National Olympic Committee of Zambia (NOCZ) President Alfred Foloko welcomed Botswana National Olympic Committee (BNOC) President Colonel Botsang Tshenyego to Zambia earlier today.
Colonel Tshenyego who is also chairperson of the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (ANOCA) Environment Commission, is on a visit to Zambia to discuss various matters related to governance and the environment.
“As the person in charge of governance in the ANOCA Zone 6 Region, Colonel Tshenyego was tasked with auditing NOCZ on their governance practices and making recommendations to ANOCA on how to improve based on what he had observed,” Foloko revealed.
Colonel Tshenyego was pleased to see that Zambia's sport was heading in the right direction, and he believed that the visit by high-level officials from the Olympic Movement showed a new phenomenon in the way sport was being run in the region. He noted that such visits are important because they allowed countries to leverage on each other's strengths and work together to improve the overall state of sport in the region.
He also discussed the new sports governance principles recently released by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), highlighting the need for the governing body to be aware of its duties and responsibilities and to discharge them in a way that meets the IOC and ANOCA's expectations.
Even though being audited can be seen as a necessary evil, Colonel Tshenyego believed that it was an opportunity to learn and improve. He noted that auditing exposed both weaknesses and strengths and that it was important to take advantage of these opportunities to improve the overall state of sport in the region.
He also took some time to visit and tour the Olympafrica Centre and OYDC Zambia -Sports Development Centre.
Colonel Tshenyego spoke about the potential OYDC Zambia -Sports Development Centre has to foster regional integration through sport.
“Facilities like this can be used as a vehicle in promoting excellence for athletes, in addition to providing a platform for sharing and exchanging different values and practices and harnessing the potential of the region to handle sports excellence programs,” he added.
On the other hand, Foloko was happy to state that the visit by Colonel Tshenyego to Zambia marked the beginning of good things in terms of cooperation and collaboration with the Botswana NOC.
“The visit will not be the last, and we will hold talks on bilateral areas and signing off MOUs. Zambia has a lot to learn from Botswana's strong international performance, and Colonel Tshenyego is committed to working with us to improve the state of sport in the region,” he added.
Colonel Tshenyego met with NOCZ Secretary General Boniface Kambikambi who welcomed him to the NOCZ Secretariat, Athletes Commission Chairperson Richard Mulenga and was welcomed to OYDC Zambia by Human Resource and Administration Manager, Arthur Mwale, OYDC Zambia Lodge Manager Lily Ngosa and Personal Assistant to the Chief Executive Officer Margret Mbambara.
He is expected to interact with various stakeholders in the Zambian Sports fraternity, including the Ministry of Youth, Sport, and Arts during his visit.
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