Top Malawi Olympic officials in Zimbabwe

TWO top Malawi National Olympic Committee officials arrived in Harare last Saturday for an eight-day fact-finding mission in Zimbabwe.

Mark Tembo, the chairman of the national course directors’ commission of the Malawian National Olympic Committee, and the committee’s executive board member Charles Nyirenda.

Nyirenda is the secretary-general of the Football Association of Malawi.

They were sent to Harare by the Malawian National Olympic Committee and will be attached to the Zimbabwe Olympic Committee during their eight-day visit, which ends on Monday next week.

Tembo and Nyirenda said their fact-finding mission was instigated by their national association who would like to see how other National Olympic Committees in the East and Southern African Regions are running their own bodies.

Apart from Zimbabwe, the Malawians have also targeted Kenya and Ethiopia for their project.

Tembo and Nyirenda said they were in Harare to — among other duties, look at the ZOC structures "and how they operate."

"ZOC are one of the better-run and well organised National Olympic Committees, not only here in the Southern African Region, but also in the African continent as a whole.

"And we are here to look at their structures and the facilities that they are using. We are also going to look at the strategic partnership that they currently have in this country because this is a very critical area.

"It is a very critical area because no association can run efficiently without any strategic partnerships in place and we would like to see how ZOC are operating in this respect."

The two officials said their visit would give them an opportunity to share ideas, experiences and strategies with the local Olympic organisation.

ZOC chief executive, Robert Mutsauki, said they have put in place a full programme for Tembo and Nyirenda "and they will be no breathing space for them" during their eight-day stay in Zimbabwe.

"Apart from looking at our structures and how we operate at ZOC, they will also be holding a series of meetings with a number of our key stakeholders.

"They will meet representatives of the National Association of Primary School Heads, National Association of Secondary School Heads and the Zimbabwe Tertiary Institutions Sports Union.

"They will also meet the director-general of the Sports Commission and the secretary for the Ministry of Education, Sport, and Culture," Mutsauki said.

Tembo and Nyirenda are scheduled to meet the selected chairpersons of various ZOC commissions and will spend the greater part of their stay working at the organisation’s headquarters in Belvedere.

They will also visit sports facilities in Harare.