NBF power handover dubbed amicable

The Namibia Boxing Federation (NBF) will have new leadership after an announcement on Friday that the body has elected an interim committee to handle its affairs. The body’s leadership, which had been headed by Kelly Nghixulifwa for the past 22 years, had decided to step down and hand over power to a new committee. But it was discovered that the decision did not meet with certain requirements set by the International Boxing Association (AIBA). These include a requirement that the regions should be represented by two elected members during duly held Annual General Meetings (AGM) of the respective area. “What we found during our national AGM [two weeks ago] was that the regions were represented by clubs and we could thus not go ahead with the handing over of power to the new committee,” Nghixulifwa said on Friday. But the decision to step down from the body remains intact, with those elected now due to serve in an interim capacity. “We will continue to assist the interim committee because we don’t want a situation where the colleagues don’t know where to go or whom to call… I have been president since June 1993 and we have built contacts over the years, which we will pass on to the colleagues,” the administrator said before adding that the change of guard has been largely amicable. “I want to stress that we have taken this in good spirit and there was no jumping of ship,” he added. The NBF, which caters for amateur boxing, will temporarily be headed by Benjamin Rebang, who has previously worked in that capacity in the Khomas Region. “I want to salute Kelly and his team for having made the wise decision to hand over power… The responsibilities will be challenging and our main objective will be to ensure we have structures in all the regions or where there is boxing,” he said. “With them on our side, we see light at the end of the tunnel for amateur boxing,” Rebang stated. The NBF is in charge of amateur boxing and should not be confused with the Namibia Professional Boxing and Wrestling Control Board (NPBWCB), which runs the affairs of pro fights. Nghixulifwa remains as chairman of that body. As for the NBF, Rebang will be assisted by Jeremia Ndjembo, who will act as the vice-president, Memory Manasse, who is the interim secretary-general and Kenneth Muatara, as the body’s treasurer. Muatara will be deputised by Vilho Shikeva with Josua Toivo acting as PRO and Lysias Hangula as his deputy. The permanent election of the NBF leadership is expected to be done by the end of November next year during an elective congress. HECTOR MAWONGA