Mikia Kalati
OUTGOING Lesotho Sports and Recreation Commission (LSRC) president Khiba Mohoanyane says his two terms in office came with lots of challenges due to the lack of a national policy for sports.
Mohoanyane had previously served the LSRC as vice president and was elected the new president in 2016 to succeed Limpho Mokhochane, who left after also serving her two terms.
The sports mother body is expected to go to the polls late next month as Mohoanyane and other commissioners serve their final month in the committee.
“It has been a turbulent and challenging journey but still it was worth it because it’s something I had passion for,” Mohoanyane the Lesotho Times this week.
“The LSRC is just driven by the policy makers being the Ministry of Sports. So, we are just the implementers for the ministry.
“It’s true that we have a constitution but in the absence of a national policy for sports, it made life very difficult. There has been talk of it coming and it has been started but my term has ended and we still do not have a policy.
“It made life very difficult for us but the good thing is that we have been working in sports for a long time and we knew what the expectations of our people are.”
To whoever that will succeed him as the new LSRC boss, Mohoanyane said it will be important for that person to focus on developing young talent and also putting requisite infrastructure in place.
“For my successor, I think all will depend on the authority, being the Ministry of Sports, in terms of what their mandate is.
“The one department where I feel I went short was infrastructure. Helping our sports associations to have playing fields and the needed resources will be key.
“My other recommendation to my successor is to also focus on development. It’s vital for that person to encourage the sports associations to attend to development because it will help us to remain a competitive country,” he said.
While Mohoanyane admitted that the country still faced a lot of challenges, he said winning 13 medals at the African Union Sports Council (AUSC) Region 5 Games in 2016 and 2018, the biggest number recorded by Lesotho so far, remained the highlight of his tenure as the LSRC president.
“Indeed, that was the highlight of my leadership at LSRC. It brought me a lot of joy that we recorded our biggest number of medals at the games.
“We still did well in 2018 bringing the same number of medals with the difference being that in 2016 we won more gold medals.
“But looking back, it gives me pride that this was achieved during my tenure as the LSRC president,” Mohoanyane said.
