I had rolled up my sleeves and was ready to vigorously highlight the many things President Ahmed Sahid Nasralla has achieved and why he DESERVED a second term, but it seems the SLAJ General Membership agreed with me and have subsequently returned the president to office UNOPPOSED!
It is now time we focus on giving the President a COMPETENT team to work with him in his second and final term.
The President has kept SEALED LIPS on who he would prefer to work with and has said to me repeatedly that every ELIGIBLE SLAJ member is competent to serve.
Be that as it may, in any electioneering process, only one person can serve in a position at a given point in time.
And in this race, I have chosen ALHAJI MANIKA KAMARA to do the tedious work in the secretariat, and here is why.
Alhaji Manika Kamara has served as Assistant Secretary-General for two years and has served and continues to serve as substantive (acting) Secretary-General for the past one year. What better apprenticeship does one need to handle secretarial duties?
I could remember three years ago when we had to choose between Elias Bangura (an elder brother of mine) and Asmieu Bah (a senior colleague of mine). We chose Asmieu. I told my big bro that it would be difficult for him to win those elections since at that time he was not in touch with the electorate. He was a budding lawyer who had to go through the crucibles of law school. And they say the rest is history.
Competence is the first key that both candidates possess. Sacrifice is the other key that only Alhaji Manika possesses. I have eavesdropped on conversations where Mr. Kelvin Lewis would call his editor (Manika) and make jokes like "enti wae month don SLAJ go pay you en" (he was just kidding though).
Manika would have lost his job if he didn't have a boss who has served as President of SLAJ and understands that the work is pure sacrifice; he handled the secretariat after our Secretary-General abandoned it (let's be honest and say things as they are).
People who sacrifice must be recognized; it is a universal rule
Asmieu made a personal choice of going for more than a year-long fellowship in the US, against the mandate of serving his association. He chose to satisfy his personal educational aspirations over serving SLAJ. That is his choice and his right.
However, the right and honourable thing he could have done was to have resigned his position before embarking on the Fellowship, given the fact that he would be away for so long a period.
I personally think that rather than accusing Manika of betrayal, Asmieu should be grateful to his assistant, who capably assumed the mantle of the Secretariat in his very long absence.
If I were Asmieu, I would not have run in these elections; instead, I would support Manika and prepare for the presidency after Nasralla.
And fortunately, it is still not too late for him to do so.
The ball is in his court.
For now,
Let's go vote massively for Alhaji Manika Kamara so that we continue to get a vibrant secretariat.
IF NOT MANIKA, WHO ELSE?
©️ Christian Conteh
Alhaji Manika Kamara
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