Monrovia — The European Federation of Liberian Associations (EFLA) has appointed secretary general John Nimely Brownell to act as president following the resignations of the president and vice president. Mr. Brownell was unanimously elevated to the post as the third in line in accordance with EFLA's constitution.

The appointment was done during a teleconference held recently by EFLA members from France, Sweden, Germany, Belgium, Holland and the UK. President Elvis Morris and his vice Emmanuel Lincoln recently resigned to pursue other obligations.

In a formal letter to EFLA board and member countries, Mr. Morris said "Please accept this letter as formal notification that I am leaving my position as president the European Federation of Liberian Associations with immediate effect due to pressing engagements"

During the teleconference a new secretariat was put into place to help the leader. Those named on the secretariat include Germaine G. Verdier (Sweden), K. Jamael Kamara (Holland), Roland King (France), Linford Gweh (Norway) and Roberta Roberts in Liberia. Acting President Brownell is also a member.

The new secretariat has the mandate to steer the federation and, most importantly, come up with a date for the holding of a face-to-face meeting at which time plans would be put into place to hold elections for a new corps of officers for EFLA.

Meanwhile, EFLA has set October 31, 2009 as the date for a face to face meeting to work out modalities for the holding of elections. The tentative venue of the meeting is Holland, and delegates from the various Liberian associations in Europe and EFLA's secretariat are expected to attend.

The decision was reached during another recent teleconference, chaired by acting President J.N. Brownell EFLA has also constituted a Media, Press and Propaganda Committee to spread its message. Those on the committee are Simon Reeves, Germaine Verdier (both from Sweden) and Linford Gweh in Norway. The committee has been mandated to produce a working paper for deliberations during the October 31st meeting.

Other committees with the same mandate were also partially constituted. Roland King will serve on the Membership Committee while Emmanuel Ireland agreed to work on the Finance Committee. President Brownell called on other Liberians to express their interest in working for the federation by volunteering their services on any of the committees.