CHIPALO TO CHALLENGE MPONDELA

By Fulman Mukobeko

ATHLETICS Coach Jonathan Chipalo has confirmed that he will contest the Zambia Athletics (ZA) presidential elections at the elective Annual General Meeting (AGM) scheduled to take place on December 24, 2024.

Speaking in an interview, Chipalo said he was running for ZA presidency as he was a qualified Athletics Coach as well as an Olympian.

“I am not saying that I will take the route others have taken. I will take athletics to athletes. I will bring athletes back to athletics. It is an industry. It is a big business. People are surviving on it but we don’t want to suppress God-given talent. Therefore, we need to go in there and do our best,” Chipalo said.

Asked if it was the right time to remove Elias Mpondela who had been at the helm of athletics for over two decades, Chipalo said: ” I will not be challenging an individual. I will be challenging the seat.”

Asked whether he felt the elections will be free and fair, the Athletics Coach responded in the positive, adding that there were brilliant young men and women that had come on board across the country whom he said were game-changers.

And Chipalo said Mpondela did not qualify to be ZA president because he did not belong to a club.

He said Mpondela had never been a member of a club since 2006, saying he abandoned Flex Athletics Club which nominated him.

“He is not represented by a club. Where is the National Sports Council of Zambia (NSCZ) which is an Act of Parliament? The person has never been a member of a club since 2006. He was a Chairperson of Flex Athletics Club and I was a Secretary. I challenge him to tell me, which club nominated him?” he asked.

He said an executive had no authority to contest an election on an executive basis, saying only board officials and club officials could participate in the polls.

“Article 10 (6) of the Constitution states that only members from properly affiliated clubs and area boards shall contest but what they did is, they went into a club-less system. You cannot contest an election as an executive but you must be nominated by a club,” he said.

Chipalo blamed the National Sports Council of Zambia for allowing an illegality.

“An illegality is an illegality,” he said.