations, we will be able to get technical assistance as they will train our technical officials,” he said.
Reacting to the Maputo championships, Masumbika raised concern about countries that drag their feet over participation in the competition.
The country that came to his mind was Zambia who arrived late in Maputo. Masumbika said they have always had a problem with the northern neighbour.
“I do not know if it is their culture or what. In 2015, they sent an official from the Zambia Sport Commission (ZSC) and last year in Zimbabwe they did not have a participation fee. They claimed that the money was being held by the government and they did not take part,” he said.
Masumbika said over the weekend Zambia promised they were on the way, until the organisers gave up.
He said their excuse was that they had a challenge with Mozambique border officials. He said the Federation has decided to meet with ZSC to iron out the issue. He added that the challenge is that athletes are the ones suffering.
As for Angola, he said they have promised to compete in the 2018 edition, which Botswana will host Swaziland has also shown interest in next year’s competition.
“As a new Federation, we want to visit all countries in the region and meet all people involved in karate,” he said.
Masumbika said they are in the process of introducing a new system for the 2018 edition. Such introductions include the seeding system and sports data collection.