Chris Theko
National boxing bantam weight Champion, Moroke Mokhotho will lead the Lesotho National Olympic Committee (LNOC) Athlete’s Commission as the new chairperson.
Mokhotho who was nominated by his national federation, the Lesotho Boxing Association (LeBA) was announced as the new Chairperson on following an uncontested run in Sunday’s elections.
Mokhotho takes over from Moholo Lekomola, who has been at the helm of the Commission since its 2014 establishment.
The outgoing chairperson was initially appointed interim athletes’ representative in 2014 and was tasked with helping the LNOC to establish an effective and well-structured Athletes Commission.
The commission’s mandate was to ensure that all LNOC decisions were informed by the athletes’ perspective and that the interests of the athletes become part of the fabric of the organization.
Lekomola had already vacated the position after being released by the LNOC which decided that the position should be held by person’s who have previously represented the country in the Olympics and or the Commonwealth Games.
Meanwhile, the 2015 All Africa Games bronze medalist, Mokhotho, qualifies for the position as he represented the country in the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow 2014 and Gold Coast in 2018 and the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.
As the Chairperson of the Athletes Commission, the boxer will also have a seat in the LNOC board.
Mokhotho is deputized by the 800m runner Tšepang Sello who also represented the country at the 2016 Olympics in Rio who was nominated by the Federation of Athletics Lesotho (FAL). Sello also ran uncontested for the position.
Lerato Sechele, the current national triple jump champion, the 2018 Senior African Championships bronze medalist and national record holder is the Commission’s Secretary-General.
The position of the treasurer was heavily contested by the trio of Machamise Ntšinyi from weightlifting, Paul Marie of the Federation of Lesotho Rugby (FLR) and Matela Tlejane of Dancesport. It was Marie who came out as the outright winner making him the Commission’s treasurer.
Tlholohelo Nthejane from Dancesport went to the elections unopposed for the public relations officer post while LeBA’s Bokang Khoai became the new commission’s member as he was unopposed.
