Following the dissolution of a number of national associations, including the Gambia Basketball Association (GBA), by the National Sports Council (NSC), the GBA has written a letter of protest dated July 6, 2012 addressed to the executive secretary of the NSC.
Below is the full text of the letter:
The Executive Secretary
National Sports Council
Independence Stadium
Bakau
Dear Sir,
Deregistration of The Gambia Basketball Association
It could be recalled that since March 2012, our association has been responding positively to all correspondences from the National Sports Council. We are fully aware of the mandate of the NSC; however, we are also aware of the responsibilities of the NSC to the Association. As a result, the Executive of the Gambia Basketball Association is totally disappointed with your decision to deregister our association, a decision which was regrettably communicated to the association through the media.
The Executive Secretary of the NSC in its release to the media made reference to Section 18 of the NSC Act as follows:
“Section 18 (1) of the act states that where the Council considers that any registered National Sports Association has;
(a) Ceased to operate as a National Sports Association, and failed to comply with any provision of this Act, or
(b) Conducted itself in a manner which is contrary to the National Interest
(c) Failed to comply with its constitution
The Council may, after affording the National Sports Association, concerned an opportunity of making representation on the matter, suspend, ban or expel all or any of its officers from holding office in any association registered under this Act.”
We therefore deem it necessary to remind you of the series of activities since March. You would recall that the NSC in a letter dated March 6, 2012 referenced NSC 1/01/I/PART II/ (149) requesting the GBA to hold its congress on Saturday March 17, 2012. The congress was held as directed on the said date at the Manneh Sillah Basketball Court in Banjul under the supervision of your institution. The new executive wrote on March 19, 2012 to formally inform your office of the outcome of the elections. The GBA still awaits an acknowledgement from your office. We have also notified our international affiliates and the GNOC of the developments which we have received acknowledgement. For your information, the GBA is up-to-date in all its affiliation dues thanks to the financial support of the GNOC.
On March14, 2012, the GBA received another letter referenced NSC 6/ASSO./IVII (31) further instructing the executive to organize District, Regional, and National Competitions that has a National character. The new executive as a result wrote to all regions on April 12, 2012 informing the Regional Sports Coordinators of the elections’ outcome and in addition requested a needs assessment report to help the executive judiciously direct its efforts for better results.
On April 21, all clubs were invited to register for the 2012 – 2013 basketball season. This process is near completion. Whilst on club registration, the executive resolved to organize a zonal basketball tournament. All regions were invited on May 16, 2012 and copied to your office. We were disappointed that almost all the regions turned down the invitation for financial reasons.
Subsequently, a letter from your office dated June1, 2012 but received June 7 referenced NSC 6/ASS/IVII (34) inviting us to a meeting on June 6, 2012. You will remember that it was through your follow-up for the meeting on June 6, that you realized that the letter was never sent. We therefore agreed to collect the letter and provide you with a draft budget within a day. You would agree with me that the association under such a short notice was able to submit a comprehensive budget to host an international competition. You further directed the association to send the same budget to the Permanent Secretary Ministry of Youth and Sports through a letter dated June 8, 2012 received June 15, 2012 referenced NSC 6/PS/122/12/PT2 (05) which we complied with and copied to your office.
Furthermore, on June 14, 2012, our association paid the registration fee to your office and we were issued a NSC receipt number 001072. It is expected that at this time your institution should have known that accepting our payment is synonymous to meeting the prerequisites for registration. In all the regulatory agencies in this beloved country of ours, no one/ institution is registered without meeting the prerequisites for registration. It is therefore incomprehensible that barely a week after accepting our registration fee, you have decided to deregister our association.
Finally, under your own declaration and going by the provisions of the Section 18 of the NSC Act which you rightly quoted, you should have given us the opportunity of making representation of our short comings which up till now has not been communicated to our association. We believe that this would have save all of us the embarrassment we find our self.
The executive of the GBA is committed to developing the game of basketball throughout the country in a rational and cohesive manner in the interest of the nation in general and the youths who want to make it a career in particular. We wish to reassure you of our commitment to dialogue in a sportsmanly and professional manner. It is therefore hoped that any issues affecting Basketball will be exclusively discussed with the executive of the GBA before going to the media.
Abdoulie M. B. Jallow - Secretary General
Cc: Chairman NSC
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