No more silence as fighters’ futures are harmed

The dysfunctional state of administration of the Namibia Amateur Boxing Federation (NABF) under its president Jeremiah Njembo, and the harm done to the country’s committed boxers cannot be allowed to continue, amid a renewed call for the Namibia Sports Commission and other role players to facilitate accountability and reform.

The level of talent produced in Namibian boxing is not in dispute, but the national institution responsible for supporting and developing the talent has not been doing its job.

Those boxers who have trained hard and rose above the rest have been let down when it became time to receive national colours. As recent as December 2025, the country’s participation at the IBA Men’s World Amateur boxing championship was cancelled at the last moment due to failures in travel arrangements.

Amateur boxing is one of the selected sports codes in line to send representatives to the upcoming Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland, but in reality the preparation of a fighting team again leaves much to be desired.

At a press conference addressed by retired former Olympic middleweight boxer Mujandjae Desmond Kasuto and fellow concerned leader Manfriedt Apollus, the Khomas Amateur Boxing Federation took the lead as a concerned stakeholder on behalf of other regional federations.

“Silence is not governance. We speak today not out of anger, but out of obligation. We are coaches, athletes, administrators and people who have givwn years of our lives to boxing in the Khomas region. We have raised concerns through every available channel, and at every turn we’ve been met with silence.

“A formal written complaint was submitted to the Namibia Sports Commission two months ago that has not yet received a substantive reply.

“We have a duty to the athletes we serve, and we can no longer stay quiet. The concerns have built up over many years – across administrative cycles – and they now paint a picture that we can no longer allow to remain hidden from public view.”

Governance concerns

The first listed concern is that the NABF has “as far as we are aware, not delivered or made available properly audited financial statements for close to ten years”.

“That is not a minor administrative gap.

“Any body that manages public-interest functions, receives funding and oversees national athletes has a basic obligation to account to its finances.

“Section 3(c) of the Namibia Sports Act 12 of 2003 places the NSC under a direct statutory duty to ensure that sports bodies are properly administered.”

Lack of communication and consultation, decisions made and executed in the dark, is another pattern which the concerned parties insist have gone on for way too long.

“In specific instances, national teams were selected and athletes committed themselves to preparation for international competition – only to never be sent.

“No explanation was given. These athletes trained, sacrificed, and held themselves ready to represent their country. And then nothing happened.

“A competitive window, once missed, does not come back. This is a breach of duty owed to every athlete who puts on a Namibian vest.”

For roughly three years, the concerned parties say, national colours have not been awarded.

“National colours are a formal record that matters for careers, for educational opportunities, and for the permanent record of an athlete’s contribution to their country.

“The Sports Commission has not responded to our formal complaint submitted about two months ago.

“We want the public to understand that these are not abstract institutional failures. They have consequences that affect the lives of real people.

“Young boxers who should be competing internationally are stuck at home because their national federation did not organise their travel. Athletes who earned national recognition three years ago are still waiting.

“Coaches who have invested years in developing fighters cannot plan, or give those fighters certainty about what comes next – because that information that should flow from the national body simply does not arrive.

“Governance failure in sport is not merely administrative – it destroys careers and futures.

Call for accountability

“We are not calling for the destruction of the NABF. We are calling for it to work.

“From the Sports Commission, we ask what the law already requires – exercise your mandate, respond to the complaint before you, and commission or conduct an independent assessment of the NABF’s governance and financial compliance. If voluntary reform is not forthcoming, invoke the statutory powers available to you under the Namibia Sports Act.

“From the Ministry of Sport, we ask that you take formal note, and make clear that sustained governance failures of a national sports federation are a matter of public concern, not an internal affair.

“Namibia has boxers who are good enough to go places. They deserve a national federation that gives them a real chance. That is all we are asking for.”

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