CONFUSION ON DUBE’S BOKA CANDIDACY
We are not aware of his submission - BOKA International Ryushin-kan
Karate do Botswana chief instructor, Keorapetse Dube and the current Botswana Karate Association (BOKA) president, Tshepho Bathai have been drawn into different views as elections gain momentum.
The deadline for the submission of names for candidates was last week, Thursday. Dube told Sport Monitor that his style has submitted his name to contest as president against Bathai and Mpho Bakwadi, but now, the office claims that they have not received his submission.
“If Bathai claims that they have not seen my submission, it means he is scared of competition,” he said. For his part, Bathai said after the deadline, there were two names for the position of president, being himself and Bakwadi.
He said Dube’s name is not in the official list that the office has. According to a letter that was written to Ryushin-kan by BOKA on July 16, 2020, the style was granted provisional membership status into BOKA. “The membership is granted for a period of 12 months. During this period, your organisation would not be entitled to technical support from BOKA.
Provisional members do not have voting rights during general assemblies and also do not get financial support from BOKA,” the letter reads in part. Dube responded back to BOKA on July 17 after receiving the letter.
However, when asked about this letter, Dube claimed to be in the dark about the letter. He remained firm that his style has submitted his name for elections. He also stated that Ryushin-kan is in good standing at BOKA.
“Then check secretary general. As it stands I do not have official information from BOKA that I could comment on. All I hear is allegations and hearsay, but I still confirm to you that Ryushin-kan is a member of BOKA.
We have submitted candidates, but we never received any response to comment on, so let us wait for feedback of our submission,” Dube said. He explained that after BOKA responds to their submissions, they would map the way forward. Dube argued that Ryushin-kan has been a member of BOKA since 2014, unless they are talking about different a association.
“Let us wait for the official response from BOKA, not allegations or unconfirmed information, for now I will not comment until we receive formal response from BOKA that addresses that information you are saying,” he said.
When pushed further about the membership status letter, Dube said he would reserve his comment because the letter had nothing to do with Ryushin-kan’s full membership that they were granted in 2014 and rectified by general assembly into full membership. Bathai stated that the office had not received any submission from Ryushin-kan.
He explained that the letter that they wrote to the style is still in force. Other candidates for different positions: treasurer: Boikanyo Sugie Baleseng versus Kutlwano Mokukumani, vice secretary general: Bose Caiphus versus Eileen Alberts, Karabo Samuel is unopposed for secretary general, Sam Dire is also unopposed for vice president-administration, vice president-technical and Union Kgafela faces a stiff challenge from David Hobona. There is a surprise challenge from Isaiah Ramontshonyana from Jerry Ditlhong for the public relations office position.