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AT, TBF polls : The earlier, the better
2005-09-03 07:15:47
By Editor
Holding general elections in Athletics Tanzania (AT) and in the Tanzania Basketball Federation (TBF) has proved tricky for a while, and for varied reasons.
All sorts of indispositions are brought up when the matter of holding elections has been put in the agenda in both sports organisations, and the results have usually been the same.
Postpone polls until conditions are more suitable to issue forms, screen aspirants.
When ancient people said ’tomorrow never comes,’ this is one of those things they had in mind, that so long as one is intent on getting something done the following day, that day will never arrive.
When he comes into office whatever next day, there is always something else which needs to be done and this other thing can wait.
Especially when it isn’t quite in that person’s interest that uncomfortable results arise from voting.
At times entrusting an executive committee, or sometimes the chairman and secretary general, to organise polls is like entrusting a cat to guard the milk.
It instantly becomes the pet’s property, and there will always be a reason why the milk owner won’t find it when she comes back, as evidently there was a reason for the milk not to be there.
One will never miss a reason for failing to bring about a result such fellow finds painful.
But individuals do not hold polls because they wish to do so, but rather since they will otherwise have no legitimate means of acting for those organisations, as leaders.
When legitimation or rightfulness to act is not in existence, it is a matter of time before someone raises a challenge in one or other direction, and chances exist that it becomes effective in one way or another.
This way its organisational activities can be disrupted.
At the same time, an individual who knows that he or she is holding office against the legitimate demands of the rest of the membership, has a limit to initiatives he or she might take.
Legitimation in leadership is vital in order to take initiatives which may hurt a few individuals, and for them to stay put, they need to know that the person making those decisions is in the right books of all likely authorities. Members are obedient, too.
A person who doesn’t clearly enough enjoy such confidence is prone to avoiding hard decisions, will be trying to please people rather than to lead them, avoid pointing at mistakes, etc.
In that situation a body becomes rudderless, like a boat without a captain, that it depends on the winds of the moment to glide in a particular direction.
This way people may superficially feel free but they won’t be achieving anything useful.
The trouble, however, is that not too many people object to such a situation, and this is why nations may spend all their time talking about good governance, and corruption returns, unfailingly.
There needs to be an environment where achievement is on the lips of all the members, that they need a properly elected body of leaders so that they can take initiatives.
They shouldn’t be satisfied with fairly sharing out privileges, etc.
Without having to insist that some clever distribution mechanism has kept the polls challenge in check for either AT or TBF, there definitely has to be something of that nature.
Otherwise it isn’t difficult to know, since 2001 or thereabouts for AT in particular, that no one has found it important enough to insist that a change take place.
Or is athletics so dormant at present it no longer counts who does what, in their offices?
The other explanation is better than this one, though it is hardly comforting, that civic bodies like clubs or sponsoring institutions (like lately Prisons feting one of their own, Christopher Isegwe) have taken the task of developing athletics.
Many are doing quite well, but that doesn’t mean a co-ordinating and inspiring role, not perhaps of necessity a regulating one for international statutes exist, is irrelevant. Even in basketball.
It is hence vital that to push the games nationally, have the right input among the youth, they must hold polls.
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