ZAKHELE BEATS GIDEON TO VICE PRESIDENCY

EZULWINI – Athletics Eswatini President Zakhele Dlamini has joined the Eswatini Olympics and Commonwealth Games Association’s (EOCGA) top table as the new vice president.

Dlamini won by majority vote of 24 and Gideon Mthembu came second with 12 votes. The vice presidential seat became vacant upon the appointment of now Secretary General and Chief Executive Officer (Maxwell Jele), who came on board during the previous General Assembly held on March 7, 2021. Three candidates were competing for the second time in gourmand position and these included the eventual winner, Eswatini Basketball Association (EBA) President Nhlanhla Maphanga and Eswatini Cycling Association (ECA) President Gideon  Mthembu.

elections

The elections ended up being a race between Mthembu and Dlamini following a debate on the eligibility of Maphanga, who was in chase of the bigger carrot while holding the position of a board member. A conflict of interest and contravention of the EOCGA Constitution, which forbids a member of the board to stand for elections as prescribed in article 26, which states; “A member of the board can only vacate office upon the expiry of a one-month notice in writing with the intent to resign from the said office.” The General Assembly challenged the Board’s decision to have Maphanga continue with vice presidential seat race despite this being in contrary with the demands of the Constitution. After over an hour-long deliberation on the matter, which was the last item on the day’s agenda, Maphanga was requested to withdraw but he declined, saying standing for the elections was an opportunity for him to grow despite having served the sports fraternity for over three decades.

The president then summoned the house to vote in order to decide whether Maphanga should continued or be dropped from the race and the majority voted him out of the election, leaving Mthembu and Dlamini to contest. Electorate officer Musa Sibandze was entrusted with the responsibility if conducting the elections. Each association was allowed to vote except for Eswatini Cricket Association (ECA), Eswatini National Netball Association (ENNA) and Eswatini Teqball Association (ETA). Upon the announcement as the president’s right hand man, Dlamini was welcomed to the top table by the President Adam ‘Bomber’ Mthethwa. “I would like to congratulate and welcome you to EOCGA’s executive. I also want to appreciate the General Assembly for your participation,” Mthethwa said.

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