A number of executive posts were up for grabs at the African National Olympic Committees (ANOCA) elections, which were held recently during the organization’s three-day General Assembly in Abidjan, Ivory Coast.
In addition, Jacques Rogge, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) President as well as the ruler over the world’s National Olympic Committees was honored by the Ivory Coast’s Prime Minister Daniel Kablan Duncan, receiving the Medal of the Republic with the rank of Noble Commander. Rogge received an even further high honor in Abidjan: He was made an Ivorian Chief by a local tribe.
On the opening day of the ANOCA General Assembly, the elections saw General Lassana Palenfo confirmed for a third and final term as its President, while Zimbabwe’s Tomas Sithole returned as ANOCA’s Secretary-General, defeating Egyptian Khaled Zein El Din by 26 votes to 25.
Sithole, the current IOC International Relations director, was a member of the Executive Committee of ANOCA since 1989 and was its Secretary-General from 1997 until his appointment to the IOC in 2003. Sithole also served as the former president of the Zimbabwe Olympic Committee,
Admire Masenda, the Zimbabwe Olympic Committee president, and his body’s chief executive, Anna Mguni, threw its weight behind Sithole in the election. Mguni described Sithole as a distinguished Zimbabwean sports administrator.
Also elected were: 1st Vice President Beraf Moustapha; 2nd Vice President Joao Manuel Da Costa Alegre Alfonso; 3rd Vice President Philippe Thyn Voon Hao Shun Ha; 4th Vice-President Matlohang Moiloa Ramoqopo.
In attendance at the General Assembly were the Head of ANOC, Sheikh Ahmad Al Sabah, as well as three IOC Presidential candidates, Thomas Bach from Germany, Ser Miang Ng of Singapore, and C.K. Wu of Taiwan.