The assembly of stakeholders, dubbed Congress, which is the supreme governing body of the Liberia Football Association (LFA), have for the first time endorsed seven legal committees which are not subjected to dismissal by its president. The decision was made on Saturday, January 18, 2014 during an Extra-Ordinary Congress of the LFA, with about 50 days to elections.lfa pic
Each member of the committees is serving for four years, and can only be dismissed by a 2/3rd majority votes in Congress.Fifty six out of the 58 delegates accepted the committees and its members in accordance with Chapter 18 of the ‘New LFA Approved Statues,’ styled: “LEGISLATIVE, EXECUTIVE.”The committees include External Audit, Election, Election Appeal, Ethics, Disciplinary, Appeal and Arbitration Board.Chapter 18, Article 30 states, “Congress is the supreme and Legislative Body; the Executive Committee shall be the Executive Body and the General Secretariat of LFA shall be the Administrative Body, and whereas the Disciplinary, Ethics and Appeal Committees shall constitute the Judicial Bodies of the LFA.”“Electoral committee and the Election Appeals Committee shall organize and supervise the election process,” Article 30.5 states.
Chairmen of the various committees include: John Davis, External Audit; Malcolm Joseph, Election; Justice Soko Sackor, Election Appeal; Atty. Medina Wesseh, Ethics; Cllr. Izetta S. Wesley, Disciplinary; Cllr. John Kollie, Appeal; Atty. Sarfuah Gray, Abitration.The president of FC BYC, Sekou Konneh alarmed the inclusion of Mamadee Djakete on the Arbitration Committee, who is serving as Deputy Managing Director of the Renaissance Communications Incorporated (RCI) a conglomeration of Truth FM, Real TV and Renaissance Newspaper, owned by LFA president Musa Bility.
Sekou Konneh quieted when he was told by the Congress chairman Musa Bility to show his disagreement through his vote.Some changes in the statutes stated that every member of the Executive Committee will be elected by Congress, and every candidate must be proposed by five members (clubs). Before, members of the Executive Committee were elected by their constituents, which were their clubs.The revised statutes have reduced the number of members of the Executive Committee from 18 to 13, which include the president, two vice presidents, the women representative and other nine members of the Executive Committee.
According to the New Statutes, all executive members will not be younger than 25 years, and the president and vice presidents will have a minimum qualification of a Bachelor’s Degree. The other members of the Executive Committee will have a minimum qualification of a high school diploma.“They shall not have found guilty of a criminal offence. They shall have the Liberian nationality and shall have the residency within the territory of Liberia,” the Statutes states.The new statutes categorically emphasized the neutrality of the football house, saying that the LFA is neutral in matters of politics and religion.The statutes said the discrimination of any kind against a country, private person or group of people on account of race, skin color, ethnic, national or social origin, gender, language, religion, political opinion or any other opinion, wealth, birth or any other status, sexual orientation or any other reason is strictly prohibited and punishable by suspension or expulsion.