Newly-appointed Sports minister Kazembe Kazembe has pledged to cleanse the local sports fraternity by weeding out corrupt administrators.
BY TERRY MADYAUTA
In an interview with NewsDaySport, Kazembe said it would be one of his major priorities to remove corruption in sport, which he said was a deterrent to success.
He said sport was missing out on corporate support partly because of some corrupt elements running various disciplines. “Corruption and misuse of funds has been a big problem in this country. We must weed out corruption at all costs and also make sure everything is transparent,” Kazembe said.
“If we do away with corruption in the ministry and its various branches, chances are high that we will attract sponsorship for our teams, our games and everything we plan will flow for the good of the sport. At the moment, there is a positive mood in the country, so we want to take advantage of the mood by removing corrupt elements so as to restore sanity in the ministry and our sporting activities.”
He also said his other target would be the improvement of the dilapidated sporting infrastructure in the country.
The former Dynamos secretary-general promised to ignite a jump-start in the ministry early next year by upgrading the already established facilities to meet international standards.
Kazembe expressed concern over the awful state of the sports facilities in the country.
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He said the Sports and Recreation Commission should decentralise sports activities by availing the same facilities to rural areas which have received little attention in terms of infrastructural development.
“We had programmes that were already running before I assumed office and we are going to continue working on them, but our major priority is to resuscitate infrastructure countrywide.
“We want to ensure everyone is given equal opportunities to participate in sports, especially in rural areas. It is possible to play rugby in Chiweshe and even in Binga, but for that to happen, we need to develop the areas where little attention has been given to sporting activities.
“That is our key priority at the moment and I am sure nothing can stop us from achieving our goal,” Kazembe said.
