The general secretary of the Sierra Leone Football Association Christopher Kamara has been suspended by the Ethics Board on allegation of breach of provisions of the ethic code and regulations.
A press release issued by the Ethics Board states,“I have been instructed by the Ethics Board to write on the aforementioned subject to which you are required to respond within 72 hours of receipt of same.The Board has made several efforts to commence work after the thorough integrity checks which were conducted for the elections of Officers of the Executive Committee of the Sierra Leone Football Association, but all efforts have proven futile.For ease of reference, on the 1st of September 2021, a letter was written to your good office requesting a venue for meetings, as there were a number of outstanding issues to deal with. Several frantic efforts were made by way of phone calls to your good-self and that of Mr. Benson Bawoh, all proven futile.
In consequence thereof, a letter dated the 21st September 2021 was written to you requesting a meeting with the Executive Committee in order to have them understand the volume of work outstanding and to see that our needs as a Board were not only dealt with, but expeditiously also. There was no response to the said letter despite multiple follow-up calls to the Secretariat, through your very good-self and Mr. Benson Bawoh in relation to the aforementioned issues.
As a last resort, the Board sent an email to the President of the Executive Committee of SLFA on the 7th October 2021, informing him of our earlier request to have a meeting with the Executive Committee with an agenda containing very pressing concerns of the situation surrounding the operations of the Board. Further, we requested a date and venue for the said proposed meeting.
After subsequent follow-up by way of phone calls, the meeting was slated for the 29th October 2021 and we ended up meeting the President and yourself where concerns were raised about lack of availability of a meeting place and logistical support for the investigation and adjudication of very serious issues referred to the Board.
In the said meeting, it was resolved that the Board should do a budget for all the investigations and adjudications that are outstanding, and that such funds would be ring-fenced and disbursed by the SLFA Secretariat as the Board does not want to superintend over any cash transaction in its affairs.
In line with this resolution, a budget was prepared by the Board in consultation with the Finance Department of the SLFA and same was sent to you through your email on the 25th November 2021, for which you acknowledged receipt of same. The same budget was sent to you through your WhatsApp on the 26th November 2021 followed by a phone call on the same 26th November 2021.
Since our last engagement on this topic, we have observed as a Board, with utmost disappointment, that there has been no response as to how we should move forward in the face of referrals of very serious matters, to us as a body. We are of the view that the Executive of SLFA and your good self as General Secretary have a duty under Article 3(1) of the Ethics Code and Regulations 2020 to further the principles of SLFA, CAF and FIFA by upholding the Ethical aspects of the game and must therefore desist from any act or omission that would be inimical to this obligation.
We view your conduct as an infraction of Article 3 (10) (b) and (e) supra by way of obstructing and/ or preventing the activities of the Ethics Board, the penalty of which is enumerated in Article 3(10) (e) supra. As a start we would not ascribe your alleged actions/inaction to that of the Executive Committee but would give you 72 hours to answer to this query.
Further to the above, we have resolved to suspend you from the office of General Secretary effective immediately for an interim period of 14 days or the determination of this allegation against you, whichever is later.
The Executive Committee of SLFA is strongly advised to reinforce its commitment to maintaining the Ethics of the game by providing the required support and environment necessary for the machinery of the judicial bodies to operate expeditiously without fear or favour.”
By Desmond Tunde Coker