Gambia Elect New Olympic President
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| GNOC President Momodou Dibba, he bagged 26 out of 47 votes |
The president of the Gambia Draught Association Mr Momodou Dibba was appointed the new GNOC chief after his sole opponent Abdoulie Baks Touray chose to boycott the election before the start of the vote. The first scheduled election in October 2010 was aborted after Touray’s claim of constitutional irregularities.
This time, Touray and his faithful’s attempt to disrupt the election process didn’t bear any fruit after the Gambia Independent Electoral Commission – the body mandated to conduct the election - decided to proceed after a quorum was met. At the start of the meeting, Touray’s supporters were shouting over how the election should be conducted, amidst fears they would be defeated should they participate. And before anyone cast a ballot, Touray immediately decided to bow out of the race in a move meant to discredit any decision that might be reached at the gathering.
But his ‘tactical withdrawal’ at the eleventh hour was rendered meaningless after the former Gambia Football Association secretary general – Dibba - went ahead to pull 26 votes from the possible 47 [two of which were absent]. Many delegates and observers, who appeared satisfied with the election process, spoke of the hope that the weekend’s poll will mark the end of the leadership crisis that has been tearing the Gambia Olympic body apart.
In his post election speech, Mr Dibba said the winner of the election was Gambian sports as he called on all stakeholders to sheath their swords and help move sports in the country forward. He added that his 10-point development agenda unveiled before the election would be followed to the letter with the backing of the GNOC Executive Bureau.
The fight over the Gambia National Olympic Committee is touted as the most heated sports row in the history of Gambian sports that drew the attention of both the country’s legislative and executive bodies.
Author: Nanama Keita
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