News Day
25 January 2013
EDUCATION, Sport, Arts and Culture minister David Coltart yesterday named an eight-member Zimbabwe Board of Wrestling and Boxing Control board tasked with reviving the fortunes of the sport in the country.
The board is headed by educationist, former broadcaster and Annual National Sports Awards (Ansa) judges panel chairperson Paul Nenjarama. The new board, which has a three-year term that ends on January 31 2016, includes former prominent boxer Alexander Kwangwari and boxing promoters Lorraine Muringi and Ed Hammond. Other members of the board are former SRC board member Tsitsi Muzuva, former national team doctor Farai Muchena, media practitioner Gilbert Munetsi and Rangarirai Charles Dzimba, the former general manager of the Supreme Council for Sports in Africa Zone VI. The new board takes over from the previous board led by Richard Hondo that had been in charge since 1980 before it was dissolved by Coltart in November last year. In a statement, Coltart said the new board was chosen after widespread consultations with the Sports and Recreation Commission (SRC) and various stakeholders involved in the sport.
“The Board has been arrived at after widespread consultations with the Sports and Recreation Commission and various Stakeholders involved in Boxing. I am pleased to announce my appointment of a new Zimbabwe National Boxing and Control Board in terms of Chapter 25:02 of the Boxing and Wrestling Control Act with effect from 1st February 2013. The Board’s tenure will last until the 31st of January 2016.†The new Board members were drawn from diverse experts in the field of Boxing, particularly administrators, former boxers, boxing coaches, boxing promoters and the medical profession.
Coltart said the new board will be mandated to revive boxing and to restore Zimbabwe as one of Africa’s top boxing nations. “I am confident that this new board will be able to resuscitate boxing in Zimbabwe and to restore Zimbabwe as one of Africa’s top boxing nations,†reads the statement.
“The state of boxing in Zimbabwe has been in dire straits with no functional and substantive board for over a decade. In the recent years boxing in Zimbabwe has been characterised by sporadic local tournaments and poor performances at international levels. The boxers have become inactive; hence it is virtually impossible to rank them to promote competitiveness. The urgent mandate of this new board is, therefore, to restore Zimbabwe as a top boxing nation by ensuring the re-emergence of the likes of Langton ‘Schoolboy’ Tinago, Proud ‘Kilimanjaro’ Chinembiri and Stix McLoud who made the nation proud by clinching international titles like the Commonwealth and the African Championships. â€