The best is yet to come | Times of Zambia

I KNOW Zambia?s qualification to next year?s Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) for the title defense of the Africa Cup is as close to my heart as it is to other football lovers; however, I have decided to shelve the topic this week and delve on something totally different.
In last week?s column titled: ?Sports in for a real make-over?, I promised to tear the speech if Finance and National Planning Minister, Alexander Chikwanda did not mention anything about sports in his Budget presentation to Parliament.
I am not one for showering unnecessary kudos, hence my promise to tear the speech last week, not out of spite, but out of frustration because previously sport was not regarded as priority.
Having listened to the Minister?s 2013 Budget speech on Friday, October 12, 2012, I could not help but laud the Michael Sata-led Patriotic Front (PF) Government for being sensitive to national development issues, including sports.
In emphasising the importance the Government attaches to sport, Chikwanda said the PF manifesto on sports alludes to the value of shaping the fabric of life through recreation and healthy living.
So when I heard that the Government has waived duty on imported sports equipment for a three-year period to encourage private sector participation in sports development, I could not hide my joy because this is what I and many sports administrators have been campaigning for, for years.
I thought to myself, the PF Government is indeed a listening Government; it has heeded the incessant cries of national sports associations to waive duty on imported sports equipment.
What this means is that sports equipment will now be easily accessible and affordable and anyone with the means can participate in different sports disciplines.
In the past this had been the cry of many, especially for companies and associations that deal in sports equipment.
For instance, owning golf kit was all, but a dream for some, as for the Zambia Motor Sports Association (ZMSA) just importing spare parts for rally cars or motorcycles; they had to pay through the nose because in many instances, the cost of duty was more than the cost of the spare part.
Just to acquire a bicycle, tennis, badminton or squash racquets, runners or sneakers, was out of reach for many.
It will also open up doors to companies and individuals who want to bid for construction of sports facilities around the country and would want to bring in building materials that are not readily available on the Zambian market to do so.
One may ask how this will affect a common person on the street? It will create business and job opportunities because people will be able to open up sports shops and will create competitiveness among the stakeholders.
I pray for a time when we will have companies in Zambia that will start a manufacturing industry for sports equipment to bring sports closer to our doorsteps.
And like I prophesied in last week?s column titled: ?Sports in for a real make-over?, indeed the best is yet to come. I beg to move.

Email;bkatongola@gmail.com

Source: http://www.times.co.zm/sunday/?p=10658

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