By MOSES CHIMFWEMBE –

THE Zambia Basketball Association (ZBA) elective annual general meeting (AGM) has been deferred to March 30.
ZBA northern region vice-president Andrew Nyirenda said the meeting that was scheduled for March 15 had been pushed forward due to the Federation of International Basketball (FIBA) extraordinary congress to be held on the weekend of March 15 to 16.
Nyirenda said in an interview that the move was aimed at accommodating ZBA president Shawki Fawaz and acting general secretary Mweembe Kaona who will be travelling to Istanbul, Turkey for the FIBA extraordinary congress.
He said FIBA congress was an important meeting whose agenda will be to adopt new General Statutes which will allow the international basketball body to improve its governance and strengthen its structure for future strategic growth.
Nyirenda added that it was why the ZBA interim executive committee decided to push its AGM to the monthend to allow the duo to attend the FIBA meeting.
The official draw of the 2014 FIBA Women World Championship will take place during the same weekend.
“We have decided to move the date for the AGM to March 30. This is because our president and general secretary are travelling to Turkey for a FIBA meeting and we thought it wise not to go ahead with our AGM which coincides with the extraordinary congress.
We therefore urge all those wishing to vie for various positions to take note of this change. The FIBA meeting is also of great importance to Zambia because the country needs to add its voice to the global administration of basketball,” he said.
The interim ZBA executive committee was ushered into office last year during an emergency meeting in Lusaka after affiliates passed a vote of no confidence in then Boniface Kambikambi led executive committee.
Meanwhile, Mindolo Ecumenical Foundation (MEF) dominated the under-17 tournament held in Kitwe at the weekend after beating Kwacha Crusaders 20-15 before beating Riverside Titans 24-18.
Titans also recorded a 33-20 victory over Titans who lost all their games while the under-13 category saw Copperbelt Energy Corporation (CEC) team record a slender 23-22 win over Crusaders.