Patlakwe enters final round
… As BoBA president announces retirement plans
BOXING
The Botswana Boxing Association ( BoBA) president, Dr Thato Patlakwe will not be contesting for next year’s elections after enjoying six years at the helm of the Association.
“Next year is BoBA elections, I will like to declare that my time has come to lay down my gloves. I have got other life projects that I want to pursue inclusive of time with my
family.I will not be standing for the presidency next year. I will hand over everything to the new capable person of your choice,” Dr. Patlakwe said when addressing affiliate clubs during the recent BoBA Annual General Meeting.
Dr Patlakwe perhaps the first medical doctor to lead the Association arrived at BoBA to pomp and fanfare reception despite being relatively unknown in local boxing circles at the time, he managed to pull an upset against the then incumbent, Michael Moroka in the BoBA elections back in 2014.
It was not long before it became a challenge to Patlakwe who had to deal with the BoBA political wrangles. Nevertheless, the medical doctor who later hand picked a number of loyal soldiers to his team managed to navigate the BoBA political storm. Despite being under fire from influential affiliates including the military backed teams , Patlakwe stood his ground. Most of the issue nagging the Patlakwe administrations included boardroom brawls that saw some of the committee members call it quits.
Some of the executive members who quit under Patlakwe’s leadership included Gibson Rauwe and Dirang Thipe. So bad was the politics that at one point Boxing Sport Development officer vacated his office. Dr. Patlakwe’s influence did not stop in the BoBA boxing boardroom as he soon set his eyes