Bickering chess under scrutiny
The Botswana Chess Federation (BCF) has largely managed to stay out of unwanted attention but the sport finds itself at the centre of a potentially damaging internal fight.
The executive committee faces a motion of no confidence, as internal bickering has forced clubs to call for a special congress. The BCF secretary-general, Mokwadi Tingwane resigning through the media.
The war between the president, Moses Segaise and Moses Khutsafalo is now playing out in the open. In a dramatic turn of events, the two suspended each other this week.
Khutsafalo told Mmegi Sport that he was still trying to understand the context of the letter directed to him by the president.
“This is based on the fact that it does not make any reference to any clause on the constitution or any clause on the BCF constitution or any referenced document, and I have also searched through our legal document to try and liken this to the merits of our governing guidelines. However, there seems not to be any provision for such,” he said.
Khutsafalo said the president wrote the letter as an individual without any executive collective view. “However, as far as I recall this was never the case. In summary, as it stands our constitution does not have any provision for such. Therefore the letter written in his individual capacity is not guided by any clause or policy within the BCF structure,” he said.
Khutsafalo said in his view, Segaise was expressing his individual concerns. He said on
his end, he also felt befitting to write back to Segaise to express his concerns and point to some of the anomalies in relation to the president’s office, which he has since shared with chess principal members for them to advise on.
“We have had some good relationships and obviously some challenges along the way like any other structure. However, the current course of action (suspension) is unprecedented. At the moment I cannot really speak on the current situation since I have been removed from all official platforms. I am not privy to the current state of affairs,” he said.
Khutsafalo is ready to continue working with the executive. He said they came into the committee as individuals who came together as a team to build and grow chess.
“I want to believe that in all our challenges we are all probably striving for a better enhancement and development of chess. Therefore
by being duly elected by the members, I am still willing and looking forward to serve in this committee,” he said.
For his part, Segaise was diplomatic. “I consulted and the advise I have received is that since the matter is still being attended to internally it is best we allow internal processes to be exhausted first and only then would we be in a position to discuss with our partners in the media fraternity,” Segaise said.
Meanwhile, Khutsafalo said BCF will go for an Annual General Meeting (AGM) in June. He said prior to that date, an internal brief discussion was held on the matter, but no further follow-up was made.
Khutsafalo said part of the discussion was based around the possibility of postponing the AGM, which at the moment remains indefinitely shelved. “It is worth noting that the constitution dictates that the AGM should be held before end of July,” Khutsafalo said.