ULAA Board Opens Investigation into the Seating of Ranney Jackson on the NTLA

By Sam Stevquoah

 

The Perspective
Atlanta, Georgia

December 4, 2003

December 3, 2003, Lowell, Massachusetts:-Members of the ULAA National Board of Directors will, this Friday, December 5, kick off investigations into the circumstances surrounding the seating of former ULAA Board Chairman Ranney B. Jackson on the National Transitional Legislative Assembly in the Republic of Liberia.

In a resolution adopted at the just-ended ULAA 29th Annual General Assembly held in Lowell, Massachusetts on October 25, the delegates of the various ULAA chapters expressed outrage and disappointment over the manner in which the NTLA seat, allocated by the Ghana Peace Accord to Liberians in the Diaspora through the Civil Society Organizations was occupied.

The resolution noted that the seat was occupied "without the knowledge and participation of the Union." The delegates therefore overwhelmingly voted to mandate the National Administration and the National Board of Directors to conduct an investigation into how the seat was occupied and make a report within 30 days.

Recent news reports from Monrovia carried in The Inquirer and The News newspapers purportedly quoted Former Chairman Jackson, have offered varying accounts of how he was selected to represent 'Liberians in the Diaspora' and how the seat was allocated in Ghana.

At the Board Special Session held recently in Philadelphia, Board members voted to set aside a special date on which the Assembly resolutions will be exclusively discussion. The majority of Board members chose Friday, December 5, as the best date for this discussion.

The Board deliberations on the Assembly resolutions is expected to be lively and intense as the document contains quite a good number of interesting challenges put forth to the Board by Massachusetts Assembly.

Other issues to be discussed include the issue of multiple chapters of ULAA in a single State, the need for a uniform code of conduct for the Union, and the role of the Union in member chapter elections.