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57 Students Have Benefited from FELMAUSA
Scholarship Project
October 15, 2009 - By Special
Statement from National Executive President Richmond
Mohammed Konneh
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President Konneh
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Fellow
members of FELMAUSA, over the past couple of
months, there has been a lot of discussions
about the FELMAUSA’s Scholarship Program that
the Executive Leadership of FELMAUSA launched during the
2008 Convention held in
Philadelphia. Immediately
after the convention, I directed the Vice
President for Operation, Mr. Mamadee Sesay, to
work with the Education Committee to discuss the
scholarship project. It is important to note
that the idea to initiate this scholarship
project by the Executive leadership was arrived
at because the Education Committee had not
proposed any actionable plan.
The process started one
Sunday afternoon, when I received a call from
Abraham Bility, the chairman of the Social
Committee and one of our dedicated brothers from
the Minnesota Chapter with a profound message.
Brother Bility told me that given that the
Education Committee has not put forth any idea
that will enhance our education empowerment
aspiration, the leadership needed to “do
something before the end of the two years term.”
We are indebted to Mr. Bility for his
farsightedness.
Upon hearing this grim
analysis, I immediately scheduled a meeting with
my Executive Leadership team to begin the
process of planning an education empowerment
initiative. The VP for Operation, Mamadee Sesay
was charged with the responsibility to come up
with the initial draft of what the FELMAUSA
Education Program will look like. In so doing, a
comprehensive document was put together by Mr.
Sesay and approved by the administration. Even
though the Education Committee had not given us
anything to work with, I instructed Mr. Sesay to
liaise with the Education Committee. We had
several meetings with members of the Education
Committee at the conclusion of which, they
approved the FELMAUSA Education document the
Executive leadership team wrote. I made it clear
to the members of the Education Committee that
while we are willing to accommodate them on this
project, given that this was not their idea, the
Executive leadership team will be the one to
fully implement the scholarship program.
For close to six months, the
Executive leadership of FELMAUSA worked with our
representative in Liberia,
Mr. Amara Kenneh, through whose gallant effort,
we were able to identify 57 students attending the University of Liberia and various junior
colleges in Liberia to be the first
beneficiaries of the FELMAUSA’s Scholarship
program.
After nearly two years of
inaction on the part of the Education Committee,
we finally revealed during the 2009 FELMAUSA
Convention in
Minnesota
that through the hard work of my executive team
in collaboration with our hard working
representative in
Liberia, we had
selected the first beneficiaries of the FELMAUSA
scholarship program. It is worth noting that
only one member of the Education Committee, Mr.
Fofee Konneh, contributed financially to this
worthy cause. For whatever reason, other members
of the Education Committee have not contributed
anything to this worthy project.
Since the Convention in
Minnesota, the Scholarship Program has become a
hot button issue for not only the Education
Committee, but also for some members of the
FELMAUSA’ Board of Directors, all but only two
of whom up to now had not contributed a penny to
this initiative. Given this fact as it is, why
should we subject this scholarship project to
the scrutiny and dictate of those who have not
contributed a penny to it?
Recently the board
set up a special committee to work with the
Education Committee to review the entire
scholarship process, after which they were to
get back to the Executive leadership of FELMAUSA
by
September 25, 2009. As of today’s
date, we have not heard from the Education
Committee, the Special Committee and the Board
of Directors of FELMAUSA.
Not having heard from the
Board of Directors and due to the urgency of now, we have
made the decision by the power vested in us as
national leaders of FELMAUSA to award FELMAUSA
first ever scholarships to 57 deserving students
attending the University of Liberia and other
colleges in Liberia.
Comprehensive details will be published in a few
days. Registration has started in Liberia and the more we wait the
less time the students have to complete their
registration and other academic processes. This
is not about us, it’s about these students who
have put their faith and confidence in FELMAUSA
and this leadership.
Education is a passion for
me as it was so eloquently made clear by the
theme of FELMAUSA’s second convention,
“Education is our passport to the future for
tomorrow belongs to those who prepare themselves
today.” Our administration feels that this
scholarship program is such a noble cause that
we put our faith and hope in seeing it through.
If I were to use our ultimate executive power
vested in us by the constitution of FELMAUSA, I
would not hesitate to veto any decision that
will derail the implementation of this
scholarship program.
We want to thank all those
that contributed to this worthy cause and as I
prepare to leave office, I will cherish the
opportunity you accorded me to be in the
position to provide this scholarship for our
deserving brothers and sisters in Liberia. Your
selfless act has certainly made a dent in
preparing our youth for the challenges of
rebuilding our beloved country-Liberia. My
special thanks go to our progressive sister,
Mawata Fofana who was the single biggest
contributor ($500.00) to this Scholarship
Program.
My brothers and sisters,
who did not contribute to this education
empowerment initiative, we need your supports.
The future of our country is in the hands of all
of us. The time has come for us to be proactive
and match our words with actions, for that is
the only way to ensure a better
Liberia
tomorrow.
God bless our community and
our country.
Richmond Konneh
President-FELMAUSA
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