Chess Association of Malawi (Chessam) President, Kezzie Msukwa, has faulted the Northern Region Chess Association (NRCA) for failing to take the sport seriously.
Msukwa said this after he realised that the region’s chess governing body does not have a constitution.
“The new committee has to quickly look at the constitution to avoid problems in future. The current constitution is a mere duplication of the Chessam constitution. The only difference is that where there was Chessam, there is NRCA, and that is bad,” Msukwa said.
He made these remarks after NRCA elected its office bearers for the next two years.
The elections, however, were nearly disrupted after delegates differed on who was supposed to vote, saying there was lack of evidence on their eligibility.
Some delegates wanted the region’s every chess player to vote, but others insisted that only those registered with their clubs were eligible.
After 30 minutes of disagreement, the Chessam leader intervened and ruled that only players, whose names were recognised by the national chess umbrella body, would vote.
During the elections, Stanley Mtuwa was voted as the region’s Chairperson after defeating Isaac Mumba, who was seeking re-election.
Former general secretary (GS), Kelusi Mhango, ascended to the vice- Chairmanship unopposed, with Robert Ngwira and Boniface Mwakikunga grabbing the General Secretary and Treasurer’s posts, respectively.
Msukwa then called on the new committee to find means of generating funds, saying Chessam has only received an annual funding of K800, 000 from the Malawi National Council of Sports.
In his acceptance speech, Mtuwa vowed to iron out the constitutional anomalies.
“Chess has a future in the [northen] region. One of the problems is that previously, players were participating in tournaments, only to be told that prize money was not available. But I promise that there will be cash prizes for every tournament,” Mtuwa
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