Karate mess reaches boiling point
office was unconstitutional, this has also caused further delays to the investigations pertaining to abuse of office funds during his term.
With some debts dating as far back as 2019, there are serious concerns that abuse of finances at the BOKA office exceed any fathomable amounts.
Furthermore, Bathai and company are accused of tampering with and amended the constitution of the association to fulfill their own interests without the consent of affiliates, a case that is currently being followed.
Probing more into the matter, it appears that during his time in office, Bathai is alleged to have manipulated and or maybe worked with some people at the register of societies to have the constitution amended without following proper channels for the process.
“They are currently operating with a constitution that has been signed by one ( 1) man, how did that get approved, but upon realization that there are some abnormalities with the process, register of societies has agreed that there is a need to rectify the situation. The BOKA interim committee is planning a special general assembly to address the matter,” a source highlighted.
Reports indicate that BOKA officials have not done any financial audits.
“BOKA is broke, there is no money in that office, the previous committee is not cooperating in terms of handing over processes, I mean how can a handing over be done through Whatsapp, it’s a sad situation,” a close source to the developments at BOKA revealed.
Bathai was ousted unceremoniously from office six ( 6) weeks ago after affiliates called for a motion of no confidence against his leadership following several scandalous reports which include amongst others a Whatsapp voice note by the association’s Public Relations Officer, Isiah Ramontshonyana, who did not hold back in his criticism of his president.
“We sometimes deal with thieves, I am here to protect the image of the association; sometimes you realize that you protect but someone is destroying, Bathai is notorious, he’s greedy, if possible he’ll be involved in prostitution, he is misusing the funds and is abusing the office. I think I’m going to quit before my reputation is tainted by what is currently happening there,” some of the leaked contents of that Whatsapp audio clip stated, some four ( 4) months ago.
Despite several reports of his abuse of office, Bathai is yet to respond to the allegations levelled against him, and contacted for a comment by BG Sport, the former BOKA president, as expected, declined to comment.
“I don’t want to comment on these issues, I’ll not comment on anything sport related until further notice, I am out of the office, please relay all your questions to those that are in charge now,” he said.
Interim BOKA President, Tshepo Bakwadi, who was given four ( 4) months to steady the ship, admitted that they are facing several challenges to get things moving at the association given a precarious position the office finds itself in.
“We have a lot of challenges, we want to send our team to the African Karate Federation and we can’t at the moment because there are lots of issues pending. Issues facing Karate have seriously damaged the image of the sport, we are seriously struggling because of what these guys did; but we will deal with the issues, they will account. We had asked to be given the financial audits of the association, and we have not received them,” Bakwadi responded.
“If this issue is not addressed properly, I foresee us having to report it to the police and subsequently there will be court cases because there are so many questions that need answers,” he added.
Botswana National Sports Commission ( BNSC) have also been accused of dragging their feet to intervene on the matter as the parent sporting organization in the country.
The BNSC Chief Executive Office, Tuelo Serufho was left fuming and far from impressed by BOKA’s request to send over 50 athletes to the Birmingham, Commonwealth games, a number which surpassed the total sent by team Botswana,
Although BNSC declined to support BOKA’s request, it is said that Bathai proceeded in booking accommodation for the athletes and never cancelled the booking despite not going to the competition, a situation that has left the association in a debt estimated to over P225 000.00.