The Minister of Mines and Mineral Resources Musa Timothy Kabba and Ing. Abdul Sahid Bundu were the two aspirants vying for the Old Makeni Franciscan Associations (OMFA) presidency have both declined from the race a few days before the elections which were postponed to commence this Saturday, 7th January 2023.

Both candidates stressed that the image of Saint Francis Secondary School and OMFA is foremost and bigger than their ambition to lead which has created tension, and division and led to cancellations of the elections last month in December, therefore they decided to sign a joint statement to drop out from the race.

According to the Minister of Mines who doubles as the outgoing OMFA Organizing Secretary and a recipient of the OMFA Philanthropist award in 2020 Musa Timothy Kabba noted that the main division of his candidature cannot be unconnected from being a minister of the ruling SLPP government “Against the backdrop of the deep-seated division that my candidature has generated within the OMFA Family, not least because I am a sitting minister of the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) a schism that led some people to swear that they rather disrupt the OMFA election than allow me to win, I have decided to humbly step down from the race instead of presiding over a potentially divided OMFA” an excerpt of his statement reads.

Ing. Abdul Sahid Bundu on the other hand recognises the division the elections have created within the Old Makeni Franciscan Association membership “My desire to lead our prestigious Alumni was to contribute significantly towards enhancing the image of our great school and unite our association… Sadly the election process has created tension and division within our school… In the interest of unity and peace, I have agreed to step down as OMFA Presidential candidate” he revealed.

However, the OMFA Crisis Management Team already met yesterday on the latest development and map out the way forward to the outgoing executive about the next step of the elections.