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After staying for a decade without holding any elections, the Chess Association of Malawi (Cham) finally goes to the polls on Saturday to elect new office bearers.
This is all thanks to Olympic and Commonwealth Games Association of Malawi (Ocgam), which has provided funds for the body’s Extra Ordinary General Meeting slated for Kamuzu Institute for Sports.
Cham’s outgoing president Joseph Chalemba said in an interview that the elections would be the only item on EGM agenda.
“We will not be able to hold a full AGM because we have limited resources. We asked Sports Council to give us something on top of the K50,000 we got from Ocgam and we hope they will assist. The problem is that council has not yet received funding from government but we hope they will still do something,” said Chalemba.
According to the outgoing president, the posts that will be up for grabs at the institute are president and his vice, general secretary, publicity secretary, treasurer, vice treasurer and six committee members.
He said ten members from each of the three regional leagues— Blantyre and Districts Chess League (BDCL), Lilongwe and Districts Chess League (LDCL) and Mzuzu and Districts Chess League (MDFL) would be eligible to vote.
Chalemba also said some members from Cham would be eligible to vote but the suggestion is likely to face resistance from LDCL and MDCL which have time and again questioned the eligibility of the current Cham executive.
Ocgam president Jerome Waluza whose body intervened by providing the K50,000 ($467) for the elections said there was need for chess to be revived at national level.
“Malawi has to take part in international chess competitions and Ocgam is ready to assist Cham as it has done with other associations. However, the committee has to show commitment,” said Waluza who is expected to attend the EGM.
The outgoing Cham executive committee has been under fire from LDCL for failing to conduct elections in the past ten years and incorporating only members from the South in its executive after the departure of almost all the elected members.
The LDCL sought the intervention of both Sports Council and Ocgam, which responded by providing the K50,000.
There was also an outcry from the other regions that Cham was biased towards the South by staging all national events in the region and giving Central and Northern regions little representation.
Last year the LDCL boycotted the Entertainers of the Year Chess tournament after being given only two places against 12 from the South.
But all this should be water under the ground when a legitimate body is put in place.
Cham finally goes to polls
Leonard Sharra
After staying for a decade without holding any elections, the Chess Association of Malawi (Cham) finally goes to the polls on Saturday to elect new office bearers.
This is all thanks to Olympic and Commonwealth Games Association of Malawi (Ocgam), which has provided funds for the body’s Extra Ordinary General Meeting slated for Kamuzu Institute for Sports.
Cham’s outgoing president Joseph Chalemba said in an interview that the elections would be the only item on EGM agenda.
“We will not be able to hold a full AGM because we have limited resources. We asked Sports Council to give us something on top of the K50,000 we got from Ocgam and we hope they will assist. The problem is that council has not yet received funding from government but we hope they will still do something,” said Chalemba.
According to the outgoing president, the posts that will be up for grabs at the institute are president and his vice, general secretary, publicity secretary, treasurer, vice treasurer and six committee members.
He said ten members from each of the three regional leagues— Blantyre and Districts Chess League (BDCL), Lilongwe and Districts Chess League (LDCL) and Mzuzu and Districts Chess League (MDFL) would be eligible to vote.
Chalemba also said some members from Cham would be eligible to vote but the suggestion is likely to face resistance from LDCL and MDCL which have time and again questioned the eligibility of the current Cham executive.
Ocgam president Jerome Waluza whose body intervened by providing the K50,000 ($467) for the elections said there was need for chess to be revived at national level.
“Malawi has to take part in international chess competitions and Ocgam is ready to assist Cham as it has done with other associations. However, the committee has to show commitment,” said Waluza who is expected to attend the EGM.
The outgoing Cham executive committee has been under fire from LDCL for failing to conduct elections in the past ten years and incorporating only members from the South in its executive after the departure of almost all the elected members.
The LDCL sought the intervention of both Sports Council and Ocgam, which responded by providing the K50,000.
There was also an outcry from the other regions that Cham was biased towards the South by staging all national events in the region and giving Central and Northern regions little representation.
Last year the LDCL boycotted the Entertainers of the Year Chess tournament after being given only two places against 12 from the South.
But all this should be water under the ground when a legitimate body is put in place.
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