News Vendors go to the polls tomorrow
The Sierra Leone News Vendors Association will elect a new executive body tomorrow at the Sierra Leone Post Office at Siaka Stevens Street in Freetown.
Before the election there was a petition against some executive members who want to retain their position in the executive. The petition was forwarded by the Audit Committee of the Association. The Committee stated that the former have failed to account for monies they received and spent for their annual newspaper award programme few years back.
With this, the Committee said six of the former executive members who want to retain their positions are not eligible because they have failed to account to the Association.
Among the six are Lahai P. Bangura (Pay Lay Lay) (former Chairman) Abdulai B. Kanu (Secretary General) Abdulai B. Sesay (Asst. Sec. Gen.), Kanteh O. Kamara (PRO) BassieSesay (Organizing Secretary) Francis Kwande (Asst. Organizing Secretary).
According to the petition the former executive failed to account for a total number of printed tickets, number of tickets to members, number of tickets sold to the public, patron tickets and the amount involved in organizing the show.
Sources close to the Association, stated that it was due to its malpractice they decided to form an interim body to investigate and conduct election. The sources further stated that the former chairman who wants to retain his position earlier apologized to the entire members for their failure to account and say he was not going to contest for any position again.
But according to the Interim Chairman, Raymond Sesay who was also a member of the Audit Committee there is no clause in the constitution which mentions punishment for embezzlement. Raymond further stated that he is going to conduct the election as their interim term of office has expired. The new executive, he said will continue with the pending case. He too accepted that it was in his presence that the former chairman apologized to members and asked for forgiveness. But he said as an interim chairman when he recommended that they ban the entire executive from contesting in the coming election, the entire membership did not support him by them until only now that they are coming up with it.
Meanwhile, a senior member in the Association Sorie Sesay has vowed to take the former chairman to court should he fail to give an account.
He went on to say that Lahai has been in power for 12 years and since that time he has never given proper account to them. He concluded that when someone stays in power for too long there is the tendency for corruption which is why they are facing such situation today.
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