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VOM Exclusive Interview with Hon. Richmond Konneh, Former President of the Federation of Mandingo in the United States of America.
Mr. Konneh, you are welcome to Voice of Mandingo News.
Q. How does it feel to be the first president of FELMAUSA?
It was an honor and a privilege to have been selected to serve as the first president of this promising federation-FELMAUSA. The years I served as president was a learning experience and I can humbly say that I learnt a great deal along the way.
Q. As president, what accomplishment are you most proud of? and by the way, do you think you did enough?
When I assumed the responsibility of leading FELMAUSA, there were some internal disagreements in various chapters. These were the results of divergent views as to how to move our community forward. It is through this charged atmosphere that I became president of FELMAUSA. My leadership team and I decided to focus on building the structure of the federation on the things that unite us as opposed to the things that have the propensity to further divide us as a community. We worked as a team, with great commitment to build FELMAUSA. In less than two years, FELMAUSA became a household name here in the United States, back home in Liberia and around the world.
FELMAUSA became an organization everyone is proud of and wanted to identify with. One of the greatest success stories of my two years as president is the website that positively promoted the image of our community. As president, I made two trips to Liberia to take FELMAUSA to our people on the ground. Through these initiatives in the USA and back in our homeland, FELMAUSA became the beacon of hope for our people everywhere in the world.
The center-piece of my two-year presidency was the FELMAUSA educational assistance initiative, which was geared towards building the educational capacity of our community. The primary goal of my administration was to prepare our daughters and sons for the 21st century Liberia. This was demonstrated by my administration tireless effort to make the first ever FELMAUSA scholarships available to deserving students at the various universities and colleges in Liberia.The creation and launching of the Women Wing of FELMAUSA and their efforts in the recognition and appreciation of graduates in our community was one of our most remarkable achievements.
My leadership team and I also worked very hard to create the first FELMAUSA Magazine-The Mandingo- and the Mandingo News Broadcast on our website.
All of these achievements would not have been possible without the support of the Board of Directors and the various committees
In spite of all my accomplishments in just two years as president, I wish I had done more. I had envisioned the building of a Mandingo culture and research center in Liberia. I was also looking forward to engaging our kinsmen in Europe to organize themselves under an umbrella federation like FELMAUSA. Imagine for a moment that we are able to identify 500 progressive folks in the USA and 500 in Europe, who are willing to contribute $100 each towards the construction of a future Mandingo culture and research center.
I was also looking forward to the establishment of a legal defend fund to help in addressing the many civil right concerns we all share.
Q. What is your take on the current state of affairs in FELMAUSA? Do you believe the Executive and the Board members are doing enough? Are you surprise at the level of disaffiliation and estrangement emerging within the Federation? Do you have any comment or advice regarding the controversy involving the income generated from the last convention?
I will prefer not to answer these questions given my status as former president. There is however, a need for constructive engagement in order to repair the strained relation between both parties.
Q. You have earned a great deal of respect for engaging the community while you served as president. How did you do it?
I believe that we all love our community and we all want the best for our people. However, we have divergent views on issues that concern us all. My philosophy therefore, was to follow the path of constructive engagement. Besides, disagreements sometime present an opportunity to learn from each other.
Q. Recently, President Mohamed Dukuly and High Power delegation of the Federation met President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. The focus of their discussion centered on the pending FELMAUSA health mission to Liberia. Nothing was mentioned about the land disputes. As a result, we have received mix reactions with some criticizing the leadership for not pressing President Sirleaf on the land disputes while others are saying that it was too early to discuss anything with respect to the land issues since it was their first meeting. What is your reaction? If you were the president, what would you have done?
Please accept my sincere apology for not answering these questions given my status as former president.
Q. Since leaving office, have you been contacted by the current leadership and/or asked to serve the Federation? If so, in what capacity? If not, would you be willing to serve if asked?
Prior to the inauguration in New Jersey, the president elect and his team visited me, but we've not had any interaction since. In most Diaspora Liberian organizations, the talented and educated members are always willing to give back to their communities by being involved. As a service to my community, I have and will always be involve in any initiative that will empower our people.
Q. What do you miss about the presidency and how do you think history will judge you as president of FELMAUSA?
I would have liked to complete all the goals of my administration. I therefore miss not having the opportunity to carry out my vision for this young federation. I will hope that history will judge me kindly. I did the best I could given the prevailing condition during my administration.
Q. Election is fast approaching, are you considering another run for president?
I want to thank the visionaries that dreamt of the need for an umbrella organization that paved the way for the formation of FELMAUSA. This being my first public comment since leaving office, I want to thank all the people that supported my administration. The modest achievements we credited could not have been possible without the dedicated sacrifices of everybody. Having said this, during our third annual National Convention in the Twin Cities, during which we conducted our second general elections, the people spoke loud and clear. The people wanted change and I was soundly defeated in a fair democratic process. We demonstrated, unlike many of the Liberian organizations in the Diaspora, that elections and transition to new leadership should be celebrated, for that is the hallmark of the democratic process. I am sure the people once again will make their choice known before and or during the coming elections. It will not be a bad idea for VOM to conduct a web survey in order to gauge who the people want. This is after all, the democratic process.
Thanks for your time