In a leaked letter on social media, the Ethics Board of the Sierra Leone Football Association (SLFA) through its Chairman Drucil Taylor stated that it has suspended the General Secretary of the Association (Christopher Kamara) for failure to disburse funds meant for payers of the national team pending investigations into various complaints before it.
The Ethics Board described the failure of Chris to disburse the said funds as insulting and preventing the Board to carry out its activities.
The said letter was written to the General Secretary Chris Kamara on the 12th February 2022, where the Board also requested a response within 72 hours and also being set aside for 14 days or so. This leaked letter sparked several social media reactions from various quarters of the public. But what are the facts in this matter that the public should know?
From my independent investigations, my sources revealed that the Ethics Board requested logistics and financial support to investigate 3 pending matters referred to it, namely:
Match-fixing allegations in the last Division One playoff in Kono involving a goalkeeper of Sierra Leone Police FC Ibrahim Bangura (aka Stop Pain) and Alimamy Tholley – Assistant Coach of Estate Contractors,
Sexual harassment allegations against the Head Coach of Sierra Queens, and
Match-fixing allegations involving Leone Stars players (Christian Caulker and co).
The Board, therefore, requested logistical and financial support from the FA to investigate and adjudicate these outstanding matters.
On the logistical support – the Board requested to be holding hearings in hotels for the said matters, the SLFA Executive Committee (Exco) through the General Secretary told the Ethics Board it cannot afford to pay for hotels as meeting venues for the investigations. The General Secretary, therefore, delegated the responsibility to the Corporate Affairs Manager of the FA Mohamed Benson Bawoh, to assist the Board with a suitable space at the SLFA Secretariat as a meeting point. The Board rejected the office space given to them on the basis that their job could be disrupted by the movement of staff and other visitors.
A meeting between the Board, the President, and the General Secretary of the FA was held on the 29th October 2021 where the Board was asked to prepare a budget for the activities.
The Board sent a total budget of Le 395 million for the 3 matters to the General Secretary. The executive officials informed the General Secretary that the FA is not in a financial position to honor such a colossal amount, as it’s currently struggling to raise funds for the league and other upcoming footballing activities.
According to sources, the executive officials decision was communicated to the Board by the General Secretary.
Fast forward, the Board erroneously believed that the General Secretary was deliberately refusing to disburse the said funds (395 Million Leones), and deemed it fit to suspend him from his office immediately.
The Board relies on executive officials to enforce its decision to suspend the General Secretary from office.
In as much as the Ethics Board has partial powers to suspend any member of the FA, the Executive Committee cannot enforce their decision on Chris because the non-disbursement of funds was not his fault, and there has never been a query against him or any wrongdoing before on the said issue. The responsibility to relieve the General Secretary or any personnel of the FA lies entirely on the (Article 35 of the SLFA Constitution).
Decision-making and approvals lie entirely in the hands of the Executive Committee of the FA (Article 36.2 of the SLFA Constitution).
The General Secretary only implements decisions and directives of the executive committee.