December 8, 2015 By Sahr Morris Jr.
Vice president of the Sierra Leone Athletics Association (SLAA), Emeric Cole, has said they will possibly announce a new date for their long overdue elective congress this week.
The new congress date will be in line with the international federation, IAAF’s recent call for election to be organised by the current executive before 30 December or Sierra Leone faces international sanctions.
Cole maintained that the new date will be announced based on the approval of the Sports Ministry and the National Sports Council.
“We are ready to call congress this week but the only stumbling block we now face is that we have to wait on the Sports Ministry and National Sports Council,” Cole said and affirmed that the congress will be held before the traditional Boxing Day Sports on December 26.
The mandate of the executive of SLAA president Abdul Karim came to an end in April this year but failed to take the membership to congress due to the Ebola scourge, which sparked some internal wrangling over the legibility of candidates to vote and be voted for.
Following several tussles, a faction of stakeholders, who labeled themselves as ‘Legitimate Stakeholders of SLAA, conducted an extra-ordinary meeting on 20th November and elected Rtd. Major Alfred Palo Conteh as president – a decision the international federation voided and called for fresh elections.
The IAAF decision gave an initial victory to the outgoing executive of Karim, who did not participate in the election of Palo Conteh.