SWAG members want accounts rendered before elections

Accra, Nov 14, GNA - Many members of the Sports Writers Association of Ghana, (SWAG) have expressed reservations about the timing of the impending elections of the Association, even though they agreed that elections were long over due.

In an interview with the GNA Sports, a school of thought, led by Mr Christain Abbew, Group Sports Editor of the Ghanaian Times postulated that it was wrong for the current Executives to announce the date and procedures of elections without rendering account of their tenure of office.

The school believes that it would have been prudent on the part of the outgoing executives to convene a meeting with adequate notice to members so that the thorny issue of the Association's finances would be discussed before a time table and procedures for election would be announced.

SWAG announced December 2 as the date for the election of new executive members after a poorly attended meeting at the International Press Centre instead of the usual venue, the Association's Club House at Dansoman.

A member of the protesting Sports Writers who craved for anonymity said the relocation of the meeting venue was a ploy to deny some members the opportunity to raise their voices at what he described as "the unwillingness of the executives to render accounts." He also faltered the high nomination fees being charged, describing them as a way of preventing potential aspirants from participating in the elections.

SWAG has announced a 500 thousand cedis nomination for its presidential aspirants, 300 thousand cedis for the position of vice president and 200 thousand cedis for other offices. It also announced Monday, November 20 as deadline for the return of nomination forms. "We are disappointed that such vital decisions, were taken at a meeting which failed to raise a quorum and which was held at a venue that was alien to SWAG meetings," a disappointed Enoch Antwi of the Ghana News Agency intoned.

He said he despite the scanty information on the venue of the meeting he and some other members turned up at the Press Centre only to realize that he place had been locked and there was no information posted there to indicate where the meeting had been relocated to. Mr Antwi said the SWAG Club House had been seized and converted to a residential apartment by the President and it would be prudent for the Association to calculate the financial value of such a long period of lodging so that appropriate measures would be taken to redeem the debt. "Many members pay rent where they live and it will be out of place for the President to occupy the Club House of the Association for many years without paying for it," he said.

When some members of the outgoing executives were contacted on the issue, they seemed to agree with the concerns of dissenting members. Mr Maurice Quansah, who is the assistant secretary of the Association said though he was not at the last meting to know what really transpired, he felt it was conventional for the executives to render accounts, ahead of the elections.

The Treasurer of the Association Rosalind Amoh said the issue of accountability was raised at the penultimate meeting at which the Anthony Ackah Committee was inaugurated to work out modalities for the elections.

She said they were working to reconcile their books and render accounts and since she was away at the African Women's Championship in Nigeria, she could not explain why the elections had been fixed ahead of the scrutiny of the books.

When the Vice President, Mr Kwabena Yeboah was contacted earlier in the week, he said he agreed with the concerns of members and promised to initiate moves to convene an emergency meeting to address the issues. Mr Yeboah however informed GNA Sports on Sunday that his efforts met a brick wall as the President had refused to heed his advice to convene an emergency meeting.

Meanwhile, Mr Harry Mouzalas, the SWAG Electoral Officer has extended the date for the return of completed nomination forms. In a press statement on Thursday, Mr Mouzalas announced Friday, November 24 as the new deadline for the return of nomination forms. 19 Nov. 06