THREE members of the Namibia Professional Boxing and Wrestling Control Board have resigned for unspecified reasons mid-way through their three-year term, the Ministry of Youth, Sport and National Service announced on Friday afternoon.
The names of the board members who resigned have not been announced.
Then sport minister Erastus Uutoni appointed five members in 2019 to head the board and restore cohesion within the fractured boxing fraternity. However, incessant infighting prevailed, leading to untenable relations.
Uutoni installed former health minister Bernard Haufiku as chairperson of the board, with youthful lawyer Saima Nghihalwa, businessman Trevor Mills, trade and industrialisation ministry director of commerce Maria Pogisho and veteran former boxer and trainer Josef ‘Joe Archer’ Shikongo completing the team.
“With only two members remaining, the board is unable to function effectively, thus, rendering the current board inactive. As a result, a new board will be appointed in due course,” the sport ministry said in a statement.
Haufiku, the only one of the quintet with experience in boxing administration, quit the board previously, in 2014, following infighting within the body.
The board failed at their primary task to restore public faith in an institution dogged by infighting and maladministration.
–namibian.com.na
