By: Muhammed Lamin Drammeh
The Gambian first Division League Champions, Hawks FC, are divided on which camp to support ahead of the Gambia Football Federation Presidential election as two executive members of the team are up for different positions in the two camps jostling for supremacy at the country’s football house on August 27th.
The club’s General Secretary Sadibou Kamaso is leading Team Restore Confidence as its presidential candidate whiles Vice President Momodou Musa Njie is a co-opted member of Team Kaba’s executive, a situation that created a fissure in the team and warranted a temporal partial suspension to both Sadibou Kamado and Modou Musa Njie from the administrative affairs of the club.
In an exclusive interview with The Fatu Network, the President of Hawks, James Gomez, confirmed that, as of now, both Kamaso and Njie are not playing a role in the executive functions of the club.
The former minister said that he is the only one doing all the official correspondence of the club because they didn’t want Sadibo Kamaso to sign anything that the club may not want.
When the retired politician was quizzed about why Sadibou Kamaso is not doing his work as the General Secretary of Hawks FC, he explained:
“Because when I have a divided house and I want to keep it in order, I as the President, I have to take certain decisions. That is why I suspended his signature because if he signs something for the club now, which we don’t know, it will create more problems. I have to be very careful now. I am the one signing every letter for Hawks”.
He confirmed to TFN that both Sadibou and Modou Musa Njie have no roles to play in the team.
“They both have no roles to play. I am the one doing all. When you go to my table now, you will find the files there. I am the one responsible for the club now until we put our house in order. This is not good for us to have one party here and the other there,” he pointed out.
The Hawks FC President, however, admitted that withholding Kamaso’s responsibilities from him at the club is bad for him in his bid to become the leader of the country’s football governing body, but maintained that he has to preserve what the club is built on since its inception.
According to him, Sadibou Kamaso announced his bid for the presidency to the public before informing the leadership of the club. He told TFN that he was the one who advised Sadibou to formally write to the club. However, he said Sadibou eventually did, but the timing was too late to prevent the division. He went further to assert that Hawks may not even vote in the August 27th GFF presidential election.
Gomez, the only living founding father of Hawks, said that there is room for the club to settle disputes and that he will not disclose their internal problems to the media.
Hawks FC is the champions of the Gambia Football Federation Division One League and they have registered to take part in the CAF Club Champions League preliminary rounds.
