Yesterday, 14th March 2023, we gathered at our Olympic House for what was slated to be an Electoral Meeting for the Guyana Olympic Association. I would like to share my thoughts on the actions, views, and thoughts expressed by various members at the pre-meeting before the electoral meeting was quashed.
The absence of the Secretary-General for over two years was never previously expressed to the membership and members of the executive [were] altogether too comfortable with affixing [their] signatures onto documents for my liking. I would hope any future executive of this (or any other body) would inform membership if/when any similar situation arises and allow membership input to arrive at a legal and moral solution as was done when membership (by unanimous vote) authorised the Assistant Secretary-General to sign documents to allow a legal electoral meeting on the 21st March 2023.
Mr. Munroe explained that decisions on the eligibility of members to vote at the electoral meeting (contained in the letter of 7th March) arrived after executive discussions via email. Munroe failed to explain why the President of the GOA was excluded from those discussions; given that the thinking that emerged from the ‘executive’ discussions is exclusionary, the exclusion falls in line. The ‘executive’ cherry-picked a Constitution ratified on 28th September 2022, to apply Articles retroactively to exclude six members from voting and used that same late ratification to absolve themselves of any responsibilities to inform members of breaches.
I would ask the membership if this is the thinking we want in the future administration of our National Olympic Committee. My philosophy in matters of breeches by members is that we inform/warn but also work with the members to bring about compliance, seek explanations, open dialogue, and provide support wherever possible.
In closing, I share the following: When I left cricket, the most successful sport (commercially and professionally) to bring Baseball/Softball opportunities to the children of Guyana, I did so with careful planning, it included a business element to provide self-support for the sport, Baseball filled fields with children for three years( 2013-16) it did not translate into government support for land for our facility as hoped and we decided to put the time, money and effort into securing a home field upon which we could demonstrate to all the value of our sport to Guyanese. Governance of a new sport and one that is established are completely different challenges and I would assure all that introducing a new sport is not for the faint of heart, but one that threatens an established king such as cricket requires resolve of steel. I ask for your vote and more importantly, your co-operation in the furtherance of sport; mine, yours, and ours as we go forward, regardless of the outcome of these elections.
