04 Dec 2013

The Botswana National Sports Commission Bill presented to parliament by the Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture has been read for the second time.


Presenting the bill in Parliament on Tuesday, December 3, Minister Shaw Kgathi explained that the bill sought to repeal and re-enact with amendments of the Botswana National Sports Council Act and also continues the establishment of the Botswana National Sports Council under the new name of the Botswana National Sport Commission.


The bill makes provision for some inadequacies in the current BNSC Act as it does not provide for the contemporary issues in sport such as professionalisation of sport and doping.


Minister Kgathi emphasised that the professionalisation of sports is so critical that if it is done and coordinated properly, it would diversify the economy as more people would take up sport, create self-employment opportunities and thus accumulate wealth using their talent in sport.


In this connection, he said the bill therefore empowers the envisaged BNSC to regulate and promote professional sport.
 The bill he said, will also address issues relating to anti-doping as a signatory to the UNESCO convention against doping in sport.

“As a member of World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Foundation Board, Botswana has to be exemplary in terms of coming up with national instruments such as legal provisions to control doping in sport hence the bill aims at addressing such issues.”

He stated that the current Act is inadequate as it does not conform to the current corporate governance standards in that it provides for an executive committee with sweeping powers to manage the daily affairs of the council.

The arrangement, he said is anomalous since the day to day running of the affairs of an entity like BNSC should rest with a secretariat led by a Chief Executive Officer while the board is pre-occupied with providing strategic direction to the organization.

Minister Kgathi highlighted that the BNSC bill provides for a fully-fledged secretariat and enunciates its functions. He said the bill also seek to clarify the role of the envisaged BNSC whilst simultaneously clarifying its relationship with the Botswana National Olympic Committee, adding BNSC also aims at promoting the participation of vulnerable groups such as women and people living with disabilities in sport.

Minister Kgathi, further mentioned that the current Act does not provide for the immediate and clear remedies on instances whereby the executive committee members are ineffective in conducting themselves in a manner deemed to be inappropriate, however the bill provides for such members to be removed from the board. ENDS