Police Commissioner Lamin King Colley who is also the president of the Combined Security Services Sports Association has said his mission to seek the presidency of the Gambia National Olympic Committee GNOC, is to transform the body to the benefit of all sports.
Speaking to The Standard, King who is contesting against former IOC member Beatrice Allen, said the GNOC needs to be reformed from its current state of a ‘secret society” to an open society accessible by all Gambian sports.
“For far too long the GNOC is being run by a ‘cabal’ who are running it as an elite club instead of a national sports body for the benefit of all Gambians. I want to deliver that kind of GNOC when voted into office,” he said.
Colley added that The Gambia missed out a lot from the prestigious position of being home of an IOC member in his opponent Beatrice Allen ‘I think Beatrice should have used her position to enhance Gambian sports but she was rarely even seen in public. If she could not do it when she was IOC member how could she achieve anything as GNOC president? I am calling on all sport associations to stop those who want to hijack the GNOC as their own property.,” he warned.
He said giving the quality of people he lined up in his team, the leadership his campaign will provide will uplift the GNOC to be a reputable organization,” I have Peter Prom, a financial expert and respected former Gambian international footballer, MA Jallow another established public servant, Johnny Gomez a legendary cricket player for The Gambia among others. Together we want to give GNOC a national character as opposed to its present ‘private club” nature, Colley said.
Meanwhile King’s opponent Beatrice Allen recently launched a 10 –point agenda detailing how she would like to run the GNOC when she becomes president, she is currently the first vice president of the committee. Read this space tomorrow for details of her agenda.
