The electoral committee of the Gambia Football Federation has written back to the Kamaso-Campaign team addressing some concerns raised by the team over the upcoming national football election process. The letter reads:
”As you rightly quoted in Article 3 (1) of the GFF Electoral Code, the code will be implemented fully in the upcoming elective congress. However, your claims that the GFF leadership has written to some members to propose a date for the congress, is not something that anyone is doing on behalf of the Electoral Committee. We’ve not assigned or delegated that responsibility or any other matter relating to the elections to any individual or group, thus even if your claims are to be true, please note that it’ll not have any influence or bearing on our decision for we will determine and announce all election related matters in due time.
“The Electoral Committee of the GFF is an independent body that has its powers derived from the Electoral Code. Our membership in this group and the code itself are both established by the General Assembly, the supreme and legislative body of The Gambia Football Federation, thus, we’re only answerable to them and be rest assured that we will execute our functions and duties without fear or favour
On the matter of the general secretary’s involvement in the Electoral Committee, well, Article 5.2 of the Code is unambiguous on this. It states: The General Secretary of the GFF shall serve as the Secretary to the Electoral Committee. He shall take part in the activities of the Committee in a consultative capacity, he is responsible for the related logistical matters and takes care of administrative matters.
It is in this same vein that the Electoral Committee may be assisted by members of the general secretariat at any time, provided that they are not standing as candidates for elected posts, as contained in Article 5.6.
“These provisions are very clear. The general secretary and secretariat staff, are not members of the Electoral Committee and do not participate in any decision-making process by the committee. Their responsibility is only to offer administrative support, including taking minutes of the committee. Thus, even if he’s campaigning in support of the incumbent, as alleged, please be rest assured, without any ambiguity, that, he has, and will have no influence on the decisions of the committee.
“In the same vein, the incumbent, if interested, will undergo the same procedure as any other aspirant in the upcoming congress. Every aspirant, without exception, must fulfil all the eligibility criteria before they would be cleared to stand for any elective position. Thus, as far as the committee is concerned, no nomination has taken place, thus no one is cleared to stand as a candidate.
“With regard to your demand for the GS to recuse himself from the committee’s proceedings, it’s regrettable that the Electoral Committee does not have such mandate or power to exercise. The decision to make the general secretary, (the position and not the personality) secretary to the Electoral Committee was made by the Annual General Assembly which yourself is a member and took part in.
Therefore, it would require a change of law from the General Assembly to decide on or make any alterations or omissions and or deciding on any matter that is outside of the scope of the code”.
