David Joseph, the current president of the T&T Table Tennis Association (TTTTA), has opted to vacate his position ahead of their annual general meeting (AGM) on April 18, and will not stand for re-election.
Just last month (March 23), the under-fire Joseph and his Executive was the subject of a strongly worded letter and a petition signed by several clubs requesting their removal.
The petition was sent to Shamfa Cudjoe, Minister of Sport and Community Development, Gabre McTair, Director of Physical Education and Sport Division in the Ministry of Sport and Community Development, Brian Lewis, president of the T&T Olympic Committee (TTOC).
Joseph was elected as the new president of TTTTA in February 2019, unopposed to replace outgoing president Ian Joseph (no relation).
Other members of his executive included Leon Elliot (first vice president), Winston Greene (second vice president), Jelani Bramble (third vice president), Leah Fraser (general secretary) resigned and was replaced by Edwin Caines, Arvind Teemul (treasurer), Nicole Lee (assistant secretary), Davone Joseph (assistant secretary) and Debbie Mc Ewin-John, public relations officer (PRO).
However, in a letter sent to the media by its PRO, McEwin-John it was stated that the TTTTA will hold its AGM on Sunday, April 18 at which the election of a new executive will also take place.
The letter added: "It must be noted that no members of the current TTTTA executive will be seeking re-election."
But while non of the existing executive members are seeking re-election, there is no shortage of nominees though with a host of current and former players as well as executive members seeking positions.
With no slate being submitted by any office-seeking member, it seems as though most of the persons involved are just happy to have the elections.
This is reflected by some of the nominees seeking election to every position (president, first vice-president, second vice-president, general secretary, assistant secretary, public relations officer, treasurer) available such as Sherdon Pierre, Kevin Lewis, Merle Baggoo, Yuvraaj Dookram, Dave Ramoutar and Kenneth Parmanand.
Baggoo and Pierre are former TTTTA executive members seeking election alongside Aleena Edwards and Bob Roopnarine, both former general secretary while Roopnarine is also an ex-Caribbean Regional Table Tennis Federation general secretary.
Petition to Sports Minister
Last month, Ian Joseph, the immediate past president of the TTTTA and the president of Arima Hawks Table Tennis Club, was among signatories to the letter and petition addressed to Minister Cudjoe which called for the removal of current TTTTA president David Joseph, and his executive.
Others to sign included), Arima Table Tennis Club (Ronald Williams), Cunupia Crew (Vishnu Gokool), D’Abadie Youths (Everton Sorzano), Hillview Renegades (Kenneth Parmanand), Oxford (Joseph Mansar), Servivors (Isa Mohammed), Solo Crusaders (Kevin Lewis), Warrenville United (Dave Ramoutar), and WASA Table Tennis Club (Curtis Humphreys).
The clubs in their petition stated that they had grave concerns about the direction of the sport of table tennis in T&T and wished to draw to her attention no fewer than five issues.
The letter which was signed by South Zone chairman Anil Ramlakhan, as well as incoming Central Zone chairman Reeza Ali, noted that a virtual Special General Meeting (SGM) was staged on February 28, 2021, and was legitimised virtually, however, the club said that they considered it to be illegal and wished to have the meeting nullified.
According to the letter, a new TTTTA constitution was passed and implemented without proper consultation with the membership. The process in introducing this new constitution was not transparent, with many of the articles and clauses not supported by the general membership with the voices of the affiliates also not being heard.
The clubs also pointed out that the AGM was constitutionally due on February 28, 2021, but was not held, meaning the current TTTTA executive’s tenure has now expired.
"Since the fraternity was not informed of any extenuating circumstances, we strongly believe that this body ought not to continue holding office," the letter stated.
The executive of the TTTTA has not presented the management committee, and by extension the general table tennis membership, with proper financial statements for their entire two-year term.
Also, the clubs stated that national athletes have been left in the cold by the association’s lack of vision and leadership as they believe the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic was used as an excuse for no national training and the staging of no tournament activity, despite the opportunities for national team training and non-contact sports activity in recent months.
According to Ramlakhan’s letter among the alarming situations that have occurred under the current administration includes the silencing of TTTTA past president and Caribbean Regional Table Tennis Federation (CRTTF) treasurer Ian Joseph in the virtual SGM because he dared to challenge the legality of the said meeting.
Joseph (David), who is also the East Zone chairman opted to keep the longstanding clubs with the largest total membership in the zone out of the SGM process as the quartet of Arima Table Tennis Club, Arima Hawks, D’Abadie Youths and WASA Table Tennis Club did not have a vote at the SGM and were never formally informed of the meeting.
"Instead, 'new clubs' with personnel unfamiliar to the fraternity showed up to vote, and this was a deliberate act of voter padding."
The clubs were adamant about their position on the current executive stating: "We have no confidence in the current administration, and we recommend the disbanding of the TTTTA Executive and appointment of an interim committee to ensure survival of the sport."
The letter added: "As members of the fraternity we feel disenfranchised through lack of communication from the TTTTA executive. National players at senior and age-group levels who have made personal sacrifices to train despite the COVID-19 pandemic are being ignored when opportunities come up for potential national representation and we are in danger of losing our most promising players.
It must be noted that the only tournament activity since COVID-19 shut down the country in March 2020 was on the initiative of concerned members of the fraternity, and not the TTTA. The needs of the players are not of paramount importance to the current executive.
The clubs noted that the possibility exists that on April 18, 2021, the scheduled date for the TTTTA AGM, the current president, and executive could be installed for four years via a process that can only be described as electoral manipulation.
Because of what can transpire the club pleaded for assistance saying: “We are therefore requesting your urgent intervention to save the sport of table tennis."
But reached for comment yesterday, a source close to the matter said, the first topic on the agenda should be rectifying the issues that stemmed from the SGM.
2021 T&T Table Tennis Association Executive Nominations
President: Sherdon Pierre, Kevin Lewis, Dave Ramoutar, Yuvraaj Dookram, Aleena Edwards, Merle Baggoo, Kenneth Parmanand
First vice president: Sherdon Pierre, Kevin Lewis, Dave Ramoutar, Yuvraaj Dookram, Richard Copeland, Merle Baggoo, Kenneth Parmanand
Second vice president: Sherdon Pierre, Richard Copeland, Kevin Lewis, Dave Ramoutar, Yuvraaj Dookram, Merle Baggoo, Kenneth Parmanand
General secretary: Sherdon Pierre, Bob Roopnarine, Richard Copeland, Kevin Lewis, Dave Ramoutar, Yuvraaj Dookram, Merle Baggoo, Kenneth Parmanand
Assistant secretary: Sherdon Pierre, Richard Copeland, Leah Fraser, Kevin Lewis, Dave Ramoutar, Yuvraaj Dookram, Merle Baggoo, Kenneth Parmanand
Treasurer: Sherdon Pierre, Kevin Lewis, Dave Ramoutar, Yuvraaj Dookram, Merle Baggoo, Kenneth Parmanand
PRO: Sherdon Pierre, Richard Copeland, Leah Fraser, Ishwar Sookoonsingh, Bob Roopnarine, Kevin Lewis, Merle Baggoo, Yuvraaj Dookram, Dave Ramoutar.