There is a looming calamity on the forthcoming elections of the Sierra Leone Association of Journalists (SLAJ). The association’s electoral commission and the outgoing national executive are seemingly ignoring this disaster, and there are indications that a continuation of this negligence may lead to a possible court action and embargo on the elections slated for Saturday March 26 2011.
A good number of SLAJ members have expressed dissatisfaction on two major occurrences which are considered as a total breach of vital provisions in the SLAJ constitution.
The first is the issue that has to do with the nullification of the candidacy of Moses Kargbo, Editor for Concord Times, who was vying for the position of National Secretary General, by the SLAJ Electoral Commission.
The other burning issue is the registration of SLAJ members that continued until last week. This was in total contradiction of the provision of the SLAJ Constitution which states that registration of SLAJ members should cease ninety (90) days to the elections.
Publisher of the Awareness Times Newspaper, Dr. Sylvia Olayinka Blyden, has forwarded a strong-worded letter to the SLAJ Electoral Commission, highlighting that the Commission had, with contempt, misinterpreted the SLAJ Constitution, by nullifying the candidacy of Moses Kargbo for no just cause. She also raised concerns on the registration of SLAJ members that lasted until last week, in contravention with the association’s constitution.
As the dust is yet to settle on the educative letter written by Blyden, News Hunters have learnt that a group of constitutional conscious journalists have authored a letter to the Electoral Commission with similar concerns. The said journalists are more concerned with the anomaly of registering journalists to vote in the elections up to last week.
Since Sylvia Blyden forwarded her concerns to the Electoral Commission few days back, no response has been made.
The failure of the electoral commission is a complete opposite of the prompt response that the commission undertook when Ismael Koroma and a like-minded colleague submitted a complaint against the locus standi of Moses Kargbo to contest for a SLAJ position. A decision was reached the very day the complaint was filed.
Meanwhile, it remains unclear what will be the next line of action of Sylvia Blyden and the other aggrieved journalists should their concerns are not properly addressed. But there is this likelihood for a court action to be brought against the SLAJ Electoral Commission and the outgoing executive, it has been learnt.
By Abdul Fonti
A good number of SLAJ members have expressed dissatisfaction on two major occurrences which are considered as a total breach of vital provisions in the SLAJ constitution.
The first is the issue that has to do with the nullification of the candidacy of Moses Kargbo, Editor for Concord Times, who was vying for the position of National Secretary General, by the SLAJ Electoral Commission.
The other burning issue is the registration of SLAJ members that continued until last week. This was in total contradiction of the provision of the SLAJ Constitution which states that registration of SLAJ members should cease ninety (90) days to the elections.
Publisher of the Awareness Times Newspaper, Dr. Sylvia Olayinka Blyden, has forwarded a strong-worded letter to the SLAJ Electoral Commission, highlighting that the Commission had, with contempt, misinterpreted the SLAJ Constitution, by nullifying the candidacy of Moses Kargbo for no just cause. She also raised concerns on the registration of SLAJ members that lasted until last week, in contravention with the association’s constitution.
As the dust is yet to settle on the educative letter written by Blyden, News Hunters have learnt that a group of constitutional conscious journalists have authored a letter to the Electoral Commission with similar concerns. The said journalists are more concerned with the anomaly of registering journalists to vote in the elections up to last week.
Since Sylvia Blyden forwarded her concerns to the Electoral Commission few days back, no response has been made.
The failure of the electoral commission is a complete opposite of the prompt response that the commission undertook when Ismael Koroma and a like-minded colleague submitted a complaint against the locus standi of Moses Kargbo to contest for a SLAJ position. A decision was reached the very day the complaint was filed.
Meanwhile, it remains unclear what will be the next line of action of Sylvia Blyden and the other aggrieved journalists should their concerns are not properly addressed. But there is this likelihood for a court action to be brought against the SLAJ Electoral Commission and the outgoing executive, it has been learnt.
By Abdul Fonti
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