Karas football in tatters

THE Karas Football Region is in a complete mess with the body torn apart by internal power struggles amid resignations of its chairman Isak Fredericks and his deputy Harry Jahs in mid-April.

Petrus Hoffmann blamed the Namibia Football Association (NFA) for creating ‘chaos’ at the regional body.Hoffmann said although he won the Karas Football Region body interim chairmanship race against Frederick at an extraordinary congress in Lüderitz recently, the NFA still refuses to recognise him.Following a tight race, Hoffman won by virtue of a casting vote. According to Hoffmann, the congress was called to fill positions on the executive committee left vacant following resignations of Fredericks and other executive members.Congress minutes in possession of The Namibian revealed elections for the other remaining executive committee positions did not take place, because some members staged a walkout in protest against Hoffmann’s election as interim chairman.NFA chief executive officer Barry Rukoro confirmed that Fredericks and Jahs have resigned.But he said as far as the NFA is concerned, Fredericks remains in charge of the Karas region because members rejected both his resignation and his deputy, forcing them to withdraw it.’This is not a decision for the NFA to take. By declining the resignation the members of the Karas Region have already taken the decision,’ said Rukoro.But at the same time, Rukoro said the purported elections where Hoffmann was elected as interim chairman are in accordance with NFA statutes.’It is not true that I am the one who does not recognise the purported new executive committee, this is not true. This is a matter of statutes. The statutes do not recognise them. My only responsibility is to see to it that statutes are considered,’ said Rukoro.He said no provision was made to invite members 30 days before their elections for seconded nominations.’To have an election without that process having taken place is unconstitutional,’ Rukoro said.He added that the use of a casting vote, which secured Hoffmann the interim chairmanship, is not allowed.’According to the minutes before me the purported new chairman was elected using a casting vote. That was unconstitutional,’ said Rukoro.NO WAYS But Hoffmann refused to budge, saying he would take the matter to the Namibia Sports Commission.He claimed only the congress has the right to declare the elections null and void.’Rukoro does not have the powers to null and void the congress,’ he said.He added that nominations were done from the floor by all member clubs that attended the congress, while the regional constitution made provision for a casting vote.Josef Isaak, who chaired the extraordinary congress and who cast the deciding vote in favour of Hoffmann, voiced the same sentiments.He said the congress was legally constituted, adding that the election process was guided by the regional constitution.He challenged Rukoro to shed more light on the statutes he referred to.luqman@namibian.com.na