Minister of Youth Sports and Culture Alfred Gangata has appealed to the private sector to step up their support towards sports development.
Gangata made the remarks in Lilongwe, during the launch of the five year Strategic Plan for the Malawi National Council of Sports.
He said sports has helped put Malawi on the map, beside helping create jobs for the youth.
Gangata said sports can help create jobs for the youth if well managed.
He urged the management of the Sports Council to ensure the strategic plan provides clear guidance and focuses strictly on priorities to achieve measurable progress in sports development.
Gangata also warned that his Ministry will not tolerate abuse of resources meant for sports development but diverted to satisfy personal interests.
He also used the launch to call on private sector to provide financial resources for sports development in areas of infrastructure development, maintaining existing and constructing new one across all sports disciplines.
Principal Secretary for Youth Sports and Culture, Jameson Ndalama, said the new plan also calls for more transparency and accountability among administrators and called for collaboration among all stakeholders in sports.
Jim Kalua, Board Chairperson of Malawi National Council of Sports, said the council will provide necessary guidance in ensuring all sports administrators and other stakeholders refer to the Strategic Plan to ultimately deliver results.
At the launch, it was observed that issues hindering sports development in Malawi include weak governance, inadequate financing, low participation of women in sports and the exclusion of people with disabilities.
The new five-year strategic plan therefore aims to address these challenges.
By Isaac Jali
