Chaotic boxing board disbanded

The sport ministry on Friday announced the disbandment of the board of the Namibia Professional Boxing and Wrestling Control Board (NPBWCB), following the recent hasty resignation of three board members.

In a brief statement issued Friday, the line ministry did not mention the names of the three members that recently resigned and nor did it provide reasons as to why the members resigned. “With only two members remaining, the board is unable to function effectively, thus, rendering the current board inactive. As a result, a new board will be appointed in due course,” reads the statement.

The outgoing board was appointed in 2019 by former sport minister Erastus Uutoni, who appointed former health minister Bernard Haufiku as chairperson of the board, with the other members being local boxing great Josef “Joe Archer” Shikongo, Maria Pogisho, Saima Nghihalwa and Trevor Mills.

The NPBWCB is no stranger to controversy and has over the years been hit by countless accusations of maladministration, financial mismanagement, infighting and at times sheer incompetence.

Just like the previous disgraced boards before them, the outgoing board also failed to operationalise the much-needed new Boxing Act, which would have finally given a go-ahead to female boxers to fight professionally and equally remove other regulatory barriers which have been haunting local boxing over the years.

The NPBWCB currently operates on the outdated Boxing Act of 1980, which was crafted in apartheid Namibia and no longer speaks to the times and aspirations of modern day boxing in the country. The outdated Boxing Act of 1980, in its current form, makes it illegal for female boxers to fight as professionals.