Ngwira hurt by pregnancy charges

Tigresses player Laureen Ngwira has said the pregnancy allegations affected her psychologically and she is relieved that the truth has finally come out.

“I suffered mental torture as a result of the protracted pregnancy issue and it sent a very wrong picture to the public.

“Even relations with my family, team-mates and friends were greatly affected. It affected my character as a person and a player,” said Ngwira.

She said she is still consulting on how to proceed with the matter.

“Now that I have been cleared, I am consulting my family, team and advisers and thereafter I will determine the way forward. For now, I don’t want to say much,” said the player.

Ngwira tested negative to pregnancy in a fresh test her team jointly conducted with Netball Association of Malawi (NAM) officials at the Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital (QECH) in Blantyre on Wednesday.

Both Tigresses team manager Hellene Mpinganjira and NAM general secretary Carol Bapu confirmed to The Nation that they went together to the hospital where Ngwira passed the test.

“We went together with Bapu to the hospital where a fresh test proved Laureen is not pregnant. Even a scan meant to determine whether she aborted the pregnancy found no fault on her. We will now leave for Lilongwe this Friday with a free mind,” Mpinganjira said.

Nonetheless, Bapu refused to comment on whether the abortion scan also took place, arguing “a lot of things might have happened since the first test on September 21 in Lilongwe showed she was pregnant.”

In spite of that, the outcome of the fresh test means Ngwira is now eligible to play in the national finals of the Presidential Netball Championships slated for Area 30 Netball Court in Lilongwe this weekend.

The test followed an order by the NAM disciplinary committee which recently said that Ngwira will be allowed to play in the remaining games of the tournament if a fresh test showed she is alright.

“To this end, NAM and Tigresses should arrange for Laureen to go for a fresh test result came out negative. We emphasise that the fresh test is only for purposes of the remaining games,” stated the committee on its ruling on the dispute between the team and NAM.

The wrangle emerged after Tigresses were disqualified from the Presidential Netball Championships for jostling NAM treasurer Abigail Sharrif for taking Ngwira to a Lilongwe clinic where she allegedly failed a pregnancy test.

As a result, NAM banned Ngwira from contesting in domestic competitions and instructed the Malawi Queens to sideline Tigresses players including Sindi Simutowe, Grace Mwafulirwa Mhango and Beatrice Kadango for the Fast5 Netball Series in New Zealand.