Musical Chairs At CAR Threatens Rugby Development

An informatife piece by Eric Odanga aka Punter

Cracks which have been widening over the years among the executive of the Africa Rugby Confederation and some member countries continued to widen as the International Rugby Board adopted a hands off stance.

The contents of the CAR Constitution has been singularly changed severally to favor the incumbent. No amount of reasoning seems to have succeeded in resolving the current impasse and the world governing body does not want to soil its hands.

The latest scenario is something borrowed from African politicians who would do anything to hold on to power long after they became irrelevant or unpopular.

Documents obtained indicate CAR, against all odds held their General Meeting in Accra, Ghana on December 11, 2010. According to the CAR Constitution, the General Meeting can only be hosted by a Member Union. Minutes from the last General Meeting in Senegal (a Northern Union) in 2008 stated that the next meeting was to be hosted by a Southern Union.

As if this was not enough, CAR which is headed by Abdelaziz Bougja, a Moroccan who lives in Paris, France was rejected by his home country as a delegate and was instead adopted by Senegal.

Similarly, Mauritius presented David Gilbert as their delegate! Gilbert is from Botswana. Bougja who was technically not a delegate flouted the Constitution by changing his Rugby Union from Morocco to Senegal. We now have a President from Morocco with French Citizenship but representing Senegal!

A protest letter by one of the CAR delegates was dismissed by the IRB. In what appeared to be a well planned manoeuvre, Bougja had to look for an Anglophone vice as is stipulated in the ‘Constitution’.

He landed on Dave Gilbert who was was not an official delagate (but registered as delagate from Botswana). Gilbert, the immediate past president of BRFU and a current chairman of a rugby club in Botswana is a South African, working and living in Botswana. Botswana disowned him because the Botswana Rugby Football Union was eyeing the post. Gilbert was then adopted by Mauritius (again, against the Constitution). The BRFU president, Bob Lekan protested and withdrew paving was for Gilbert to be ‘elected’ unopposed.

A joint communique to the CAR secretary general signed by the presidents of Botswana, Kenya, Namibia, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe Rugby Unions and copied to all CAR Members and IRB’s top brass raised concerns about the General meeting.

A letter from IRB dated November 19, 2010 cleverly sidestepped the issues at hand and partly read: “The IRB does not wish to comment on the interpretation however given confusion arises it would seem that the 14-day period at dispute as not materially affected and member who wishes to attend or participate in the meeting - you have provided no evidence of such disturbance and indeed took almost four months after the notice had been issued to express your concerns.”

A low-toned but stern warning by the IRB in the two-page response is contained in the third last paragraph: “It is worth noting that the business of CAR and its member Unions is the development of rugby in Africa and not creating a mire of administrative and financial issues which may well detract from the central core activities.”

To any Union, this paragraph summarizes the IRB’s hands off stance towards the concerns by some CAR member Unions. The IRB chairman. Head of External and Member Relations, IRB General Manager (Development) were supposed to attend the meeting but did not.

The current scenario is not good for the development of the game in Africa. Member Unions and the executive must respect the Constitution. Dissenting voices within CAR raise genuine concerns which need mediation by the IRB which should invoke Regulation 19 (Mediation) to reach an amicable resolution.

Les anglophones ont été vaincus par les francophones dans celui-ci. Que notre Omwela peut-il faire cette fois autour ? La clôture s'assoyant le fait un perdant sur le continent de l'Afrique aussi