Recently I expressed my wish to take a chance at summarizing an outbreak of highly serious monetary and leadership issues that arose from KSAA-NSW jurisdiction. Numerous people have strongly requested before that KSAA’s state matters be left to concerned residents from that state. I believe these people if they still hold that belief, must now be feeling rather very uncomfortable with all these interventions pouring in from outside NSW. I beg to differ! KSA in Australia has no more than one federation which is KSAA. Our mission is one regardless of state of residence. I believe that mission is to further KSA’s education achievements in Australia by lending collective helping hands in any way possible to KSAA on behave of those who should academically benefit from it. KSAA may not be resourceful enough to help every Kongor student but every student that can be helped justifies our mission. This mission is heavy and demands contribution from each loyal member from every state. When one state appears likely to fail in contributing its fair share then we all automatically assume an unquestionable right to intervene in that state’s state of affairs.
Given the outcomes of most of the KSAA’s serious “debates”, it is fair to summarize that KSAA has/is unfortunately operating primarily on basis of trust instead of an operational system. If you still have trust in KSAA and its leaders then you stick around a bit while if you have been disillusioned and have lost trust then you quit KSAA mission. As a member, you have only one option to make those who have been irresponsible in their positions pay for their mismanagement of KSAA resources. That option is stripping them off of their positions for rest of the KSAA existence or until the seek forgiveness. You can also publicize and highlight their incompetence but that is how far off you can go. Therefore, there are plenty of incentives for people to make it to KSAA offices and do it has they so want. They know that KSAA unfortunately does not have installed mechanism to follow up on any accusations made against them thereafter. All that they have to do if they are accused by a member is to simply put forward their side of the story knowing that KSAA does not own any cells where they could be locked up! If you can easily understand this explanation then you should easily figure out how KSAA SA came to open their own account. If a KSAA national treasurer withdraws all the KSAA money for personal use how likely would that official be successfully made to repay all that money? All the money in KSAA account is only there not because there is a system protecting it but because we have not yet got the right dudes in the national committee at the right time. Very sad!
Now lets talk of KSAA’s membership finger pointing. Few years ago, I had my time to specifically reveal some of the gravest cases of KSAA’s assets mismanagement and abuse of membership trust. I want people to understand that I am not here to cast any blames on those same individuals or any one in particular but to highlight where we, the KSAA membership have failed and can also be blamed like I did those years back.
Since I started attending KSAA’s annual conferences in 2005 in Sydney, KSAA treasury has always been the focal point of tough discussions. Anyone can beat me in just about anything but not in a high level listening where you carefully and critically analyze every point the speaker says before taking it in. So, already aware of what the concerns were leading to the 2005 conference, I paid my full attention to the treasury report which the then treasurer delivered. So many questions followed the presentation, too many than the treasurer could answer. The whole conference would later end with inquisitive minds unsatisfied having very serious concerns that the treasurer had mishandled KSAA treasures. This sort of suspicion in the treasury would continue into the following four years till 2008 with the same treasurer reelected by the KSAA membership for most of his five years in treasury. The membership had unsettled issues with the treasurer and trust was draining away very rapidly yet the membership surprisingly kept reelecting the same treasurer they dislike! I know there are possible theories to explain what had been happening but I don’t believe any of them would convince me that the membership cannot be blamed in this case. It is therefore, not too surprising how treasury has had continued to perform worse and worse because every time the membership renewed his position, the treasurer would have taken that as an approval of his bizarre actions. Therefore, if you wish to be fair then one should also blame KSAA membership when you blame some past officials for the KSAA lost of trust.
The second area where KSAA membership has failed in its responsibility to protect its resources is in the KSAA website management. KSAA website is an important property that encourages members’ participation in KSAA issues of importance yet many members don’t really know who actually manages the website. Well late last year you would have read a statement like this; “I, Ajak Ajang manages the KSAA website”. I don’t doubt him I believe him but possibly managing the website with other people. With the website being controlled by people outside of national committee or people commissioned by the membership is a big problem. The website has become a KSAA property owned and controlled not by KSAA authority of the day! What a system! What a joke! This practice has left members’ valuable suggestions not welcomed and the website remains the most poorly developed websites of all the Sudanese other associations or communities websites I have viewed. No official logo on the website, the layout is comparably incompetent and the web looks exactly like it was designed for literature warfare instead of education promotion tool. The national committee is unable to fairly apply protection measures against those determined to hijack and blackmail the KSAA. So what have the KSAA membership done about this issue in order to get back the KSAA valuable property? Well, unfortunately and shamefully nothing and the membership is responsible for all the subsequent hijacking occurring or due to occur as a result.
The third and final point about why the KSAA public should be more vigilant about where KSAA is heading is concerning KSAA QLD relationship with Kongor QLD community. For many KSAA members in other states and some here in QLD, KSAA and Kongor community are distinctively different! Well, in QLD the two are not different but the same as far as the majority of the members here are concerned. For the last few years, KSAA QLD has lost focus of what KSAA’s objectives are, what it is about and how it differs from the Kongor Community. It is clear that KSAA QLD has been and is operating as a representative body of the Kongor Youth. This is a good working relationship between the two parties and the both sides have recognized this relationship. My problem and the problem that few of us here keep expressing is that this partnership is unconstitutional and sits well outside the correct definition of KSAA. The few of us against this policy do have positive intentions for both of the parties. I personally have the honour of fulfilling my share responsibilities for both the Association and the Community. Also we all agree that it is a great achievement that KSAA QLD and Kongor Community have been able to have a working relationship. I also personally agree that there can not be a problem with the KSAA QLD taking over the responsibilities of Kongor Youth as long as the KSAA is officially made to accommodate such policy. Since this relationship matured, KSAA QLD has not received an official approval from KSAA nor has it formally sought approval from the KSAA QLD membership! You don’t have to wake up in the morning as the President of a country in order to start to be loyal to a set system. If practices like these don’t improve then we could see some lucky ones becoming unlucky victims of a corruption commission back home. So it is time to start folks! Now some will want to mark me as being inconsistent and contradictory to myself. Well, it is true that I pleaded to represent the Kongor Youth if elected the KSAA QLD Chair. I saw the situation favouring to plead that because that was what I believed what the majority of those present on the day wanted to hear. You know, you sometime have to tell them what they want to listen not what you believe they should listen. So I knew it was wrong to plead that but the situation warranted it. This is why the membership is so to blame! Why would a simple mistake be allowed to mature to the point where it is now when the policy is absolutely unofficial and unconstitutional!
In conclusion, unless KSAA has a follow on taskforce equipped with a well structured system, most accusations will continue to go unsettled and officials riding on excessive incentives to corrupt and escape due penalties. KSAA membership has got to exercise its share obligations not to just simply wait to pass on the blame but should always be alert to take responsible actions against irresponsible individual found to have abused or mismanaged KSAA office. The KSAA website needs a lot to be done in order to continue to encourage, promote and accommodate all KSAA issues and interested members. I still want to maintain my duties of helping out the KSAA QLD and Kongor Community like I always have but there is a serious case for revisiting the status quo. Chol Lueth (Mikelueth)