March 3, 2017 By Sahr Morris Jnr
African Cycling governing body, CAC has instructed the crisis-riddled Sierra Leone National Cycling Association of (SLNCA) to hold new elections within 90 days.
In a recent correspondence addressed to the Association’s President, Winston DC Crowther, the African Cycling Confederation stated that their decision to call for a fresh congress came following recommendations from their legal commissioner, who investigated the tussle within the association.
“CAC’s decision finally was that the federation ought to conduct fresh election to choose their executive, as there were flaws in the elections. We direct that you hold fresh election within 90 days of this notice,” CAC stated in their attached email.
“Before the elections, SLNCA ought to submit a list of its members duly signed by you as president and your secretary general. The final list is to be submitted after verification of your National Olympic Committee to CAC. The members captured on the list are those to be invited for congress,” the CAC stated and warned that failure to comply with their directives will lead to sanction including suspension of the SLNCA from the international federation.
The latest communication from CAC came almost a week after the National Olympic Committee of Sierra Leone (NOC-SLE) broke their silence, saying they only recognised the Crowther executive until the international federation says otherwise.
It could be recalled that on 6 October, 2016, the SLNCA former Vice President, Percy Nicolson, was elected as the association’s leader after securing 54 votes as against his opponent, Franklyn Cole, who recorded 13 votes from the 72 delegates, who exercised their franchise.
The elections were conducted by both the Ministry of Sports and a three-man committee that was setup to conduct a verification process of delegates, who voted in the process. Weeks after the said elections, Winston Crowther was boastful that the said congress was illegal.
The Crowther administration’s life-span had ran out since 2014 and the call by CAC is seen as the final attempt to restore sanity within the association.