Full name: Mr Lekan Adeyemi
Date of Birth: 7th May, 1967
Country: Nigeria
Proposed role: President
Lekan holds a B.Ed in Physical and Health Education and is currently the president of the Nigerian Chess Federation. He has served on the board of the NCF in a variety of positions since 2001 however.
Lekan is both a qualified FIDE instructor and a qualified international arbiter and has been the team captain and coach of the Nigerian National chess teams since 1998.
He has extensive experience as an organizer and trainer in the West African region and has successfully organized and sponsored zonal chess championships, arbiter training courses and chess in schools programs over the course of a twenty year career in chess administration.
Full name: Mr Essoh Jean Mathieu Claude Essis, Ph.D.
Date of Birth: 21 January, 1961
Country: Cote d Ivoire
Proposed role: Vice President
Essoh holds a Ph.D. in Public Policy, an M.A. in Public Management and a B.A. in Law. He
currently holds the position of Section Coordinator for Beni and Lubero Territories as part of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
He is a widely published academic and an experienced public official who has filled numerous national and international public service posts. This includes the role of founder and faculty advisor, for the Peace Education and Action Research Leadership Society.
Essoh is fluent in English, French and Adjukru, his native tongue from his home in Cote d Ivoire.
He currently holds the position of President of the Cote d Ivoire Chess federation and has been a one of the driving forces behind the return of the federation to the international chess fold.
Full name: Mr Larbi Houari
Date of Birth: 21 July, 1974
Country: Morocco
Position: Finance Director
Larbi studied law and economics in Paris before specialising in computer engineering. He has lived most of his life between Morocco and France. He worked as an IT manager for a number of years before founding Callson, a market research company in 2003.
He has been a chess enthusiast since he was 13 years old and is an active chess organizer in the West African region. He has also been instrumental in encouraging and facilitating programs aimed at providing chess sets for schools in Morocco. He was instrumental in the creation of the West African Chess Association, an organization that seeks to promote the horizontal exchange of chess ideas and resources in the region.
He joined AIDEF in January 2013 and organized the AIDEF tournament and meetings held in October 2013 in Marrakesh. Since October 2013, he has devoted much of his time to the development of the game of chess in Africa, particularly in the West Africa region.
Full name: Mr Nurdin Husein Hassuji
Date of Birth: 20 July, 1976
Country: Tanzania
Proposed role: Secretary
Nurdin holds a degree in Information Technology from Strathmore College, in Nairobi, Kenya and is the owner and sole proprietor of Icards in Tanzania.
He currently holds the position of General Secretary within the Tanzanian Chess Association and has played a major role in the revival of chess in Tanzania. He was instrumental in finally getting Tanzania affiliated to FIDE in 2013 during the FIDE congress in Tallin, Estonia. He is also an active and key member of the Chess for Grades project which has recently been initiated by the Tanzania Chess Foundation.
His stated objective is to improve the profile of the game of chess within Tanzania. He is also an active chess player and maintains ambitions to one day become a title player.
Zonal Representatives
Full name: Mr George Arko-Dadzie
Date of Birth: 5 August, 1964
Country: Zone 4.1
George is currently a Group Captain in the Ghana Airforce and is the officer-in-charge of the School of Trade Training in Accra. He has a strong managerial background with senior level military experience coupled with a passion for sports. George speaks English, French and Creole and holds a master’s degree in historical, philological and religious science.
He has been a member of the Ghana Chess Federation since 1982, and has served as both president of the University of Ghana Chess Association and as Vice-Chairman of the Ghana Chess Association.
He has held the post of President of the Ghana Chess Association since 2010 and has served as a member of the Ghana Olympic Committee. He is a qualified FIDE instructor, an active tournament player and one of the key event organizers in Ghana.
Full name: Mr Tariq Zaroug
Date of Birth: 2 March1976
Country: Sudan
Zone: Zone 4.2
Tarig holds a Bscc in civil engineering as well as a Masters of business administration (MBA).
He is the General Manager of Zaroug Construction, an engineering company located in Khartoum, Sudan.
He has served as the president of the Sudan Chess Federation since Oct 2010 and was elected as the president of the CIS committee for the Arab Chess Federation in 2012.
Tariq holds the titles of both Fide Instructor and Fide Arbiter and has been an active organizer of events in Sudan for many years.
Full name: Adv. Lyndon Bouah
Date of Birth: 14 April, 1973
Country: South Africa
Zone: Zone 4.3
Lyndon holds three law degrees and is currently busy with his PHD. He is currently the Chief Director for Sport and Recreation in the Western Cape Provincial Government in South Africa.
He has been actively involved in chess administration since 1988 and served as the President of Chess Western Province for more than 10 years. He is also a former president of the South Africa Chess Association (CHESSA) having served in this capacity from 2003 to 2005.
Lyndon represented South Africa at Olympiad level at the age of 19 after being included in the Olympiad team upon South Africa’s re-entry into international chess in 1992. He has held numerous executive level positions in local and national chess organisations and is candidate master level player and a qualified FIDE instructor. He has also served at FIDE level as a development officer.
