By SANDRA MWILA –

ZAMBIA Golf Union (ZGU) president Charles Mwanza and Handball Association of Zambia (HAZ) committee member Edward Munkombwe were yesterday elected as new Sports Council of Zambia (SCZ) Board members after going through unopposed.
Mwanza and Munkombwe were the only two candidates that filed in their nominations ahead of the annual general meeting held at the Government Complex where elections were held to fill the two vacant positions.
The positions became vacant following the death of Ian Mbewe and resignation of Allison Deirdre.
Mwanza filed his nomination successfully before the deadline on Thursday while Munkombwe’s nomination was a late entry and was absent during the AGM as he was reportedly unwell.
The names were presented to the house and councillors unanimously agreed that the two go unopposed without opening the floor for more nominees and they will be expected to relinquish their positions at their associations.
Deputy director of sport Gibson Manyaule declared the two as the new board members.
SCZ chairperson Mwamba Kalenga cautioned the new board members on absenteeism.
“I welcome you to the board but be informed I don’t entertain absenteeism,” Kalenga said.
Sports Deputy Minister Ronald Chitotela directed the SCZ to ensure that associations tapped talent from districts and provinces.
Chitotela, who officially opened the 2014 AGM, said that a deliberate policy for tapping talent should be put in place and that sports should be decentralised to ensure that serious contenders for medals were found.
“Sports should not only be focused in Lusaka, if we tap talent from rural areas we can find natural talent and help the country reap medals at international engagements. If swimmers can be picked from Mweru where we have natural swimmers then definitely we can find talent,” he said.
Chitotela said a lot of investment was being put into sports and that the results had not been impressing and that a solution needed to be found to the poor results being record at international events.
Kalenga, a good governance advocate, implored sports associations to have their books of account audited before holding their AGMs as there was need to show transparency when using public funds.