By Bockarie Allieu
FREETOWN, July 13 (SALONE TIMES) –The National Olympic Committee (NOC) in Sierra Leone on Saturday 25th June 2022 held their Annual General Meeting at the OlymAfrica center, Goderich in Freetown. In his statement the president of NOC Dr. Patrick Coker told the NOC members about the activities of the Olympic Committee in Sierra Leone. Key among the issue he said are the Birmingham Commonwealth Games and the KONYA Islamic Games in Turkey. He went on that unfortunately during the preparation they lost their Financial Officer who left the office unceremoniously. Dr. Coker said the departure of the Financial Secretary has caused so many rumors in town with some alleging that the lady ran away with huge money from the NOC account. He told the audience that the rumor going around about the lady taking away huge money is baseless and malicious to tarnish the good image of NOC SLE.
Dr. Coker went on that NOC has a good accounting system which makes it impossible for the lady to withdraw any amount of money and run away with it. He though said they were having problems to get certain documents but with the help of Yayah the president of Archery an IT specialist who have vast experience in computer they have been able to get most of the documents. He informed the members that the usual internal auditing has been going on in the office and that they have the hard copy of the audited report which they will make available to the various associations. Despite the help of Yayah he said there have been lapses in getting some support document. With this he said they will have to inform the IOC Solidarity fund for some funds to get proper software with also the recommendation of employing someone with high accounting background to fill the financial position.
In connection with the Commonwealth Games he said the preparation process is almost complete and that the delegation will travel to Birmingham at the end of July this year. He also informed them that this year is an election year wherein they will be electing candidates for all the NOC executive positions before the end of this year. But he said before the elections they will be having one more Annual General Meeting. The agenda of the AGM will include full reports on the both games that will be going on
Dr. Coker also informed the members that Africa National Olympic Committee Associations (ANOCA) has given the mandate to Sierra Leone to host the NOC’s Secretary General meeting in Sierra Leone in November 2022. The Treasurer of NOC Prince Sualley read and elaborated on the financial report of NOC. He explained to the members how NOC receive their annual funds from IOC and that there is no funding from government except during the Games. Prince went on that sometimes they have to economize to manage the little they have to pay salaries, buy stationaries and other office related materials. Joseph Nyande Secretary General head of administration also reiterated the unceremonious disappearance of their finance officer but said presently there is no problem in the office work. The Chef De Mission of NOC SLE Unisa Deen Kargbo explained how far they have gone with the process of the Birmingham Commonwealth Games and the Islamic Games in Turkey. He went on that the entries of all sports will end today Wednesday 30th June 2022.
