Zealand dismiss Kangueehi’s vote

THE chairman of the Interim Committee of Athletics Namibia (AN), Donovan Zealand, insists that he is still in charge of athletics in the country and has denounced a congress in Otjiwarongo at the weekend, which voted Alpha Kangueehi in as AN president.

The former president of Athletics Namibia, Kangueehi, ignored a directive from the IC and the international mother body, the IAAF, to put all elections on hold and went ahead with a general assembly in Otjiwarongo last Saturday which was attended by five delegates from regions affiliated to Athletics Namibia. All five delegates voted for Kangueehi, who said he was now the legitimate president of AN.
Zealand however told Namibia Sport that the election was unconstitutional and illegal.
‘The election in Otjiwarongo was clearly unconstitutional, while the directives from the IAAF clearly stipulated that both congresses that Kangueehi had planned for February 28 and that the IC had planned for March 14, should be suspended. We are now waiting for the arrival of the delegates from the IAAF to intervene and mediate on this matter so that a permanent solution can be found for the current dilemma that we are facing,’ he said.
Zealand questioned the authenticity of the AN delegates at the meeting in Otjiwarongo and said that the IC was considering taking legal action against them.
‘I am not so worried about Mr. Kangueehi’s congress because seven of the eight affiliated members of Athletics Namibia indicated to us officially that they will not attend the congress. I have my reservations about the members who attended that meeting. They indicated that there were five members present at this congress but it is debatable in terms of the representation and as I stated previously it is fraudulent of any person to misrepresent any member of Athletics Namibia. We are just waiting for the official communication in terms of the attendance list, and then we will definitely seek legal opinion on the matter because we cannot allow people to misrepresent others, because that is fraudulent,’ he said.
The controversy surrounding Athletics Namibia’s proposed elections deepened last Thursday when the IAAF ordered Athletics Namibia to cancel all proposed elections pending a ‘special visit’ to Namibia by one of its delegates.
– www.namibiasport.com.na