Athletics great Samuel Matete has backed out of the 2018 reconciliation with Zambia Athletics (ZA) president Elias Mpondela.
Matete said the Mpondela led ZA executive has not implemented agreements made during their reconciliation process in September 2018.
After the reconciling, Matete was to be appointed deputy national athletics team coach, Technical director and Northern region coordinator.
“When we reconciled I was appointed deputy national athletics team coach, Technical director and Northern region coordinator but up to now the executive has not honoured that. To date they have not put into writing what we discussed. I even wrote to them about this but nothing has happened up to now,” Matete said.
The 1996 Olympics Silver medallist said he will challenge Mpondela at the forthcoming ZA elections.
“This is a year for elections and we are going to contest. We will stand by the ZA constitution. We want the constitution to speak and not individuals. We not here to fight Mr Mpondela, we are here to contribute to the development of athletics in Zambia,” Matete said.
Matete is also angered by Mpondela’s recent remarks that he has no intentions of stepping down after being at the helm of ZA for 22 years.
“Leadership is chosen by the people. The mandate is given to a leader by delegates. He has shown dictatorial tendencies by saying that. His comment speaks volume of what is happening in ZA. There is no free speech and democracy in ZA,” he said.
Matete is the most successful individual sports man in Zambia.
During his hey days, Matete won a gold medal at the 1991 World Championships and was twice silver medalist at the same event.
He was three-time World Cup winner and won gold at the 1994 Commonwealth Games.
In elected positions, leaders do not elect themselves but the electorates, the people. If mediocre leadership is elected, also re-elected, it says volumes on the people!
Let’s remove these dinosaurs from taking Zambia to the prehistoric era. Once upon a time Zambia was a regional force in athletics.
The national council of sports presided over ZAAA, what kind of imbecile am occupy those positions?
Mpondela kuya bebele!
Mpondela has been at the helm for 22 years…. nonsense indeed. Is he a king? Please remove him from that position for he has done little in developing athletics in Zambia.
Someone please help us get Mpondela out of that position before the little that is remaining of ZA is completely killed.
Samuel Matete is right, does Elias Mpondela really have a brain? He also behaves like Andrew Ndanga Kamanga who wants to exclude others from elections because we’ve a toothless National Sports Council
Samuel Matete is right, does Elias Mpondela really have a brain? He also behaves like Andrew Ndanga Kamanga who wants to exclude others from elections because we’ve a toothless National Sports Council. Mpondela kanya munzila
Mpondela out! Matete in we have wasted 22 years doing nothing. Zambia cant produce a single world class athlete when Botswana is producing these Atase
Mpondela is a wamuyaya president only there to make allowances and make sure all sporting scholarships and all places for athletes going abroad go to his children. There should be a clause in every sports constitution to limit presidential terms to two years.
Mpondela has concentrated on organising the inter-company relays becoz that’s where e is eating well
I left Zambia 10yrs ago and since 2005 i wud attend the nearly Athletics competition administered by ka Mpondela. So when i heard Mpondela, me i thought perhaps his son is now also Head of ZA. But when i scrolled down then i saw 22yrs, i said “atase”! This Chimpazee is the one i know.
We cant carry on like this, fellow Zambians, lets be serious with national issues, national offices, national responsibility. We cannot ve one man serve in public office for more than 3years,unless really they ve done a recommendable job,and everyone has consented to. Without these benchmarks, we heading nowhere. In whichever sector.
There’s no leadership in our country in all sectors politics, sport, business, Religion, science., arts name it.