By MICHAEL MIYOBA
ZAMBIA Athletics (ZA) president Elias Mpondela has congratulated Alfred Foloko for retaining the National Olympic Committee (NOCZ) presidency after beating him during the elections held on Saturday in Lusaka.
Foloko humiliated Mpondela with a landslide victory after collecting 43 votes while the ZA chief collected nine votes from the 52 votes at stake during the NOCZ elections. Mpondela said despite having lost to Foloko, he meant well for the development and promotion of sports in the country.
Mpondela urged all the losing candidates in the NOCZ elections to unite around Foloko’s leadership and make a contribution to the perfor[1]mance of the NOCZ.
He said Foloko’s resounding victory is a clear endorsement given to him and the new NOCZ executive by nember federations who appreciate the performance of the new executive board members. “Let us make a new future together and take those actions that we share in furthering the performance of NOCZ.
And there is a lot we can do together. “We had pledged before the elections that there would be no winner or loser except that NOCZ must win .NOCZ won through Foloko and that is our victory together. Let’s allow this spirit to reign in us and our supporters,” Mpondela said.
Meanwhile Sports Fans Association patron Peter Makembo who opened and closed the NOCZ elections with a prayer hailed the National Olympic council for holding successful elections.
