In recent times, the Botswana Karate Association (BOKA) has found itself entangled in legal battles involving warring factions. The disgruntled members appointed an interim committee led by Keorapetse Mogopodi during a Special General Meeting (SGM) in February and passed a motion of no confidence against the Mpho Bakwadi leadership. But the move was declared null and void by the court as the 'coup plotters' were accused of working with non-BOKA affiliates. The High Court ruled that the Special General Meeting held under BOKA by the respondents in February was improperly and unlawfully convened. “The interim executive committee is interdicted, restricted, and restrained from holding themselves out to be members of the executive committee whether interim or otherwise under BOKA,” reads the High Court ruling in part.
The members did not give up as they proceeded to appeal the ruling where they were not successful again. On the other side, the executive committee had to deal with former committee members who went to court after being removed from office via a motion of no confidence. The matter was later withdrawn from the High Court. This has left Kgorotlhe a concerned man as he argued that there is nothing that the members are fighting for except personal vendettas. “In some instances, you might find that someone wants to revenge because their student was dropped from the national team. Such mentality drags progress and should be condemned at all costs. It is time we unite. Even the Minister of Sport and Arts, Jacob Kelebeng can intervene and request us to start afresh, then we make sure that the executive committee has strong members. Right now we only have Mpho Bakwadi and Union Kgafela (vice president-technical) as the only duly elected members of the committee,” Kgorotlhe told MmegiSport. He said the rest of the committee members have been co-opted whilst there are other strong karatekas who can be slotted into leadership positions. Kgorotlhe argued that there is nothing that can stop them from working together.
