Erasmus Shalihaxwe
Namibia Sports Commission (NSC) Chief Administrator Freddy Mwiya has dismissed claims that the commission has taken over the affairs of the Namibia Paralympic Committee (NPC), saying that the NSC is only enforcing compliance with its regulations.
Mwiya on Monday told the Windhoek Observer that while NPC is not in compliance with certain NSC provisions, the commission does not have the authority to take over any sporting body’s operations.
“We only help them to comply with the law. Right now, they are not in compliance with the law when they were organising the elective congress. We had a meeting last Thursday and directed them on what to do to adhere to the law, we are waiting for their official communication,” said Mwiya.
Last week, Mwiya wrote a letter to the NPC ordering them to stop holding their elective congress, which was set to elect NPC leadership.
Mwiya confirmed that the NSC instructed NPC to halt the congress and submit a new date within 14 days, following discussions on compliance issues.
However, he did not disclose specific details of NPC’s non-compliance, emphasizing that all sports bodies must adhere to legal requirements.
NPC secretary general Michael Hamukwaya confirmed receiving the letter to postpone the elective congress due to certain irregularities but did not reveal the irregularities.
“Yes, we had a meeting with the Sports Commission, and they said they will fund the next elective congress because they stopped us at the last minute when we had already set up everything and we spent our budget. We are now waiting for them to tell us about the new date after I submit the budget before the end of this week,” said Hamukwaya.
