The outgoing FELMAUSA President Richmond
Mohammed Konneh is credited for building
an institution that has become the
beacon of hope for Liberian Mandingoes,
et al. His successor, President-Elect
Mohammed Dukuly seeks to continue in his
legacy.
President-Elect Dukuly is very keen about taking the
mantle of leadership of FELMAUSA in the next few months
to come, but he is also aware that his administration
will need the fullest support of the outgoing leaders,
most especially President Konneh, whom he referred to as
a “Gentleman and a leader who has our community at
heart.”
Dukuly and his vice President-Elect Mohammed Kromah met
with officers of the FELMAUSA Publicity committee in
Darby, Pennsylvania Saturday in an acquaintance meeting
that was characterized by friendly and honest exchange
of notes and suggestions as to how to move the
Federation forward in helping the community here in the
United States and in Liberia and other places around the
world.
“For us to move forward, we have to capture and maximize
the experiences and the visions of our past leaders, our
outgoing leaders and other people who have made enormous
sacrifices for our community,” the soft-speaking leader
told the Publicity Committee members, who include
Chairman Nvasekie Konneh, Webmaster Sidiki Trawally and
Chief Technical Manager and Assistant Webmaster Alieu
Jabateh.
President-Elect Dukuly is also aware of the gigantic
task of leading FELMAUSA to new heights. He called on
the community to lend him and his new team their
unflinching supports in achieving a level of competence
built on the aspiration of the Mandingo peopl. The young
leader also informed the Committee that his team has
launched a campaign to reach out to his people in an
effort to ensure there is high degree of coexistence
among them.
He concurred that never will there be a time someone
will talk about FELMAUSA without mentioning the name of
Richmond Konneh, Nvasekie Konneh, Sidiki and Alieu
Jabateh and others who champion the formation of the
Federation. "We know that and we understand that very
well,” Dukuly noted and assured that his administration
is not going to scratch everything the Richmond Konneh's
administration had put in place. “That means we have to
start all over.”
A leader’s apology
The young FELMAUSA leader used the occasion to apologize
on behalf of some of his supporters who he said might
have done some things wrong on his behalf. “We are sorry
if someone does something or did anything wrong on my
behalf. We are learning,” the leader said.
President-Elect Dukuly thanked the
Publicity Committee and his VP-Elect Mohammed Kromah,
who initiated the meeting held at a local restaurant,
for responding to his call for a face-to-face
discussion. He praised the Committee for making a giant
sacrifice by propelling FELMAUSA to a level
unimaginable, adding, "we want you to even boost that
effort. The things you do will speak for you when the
time comes. FELMAUSA is an institution, not a foot ball
team. It is an institution around which we all galvanize
our effort to move forward.”
Communication, a two-way street
Saying he does not sugarcoat anything,
the President-Elect bluntly challenged the Publicity
Committee to open a new line of communication with him
and members of his administration. “I am a honest
person. I have been in contact with Nvasekie and some
others. I was not seeking publicity. Communication is a
two-way street. I have called Alieu and I used to call
sidiki, but did not get him before the convention.”
He cautioned that “If we build
relation and remain in contact, we will build an
institution. If we see ourselves as brothers, the rest
will work out fine. In as much we are going to
communicate, let accentuate our goals for which FELMAUSA
was formed. Let us build personal relationship.”
The young leader expressed
disappointment that misinformation in the community
following the convention is taking serious toll on many
people. “People have said lot of things about me also,
but if we are not careful, our community will be more
divisive. We have to communicate with each other. In the
interest of unity, someone needs to call me to report
any problem caused by anyone associated with me. If
there is something wrong, please let me know and wait
and see what happens.”
He continued, “We have to be honest
with each other in the process. Let there be some level
of objectivity in the process also.” He challenged the
Committee to attach high level of credibility “to your
work in promoting FELMAUSA.”
President-Elect Dukuly noted that
criticism is healthy, however it must be objective. “If
you don’t have anyone to criticize you then you are
nobody. I like people to tell me when I am wrong, but be
objective. I met the reporter behind the Mandingo
Nations website story about me, who apologized to me,
but I urged him to continue, but that he must be
objective.
On the “imposter” article published on
FELMAUSA website recently, Dukuly frowned on the manner
in which the report was handled. “We should have
contacted the people that were accused. Someone needed
to call them to verify the information that was
received. The website is a huge outreach medium for
FELMAUSA. I don’t really believe in this whole publicity
thing, but I like to do the right thing. Using words
like imposter is a strong word, but I think we need to
reach out to each others to get out facts right before
publishing.
“If I am wrong, I will say I am sorry.
Judge me for who I am, not what people say. So if
there’s something for us to discuss, let talk about it.
Internet is not the place where we should discuss our
problem. If FELMAUSA fails, our reputation is on the
line. Let us open a line of communication and move
forward. We have the potential to help our country.
Great empire comes from within and if we are honest, we
will move great mountains. This is a win-win situation
for all of us.”
Later in the evening, President-Elect
Dukuly and VP-Elect Kromah paid visits to some of the
prominent women in the Philadelphia community. Some of
the individuals visited include Mariam Bamba, Auntie
Madomani, Aunty Makemeh and Nbalu Fofana.
VP-Elect Kromah weighs in
VP-Elect Kromah, who won a landslide
victory in his bid for the vice presidency, said his and
that of the President-elect visit was an acquaintance
visit with the Publicity Committee, the vehicle to
FELMAUSA information dissemination. He called on the
committee to beef up its network in supporting and
helping to implement the activities of the incoming
administration.
“FELMAUSA stands for unity. We should
not accept sensational headlines that tend to undermine
FELMAUSA progress. Even if it is against other
organizations that do not like our organization, we
should not attack them. We expect the website to be
independent, but objective. We want all of you to be
committed on that. Our people depend on us, so we should
not do anything that will frustrate them. The website
should not be used as a launching pad to wage attacks
against each other.
Publicity Committee's Response
In their response, the Chairman of the
Publicity Committee, Nvasekie Konneh assured the
incoming administration of his committee’s support in
advancing FELMAUSA goals and aspiration. He however
cautioned the leaders that his committee will not allow
any officials who're in FELMAUSA for self glorification
to use the website for their personal agenda.
“Whether it is Richmond administration
or the incoming, we are going to report on FELMAUSA not
individuals. There will be no free publicity. If you
guys are out there doing things for FELMAUSA right, we
will report it.”
Nvasekie urged the new leaders to
beware that “not all the time we will write flattering
articles. There will be time we will report articles
critical of the administration. We did that with
Richmond Konneh, but when there is negative news
reported on Richmond, we don’t hear any noise, but once
there is something posted on some from the Dukuly
“camp”, we get all the calls.”
He noted that in promoting the works
of FELMAUSA, the administration has a greater role to
play in the process. President Richmond Konneh opens his
door; we need to see that same line to be open by the
Dukuly administration.
Nvasekie reminded Dukuly and his team
that “Richmond and you are not enemies. There is a need
for you two to coordinate and ensure the success of
FELMAUSA.” He cautioned Dukuly to watch out for his
affiliates. “Make sure you delegate task to them. Let
them perform and if they are not, remove them. FELMAUSA
is the beacon of hope for all of us.”
For Alieu Jabateh, he called on Dukuly
to ensure that “we have some sense of direction. It will
be better if you open your doors and let communication
flow," which he noted will eradicate perceptions and the
misinformation that have undermined the transition
process already.
He said the website is the face of the organization and
any attempt to underutilize the site will be
counterproductive.
Any time there is an article on the
website, instead of jumping into conclusion, first read
the article and digests it first before reacting. We
need to be respectful in dealing with each other.
Stay tuned for more information and pictures.
