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Molapo plots LTA return

by Lesotho Times
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Leemisa Thuseho

FORMER Lesotho Taekwondo president (LTA) Moshoeshoe Molapo could soon bounce back and become the association’s next president.

Molapo was dethroned by Moorosana Nkesi in 2017.

Had it not been for the Coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak, LTA would have already held its general elections in March this year.

Pending the new dates of the elections, current president Nkesi has decided to step down after serving his one term.

Despite the previous rivalry which saw him topple Molapo in 2017, Nkesi is even one of the people who proposed Molapo’s return.

Nkesi told the Lesotho Times on Monday that he would not stand for reelection.

“It has always been my goal to serve only one term, therefore I will not contest,” Nkesi said.

Now that he would be out of office, Nkesi says he will now focus on helping the sport in technical departments.

He said he advised Molapo to return because his experience could take the sport to the next level.

“I advised him to come back and lead the association… I think his taekwondo leadership experience and skills can take our sport to the next level.”

Molapo is currently the president of the Southern African Taekwondo Association (COSATA). He is also a vice president of the African Police Taekwondo Association (APTAC).

He is also an executive member of the Commonwealth Taekwondo Union (CTU) and a CTU referees’ committee member. He is also a two-time Olympics referee.

Molapo also revealed that he has been approached by some of the current committee members to return to lead the association.

He however, said there are some conditions that he has set before accepting the request because “the same people who want me back are the ones who fought for my removal in 2017”.

“I have been approached by several people in the sports fraternity to return and lead the association. Although I have not turned them down, there are few things I want to understand before taking the position.

“These are the same people who removed me from power, therefore I want to understand why they want me back. I need a clear mandate because I do not want to fail… this has to be a well calculated decision.

“I do not want to them to use me to settle their political scores. Once all the assignments are complete, I do not have any problem of leading the association,” Molapo said.

He said even when he was not in any leadership post, he tried all he could to assist but was denied the chance by the office bearers. However, he still thinks he is the best candidate.

If ever he succeeds, his vision is to restore the international partnerships that Lesotho had with some international bodies.

He said after he was dethroned, taekwondo lost grassroots development programmes that conducted outreach programmes with the assistance of the World Taekwondo Pearce Corps Programmes.

He said Lesotho is longer participating in Para-Taekwondo Championship.

Now that taekwondo is one of the sporting codes selected for the upcoming African Union Sports Council (AUSC) Region 5 games and 2022 African Youth Games, both to be held in Lesotho, he hopes to make a meaningful impact.

“I was appointed taekwondo technical coordinator for 2020 games; therefore, I do not want taekwondo to fail. I would love to be on board in order to lead taekwondo to success at the games.

“We are also preparing for 2022 African Youth Games,” Molapo said.

Molapo is also the public relations officer of the Lesotho National Olympic Committee (LNOC).

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