Moorosi Tsiane
NEWLY appointed Lesotho Sport and Recreation Commission (LSRC) chief executive officer Sechaba Mokhameleli says there is need for his organisation to change the way it operates if they are to record positive results in international competitions.
Mokhameleli said this on the sidelines of team Lesotho’s preparations for the upcoming Africa Games set for Rabat, in Morocco starting 30 August.
This comes in the back of a series of shambolic preparations of local teams prior to international competitions due to late release of funds for the preparation. This has seen athletes failing to get proper attires and equipment.
And Mokhameleli says this would be a thing of the past as he intends to ensure that LSRC becomes independent and doesn’t rely on government subvention.
“We need to change the way of doing things,” Mokhameleli said adding, the LSRC needs to be independent instead of relying on government subvention to to do its activities because when the government doesn’t have money, then everyone suffers”.
“This tops the mandate that I have been given by the commission. To see that we get investors and also that the commission can create its own funding.”
He said there was no way an association could be sustainable without its own means of making money.
“Depending on government subvention has always been a ticking time bomb and look at where we are now; it’s just two weeks before the games but there is still an uncertainty on whether the team will participate or not. We need to find ways to move out of such situations. The LSRC needs to be self-sustainable.”
Mokhameleli, who has been in office for just a month, said funding problems have always hindered progress in sports and other sectors that depend on the government.
“Dependence on the government has affected every sector that depends on subventions. As is, our budget has been cut from the previous M9 million to a paltry M2 and that is bad because we always don’t have money and in turn our preparations are poor and resultantly, our athletes fare badly,” Mokhameleli said.