By Mohamed Jaward Nyallay
Here we are, finally! The Sierra Leone Football Association (SLFA) is about to hold an ordinary congress, for the first time in four years. The venue is Port Loko, no doubt a stronghold of the Isha Johansen administration.
Like this, the next two congresses will also be held in Johansen strongholds - Kenema and Bombali districts. The venues and scheduling of these congresses is all part of an end game; to win a fresh mandate for the SLFA Presidency.
This congress itself unfolds like a game, with players scoring, Video Assistant Referee (VAR) reviewing, tackles flying in and at times fair play balls kicked from one side to another.
Its 1:59pm and the congress is about to start, after months of preparation. The congress starts proper after the Minister of Sports, Ibrahim Nyelenkeh, gives a solemn speech on unity and the common good the game can achieve without all the current fracas.
The speech reverberated with the delegates. It helped set the mood of the room throughout the day. Nyelenkeh is like the fourth official giving both teams advice on the essence of fair play before they enter the pitch.
Johansen and the delegates are all anxious. Some have played this game before; others are new and excited to make an impression in their debut congress.
Johansen’s body language lacks the usual exuberance. Perhaps you can understand why. She is here seeing the faces of all these delegates, some of whom at the very least want her out of office.
She later stands and give her speech to open the congress. Today, she is not spitting fire, rather she is acting like an experienced coach who knows this game is going to be long and can go either way. So why break a leg now?
We close the first session and go for a 45 minutes break.
FC Johansen Vs Stakeholders
We are back and formalities are over.
If this was a proper game, then this was the sound of the first whistle. In this game, the side supporting SLFA President Isha Johansen are known as FC Johansen whiles the resistance against her are known as Stakeholders.
This game started with an early goal, in fact two early goals. Stakeholders started brightly. They succeeded in changing the original chairman who was announced, Ali Badara Tarawallie.
Chairman of Old Edwardians Football Club, Emmanuel Saffa Abdulai, raised a point which was supported by Article 37-3 and 37-5 of the SLFA Constitution.
The section states that the person presiding over Congress should be the President, or the Vice President in a case where the President can’t take up the task. Tarawallie didn’t meet the requirement because he is an Ex-officio member.
Saffa appealed whiles he was making his point, saying: “I beg all of us to go for once by the Constitution.”
The Chairman was then changed, Tarawallie didn’t take the mantle. Vice President, Brima Mazola Kamara, did, after Johansen said she wasn’t feeling well enough to even sit through the entire meeting.
Goal! 1-0. Saffa just scored for the Stakeholders against FC Johansen. This was the early advantage they needed for this clash.
In case you are wondering, the hall divided itself, FC Johansen on one end and the Stakeholders on the other.
The new chairman conducting the Congress is Mazola, as he is commonly known. On his watch the Stakeholders scored their second goal. Margo Tarawally, the leader of the resistance and Saffa combined to force an item dealing with the Suspension and Expulsion of Members to be added on the agenda.
There you go, new chairman, new agenda. 2-0 to Stakeholders, the game continues.
Mazola, who has taken this seat, was practically unprepared. There were times when he wasn’t sure of what he wanted to do, at other times he just wanted to skip due process and shorten this whole thing.
He was a man been pulled from all directions and he felt obliged to follow them all. He is good to a fault.
Now, FC Johansen had to pull a goal back, or this could quickly turn in to a thumping from the Stakeholders. By now the room is getting heated. This is a volatile room. You can compare this room to one full of gunpowder kegs, just a spark can explode it. And it did explode on this third goal.
It is time for the Financial Statement, which was later read by the Auditor of the SLFA. This was not meant to be contentious, but it turned out to be. Stakeholders had concerns with the finances, so the back and forth with Mazola and the Auditor started.
Then came in a prodigy, Mohamed Sesay. He is the Assistant Secretary General of the real FC Johansen, who are currently playing in the Sierra Leone Premier League. By then he had raised his hands up several times, but he was ignored. This was until Johansen herself whispered to Mazola that the young man who has been ignored was from her football club.
Few minutes later, Sesay was given the mic. A prodigy just entered in the match and her “mum” paved his way in. He was a Congress debutant but a fearless one. His points, even though humdrum at times, got the applause from the FC Johansen camp in the room.
He got the game back by finally proposing a motion to accept the financial statement despite the ongoing commotion in the room. As controversial as this was, Mazola allowed the call and put to a vote. The voting was like a penalty kick. FC Johansen could miss or score. Dangerous gamble. The vote went on and they won 25 out of the 47 votes.
2-1, game on!
FC Johansen just got a star. From here on out he was given the mic so many times that a member from the Stakeholders, Joseph Gbogba, stood up and prevented him from talking; citing unfair advantage.
But this was not even controversial like the admission of Falaba and Karene districts in to the SLFA and giving them immediate voting rights.
The FIFA rep - Alexander Gros - had to pitch in on whether these members should be admitted and allowed to vote in April.
Despite it being against the road map, which states that the delegate list should not be tampered with, Gros said FIFA was open to the idea of adding these members to vote in April if Congress allows it.
A vote was called, and FC Johansen won again, this time by 26 votes. That’s the equalizer and it is a big goal.
This was a draw, but it feels like a win for Johansen.
What we now know?
We now know there are two more congresses to be held, one in January and the other in April. By the end of it, all Johansen will have spent 987 days over her original mandate.
We now know that she can win the April elections because for the first time it looks like she has the number. But there is a caveat here, the two votes in this Congress were done by standing. So, this means there is a possibility that some delegates were just playing along.
Thirdly, the addition of the North-West region, Karene and Falaba, creates at least 4 more votes, it could go as high as 7, all of which are guaranteed to go to Johansen.
We also know that Stakeholders can still win, but they have their work cut out for them. They could take solace in the fact that Johansen is the incumbent and her lead is still slender, so they might have a chance from now to April to turn things around.
On Saturday, we didn’t see any coordinated strategy from Stakeholders during this December 7 congress. There were times when Saffa had to urge other members from their side to contribute to the deliberations.
So, this was December 7th congress for you. It ended 2-2. At the end of it all both sides felt genuinely satisfied with the outcome. Johansen told journalists later, “[The congress was] very exciting, very eventful, but at the end of the day very successful. I am extremely happy and proud of all the members.”
Saffa also said this was just what they have always wanted, get to a congress and have debates. “This is what the stakeholders have said all along. Get us to congress and discuss the issues. This football is about all of us,” he told Politico.
The man in charge of VAR for this match, Gros, said: “the future of football in Sierra Leone can only be brighter.”
For football’s sake, you’ll hope this positivity continues in the New Year.
Copyright © 2019 Politico Online
