EDITORIAL | Zambia Cannot Celebrate Champions and Leave Them to Pay the Bill

Our athletes should worry about beating the clock—not paying the airfare.

When Muzala Samukonga speaks about the state of Zambian athletics, the country should listen.

This is not an athlete struggling to prove that he belongs on the international stage. Samukonga is an Olympic bronze medallist, Commonwealth Games champion and Zambia’s 400 metres national record holder at 43.74 seconds. He has carried the Zambian flag at some of the world’s biggest sporting events.

That is why his latest complaint deserves more than the usual administrative response.

Samukonga has raised concern about athletes having to meet expenses, including airfares, when travelling to represent Zambia. His argument is simple: “You cannot build champions when you burden them with costs that government through the association should cover.”

If athletes selected to represent Zambia are indeed being required to pay for their own international travel, Zambia Athletics (ZA) and the Ministry responsible for sport owe the public an explanation.

Representing Zambia is not a private outing.

When an athlete steps onto the track wearing national colours, we call that athlete “Team Zambia”. When they win, government officials congratulate them. Their victories are celebrated as national victories. The flag is raised, the anthem is played and photographs of the athlete are shared across official platforms.

The responsibility cannot suddenly become personal when the airline ticket arrives.

This is particularly troubling because ZA itself has been talking about raising resources for athlete development. In April, association president Major Bernard Bwalya announced that the 2026 Inter-Company Relay was targeting more than K2 million to support youth athletics, talent identification, athlete preparation for regional and international competitions and provincial structures.

Those are worthwhile objectives. But Samukonga’s complaint raises an obvious accountability question: how is ZA financing national representation, and under what circumstances are athletes expected to pay their own way?

This should not become merely a personality contest between Samukonga and the current athletics leadership. Nor should the debate descend into comparisons between the present executive and that of former president Elias Mpondela. The issue is bigger than individuals.

Zambia needs a transparent system under which an athlete selected for national duty knows exactly what government, ZA and the athlete are each responsible for paying. That information should not depend on who the athlete is, who leads the association or whether a sponsor happens to come forward.

There have been efforts to support elite athletes. Earlier this year, the National Olympic Committee of Zambia awarded Olympic Solidarity Scholarships to ten athletes preparing for Los Angeles 2028, including Samukonga and fellow athletes Niddy Mingilishi and Edna Ng’andula. Such initiatives are welcome, but scholarships and occasional sponsorship cannot substitute for a properly funded national system.

And there is another reason authorities should address Samukonga’s concerns transparently. This is not the first public disagreement over support for the athlete. In 2024, the National Sports Council of Zambia disputed earlier complaints about unpaid support, publishing figures for allowances, medical expenses and other assistance government said it had provided him.

That history makes transparency even more important now.

ZA should therefore explain what happened in the present case. Which competition or competitions were involved, what costs Samukonga or other athletes were asked to meet, why they were asked to meet them, and what the association’s policy is on funding athletes selected for national duty.

The Ministry of Sport should equally explain where its responsibility begins and ends.

But beyond Samukonga lies the athlete whose name Zambia does not yet know.

A world-class athlete may be able to find sponsors, scholarships or personal resources. A talented 18-year-old emerging from Chipata, Ikeng’e, Kasama, Mongu, Solwezi or Shang’ombo may not.

If the price of representing Zambia becomes the ability to finance yourself, the country will not necessarily select its best athletes. It risks selecting from among those who can afford to participate.

That is not athlete development.

Zambia has already demonstrated that it can produce champions. The harder task is building institutions capable of finding, financing and protecting the next generation.

Our athletes should worry about beating the clock—not paying the airfare.

Photo credit: Muzala Samukonga/Facebook