Kolisang promises to revive Lesotho taekwondo

…as association finally elects new committee

Leemisa Thuseho

THE Lesotho Taekwondo Association (LTA) has finally elected a new executive committee after years of struggling to hold its elective annual general meeting.

The association held its elections over the weekend, with retired army Brigadier General Naha Kolisang being elected president unopposed.

He succeeds former president, Moorosana Nkesi, whose term ended in 2020. He had been elected in 2017.

Since then, the association has struggled to elect a new committee. The first setback came with the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, which, among other restrictions, halted sporting activities and prevented large gatherings.

After the pandemic subsided, attempts to hold elections were again dogged by controversy, including disputes over the good standing and eligibility of some clubs to participate in elections. The disagreements eventually spilled into the courts, further delaying the process.

With no immediate solution in sight, the Lesotho Sports and Recreation Commission (LSRC) proposed the establishment of an interim committee in 2023, which was led by Kolisang.

One of the interim committee’s key responsibilities was to prepare the association for elections, which have now finally been held.

Before the fissures, Lesotho had been one of the leading taekwondo nations in the region, but it has since lost that status.

The leadership instability has also negatively affected the popularity, with the number of elite athletes competing at international level declining drastically.

Speaking to the Lesotho Times after his election, Kolisang, a former international taekwondo star, acknowledged that Lesotho’s dominance in the sport had declined but vowed to work with his new team to restore it to its former glory.

He said the interim committee had already worked hard to develop policies and strategic frameworks that would guide the association going forward.

“The vision is there, and the interim committee has done a good job to lay the foundation. What we want to start with is to rebuild unity within taekwondo,” Kolisang said.

“Unity goes together with transparency, good governance, investment and athlete development. We also need to build sustainable partnerships with various stakeholders to secure funding that will help us achieve sustainable international performance.

“As a seasoned person, I know that to reach our goals, we need to partner with the right people and stakeholders.”

Despite the challenges facing the sport, Kolisang said clubs had remained active, providing the association with a strong pool of young athletes to work with.

“Clubs were still active, and some even attended international events on their own and continued to perform well. A clear example is Butha-Buthe Taekwondo Club. Even in schools, the sport remained active, so we are not going to start from scratch,” he said.

“The challenge was with experienced players, as they always waited for the association to do things for them.”

Commenting on the deteriorating status of the sport, Kolisang said taekwondo was once the second-most sponsored sport in Lesotho after football, but that was no longer the case.

“At the time when I was an athlete, taekwondo was at its best. We even ranked number one in Africa, followed by Egypt. The reason was that it was the second-best funded sport after football.

“There was a time when our budget exceeded M1 million, but now it is just M40,000 per year.

“So, it was easy to prepare our teams, and we enjoyed huge support from the LDF and its resources. Most of the taekwondo instructors were soldiers, and their deployment to the districts was easy.

“We are going to take that model. If it fails, we are going to train our own instructors and deploy them in schools and communities.”

Kolisang also called on the taekwondo fraternity to put past conflicts aside and work together to take the sport forward.

He said the association had already developed several policies aimed at strengthening its administration and governance.

“We have developed an administration and governance policy to govern our clubs, an LTA executive charter to govern the behaviour of the executive committee, as well as a finance and accounting policy and an event-hosting policy,” Kolisang said.

Moshoeshoe Molapo has been elected first vice-president for administration, while Mojapela Mefane is the second vice-president for technical affairs.

Lesoetsa Makafane was elected secretary general, Nkareng Letsie is the third vice-president responsible for finance, while Lisebo Tšeole is the vice-secretary general.

Mohau Halahala is the treasurer, with Lekoala Ralekoala appointed public relations officer.

The three additional committee members are Tokelo Ntlai, Thabiso Papali and Mokhele Moletsane.

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