30 May 2020

Botswana National Olympic Committee (BNOC) held for the first time ever a general assembly in which all delegates participated virtually in a video conference on May 28.

This was not only a first for BNOC, but for Botswana sport too.

BNOC CEO Tuelo Serufho in an interview noted that they decided to hold virtual general assembly to ensure that there was minimal disruption to their business as possible.

“Our constitution is very clear that we have two general assemblies each year, one before the end of May and another before the end of June. Traditionally, we have been holding the meetings face-to-face, but as you are aware, there are restrictions to the number of people that can congregate in any one place at a time, hence our decision to meet virtually,” he said.

Serufho further said postponing the general assembly was never an option as they would not only breach their own constitution, but they would also be deviating from some of their highly held values such as stakeholder engagement, accountability and transparency.

Furthermore, he said while the social aspect may be lost in virtual meetings, there were many other benefits such as cost saving in account of no venue hire and food as well as printing costs.

Meanwhile, discussed during the meeting were the audited financial statements for the year ending December 2019, among other things.

There was also consideration of the budget for government financial year 2021/2022 and reports by BNOC president and the chief executive officer.

Discussing the budget, national federations expressed a concern that COVID-19 pandemic was likely to have a negative effect on the BNOC and sport as a whole, as such there was need for sport entities to reinvent themselves to remain relevant in what would surely be an uncertain future.

Regarding the portion of the budget for Anti -Doping, Botswana Cycling Association president Mmetla Masire and Botswana Boxing Association president, Dr Thato Patlakwe successfully convinced the general assembly that the budget, which stood at P1 million be increased to P2 million.

The duo argued that the BNOC was already struggling to cover a sizeable number of athletes in both their education and testing programmes.

On other issues, members congratulated the board and secretariat for the work they were doing, including the support they extended to athletes during the lockdown, but requested that communication should be improved. ENDS