The third Interim President of the Union of Liberian Associations in the Americas (ULAA), Anthony F. Kpayea, has assured members of the Liberian community at home and abroad of a free, fair and transparent election to be conducted by him and his interim leadership team in the next ninety days.
Kpayea made the statement during an exclusive interview conducted by the Hot Pepper via mobile in Liberia.
According to ULAA’s Interim President, he and his team are working on a mandate from the Union’s Board of Directors. He said their key objective is to conduct a free and fair election for that body.
ULAA is a Chapter-based organization. It consists of eighteen (18) chapters.
Within the 18 chapters of ULAA, only 16 chapters agreed for the establishment of an interim leadership at the moment. Kpayea also noted that one of their leadership’s focus is rebranding the image of ULAA.
Commenting on candidates for the pending election, ULAA’s Interim President noted that the two presidential aspirants and their running mates still remain the only two candidates for the election.
He said candidates are contesting for the rest of the vacant positions on independent tickets of ULAA.
He informed this medium that some of the union’s old chapters have expressed interest of returning to the union to participate in the pending election in the next three months.
Accordingly, he said those returning will not participate in the voting process because they were not part of the previous number of chapters which agreed for the way forward.
When questioned whether the decision to prohibit member chapters from voting is necessary, he responded as saying that the decision to prohibit those chapters which were not part from voting is very necessary and constitutional.
It can be recalled that on September 16, 2023 at the union’s national convention in Philadelphia tension occurred among the two presidential candidates and supporters, which led to the Board of Directors of ULAA cancellation of the election.
The two presidential candidates are Shiwoh Kamara, incumbent President, and Mohammad Keita, official of ULAA.
The ULAA Interim President stated that plans are underway for the calendar of events for the holding of the organization’s election at its headquarters in America.