New SLAJ executive orientated

By Kemo Cham

The newly elected executive of the Sierra Leone Association of Journalists is determined to avoid the pitfalls of its predecessor.

Members of the executive last week convened a one-day orientation session designed to ensure individual executive members were acquainted with their roles and responsibilities. The move was also meant to foster cohesion among executive members so that they work together without ill-feeling fanned by lack of collaboration.

The orientation session was partly a fulfillment of SLAJ president Kelvin Lewis’ pledge to ensure he avoided the infighting that plagued his last administration.

There were reports that executive members did not see eye to eye in the last executive.

A notable fractured relationship was between Lewis himself and his former Vice President, Stanley Bangura Jnr. The two ended up facing each other in the tightly contested SLAJ general elections for the presidency at the association’s last triennial meeting in the southern city of Bo, early this month.

“This orientation program has given us an opportunity to see clearly now where we want to go and how we can now transform our Association into a well structured and efficiently run organization,” said Kelvin Lewis in a statement issued at the end of the orientation programme held at Javouhey House on Leicester Peak Road in Freetown.

“We have to make significant changes to our operations and begin to put in the building blocks for a better SLAJ. It is now our duty to work together as a unified team to make SLAJ better,” he added.

The retreat was convened on the theme: ‘Smooth Transition – Knowing your Roles and Responsibilities.’

Veteran journalists and academics presented papers, focusing on three key objectives: identifying the organogram of the association with the goal of avoiding conflicting roles; to identify the clear roles and responsibilities for each Executive member in line with the Companies Act and the Association’s M&A; and to provide information on basic financial best practices and internal control systems to ensure transparency and accountability.

“At the end of the day the new Executive is expected to have a clear road map of where they want to go and what they want to achieve in the next three years,” said lead facilitator, Dr. Victor Massaquoi.

Other presenters at the sessions were Dr. Julius Spencer, Lawyer Joseph Egbenda Kapuwa, Joshua Nicol and Olufemi Johnson of Freetown Nominees, touching on Board relations, roles as assigned by the SLAJ Constitution and Companies Act, group dynamics and building a structured financial system.

The program also included the formal handing over of documents and equipments from the immediate past executive to the new one.

The current executive’s tenure ends in 2019.

(C) Politico 28/06/16