Wushu federation recovers half of stolen equipment

The Malawi Wushu Federation (MWF) has recovered about half of its equipment which was stolen.

The equipment was recovered during a countrywide search which has now been discontinued due to financial constraints.

MWF president Hackson Chapasa told The Nation on Wednesday that they went looking for the equipment in districts such as Blantyre, Lilongwe, Zomba and Mchinji where they recovered more than 40 percent of the items in the boxing circles.

Chapasa, however, said they have halted the recovery process because they have exhausted the special allocation they had for the exercise.

Chapasa added that the search has also been effected by the absence of a database for the items after a computer was stolen from their office at Kamuzu Institute for Sports in Lilongwe two months ago.

MWF launched the search three months ago after they discovered that their equipment, including gloves, training pads, protective clothing, chest guards and gum shields worth over K1 million (about $2 500), went missing and some of it was sold for a song to boxers and promoters.

“We successfully recovered some equipment, but we found most of it in tattered state; hence, we feel it would be a waste of money to continue with the search. Nevertheless, we will be vigilant and we will confiscate whatever we suspect belongs to us that we will find at boxing bouts,” said Chapasa.

He said although they suspect that a Tanzanian boxing promoter might have bought some of the equipment, they strongly believe most of it was sold within the boxing family in Malawi.

The equipment was first noticed missing in December 2012 when the federation wanted to conduct national championship.

The equipment was donated by the Chinese Embassy in 2010. China, which is the origin of the boxing-like martial arts sport, is the sole provider of financial and material support to MWF.