New chess chief Chikuse to prioritise accountability

NEWLY elected Chess Federation of Zambia (CFZ) president Leslie Chikuse says he will prioritise transparency and accountability in his administration of the sport.

In an interview after he was declared duly elected president in Kitwe, Chikuse said delegates knew they wanted a consultative and accountable leadership.

“Delegates knew what they wanted. They wanted an executive that will bring on board corporate ship, government support, innovations, especially, where sport should be used as a medium of employment,” Chikuse said.

Chikuse got 44 votes against the incumbent Mukubulo Chilufya, who managed 15 votes.

The others executive officials are Kenneth Tembo as vice-president, with Jeffrey Kanguma being general secretary. His deputy is Benjamin Mulenga while the treasurer is Andrew Zimba

Aaron Banda is tournament director with Bornface Mumba elected disciplinary committee chairperson. The four committee members are Monica Mayoche, David Kapembwa, Habeenzu Mweetwa and Cliff Mulenga.

Chikuse said it was good that chess members had again showed constitutionalism in electing the leadership to administer the sport and that it was important to follow the good governance of the sport.

He said there was need for the new executive to carry out the constitutional reforms to help better the governance of the game. “Chess members want a transparent and accountable executive, and leadership that is going to be consultative. In a nutshell, I think chess won. In sport there should be no winner and no loser because, basically, we compete to administer the sport,” he said.

Chikuse hailed the out-going president for the cordial relationship they enjoyed in the previous regime.

He said they tried their best in their time and that he was sure that the new executive was going to work with his predecessor in one way or the other.

Chikuse also hailed the Ministry of Sport for their decision to house all delegates and Sports Council of Zambia (SCZ) for conducting an incident free elections.

The SCZ was represented by board members Kangwa Mulenga and Major O’Grady Chinunda.

Chilufya said he would continue supporting the sport with enthusiasm and described his term of four years as successful because it changed the face of the game.

Chilufya said they were in an executive together with Chikuse and that he was glad and happy with successes scored so far.