CHAIRMAN JOLOKA IN A HOT SEAT—Independent Election Commission (IEC) at cross roads ========================================================== Charleston, SC—electing leaders of Grand Gedeh Association in the Americas (GGAA) Inc., receives little or no attention from diaspora Grand Gedeans for years until now; electing Mr. Chelly Joloka by the National Conference at Kansa City, MO, to head 2015 IEC has given IEC a credible bar that cannot be taken for granted. Mr. Joloka is an intellectual with a tangible electoral process experience as he was a member of Liberia’s Election Commission Service Staffs, a well-versed Grand Gedean who we are blessed to have to fix the mess that has long been lingering and subjecting GGAA to a defunct, de facto status quo. “This coming 2015 election will not be easy-o”, commented a youthful girl on Facebook as the roar of uncompromising debates sparks flames of divergent views on what individual believes should define the next realm of leaders for GGAA. On the other hand, whilst the Election Commission (IEC) works harder to compose itself as members strive or pretend not to be influenced by their baggage of bad-bloods following results of web of social connectivity, the heat of camp formation rift districts and families apart making it harder for friends to decide their support. Although forming teams to vie for GGAA’s position was not reference anywhere in the constitution, our hope that 2015 IEC would set a pace fail as IEC followed the trend of previous IEC which allowed such. In as much as we are aware that members of IEC are not immune to corrupt mind-sets and trending realities of debates along camp-lines, individual commissioners tending to interpret constitutional scripts awfully differently is worrisome. I must admit that the caliber of members on the commission has raised the bar—meeting of minds, even the critics can agree, but previous attaché to unsettling events will have a role in their reasoning, and how some IEC members perceive matters as per candidate including how they may conduct the electoral process objectively or subjectively. Wherefore, Chairman Joloka has a lot to do to vamp up his team to avoid ending up with defaming caricatures which will scar his repetitions. To be able to understand how hot Chairman Joloka’s seat is, we must delve in the composition of IEC. Mr. Michael Gilman, Co-Chairman of IEC is a chapter-less Grand Gedeans residing in Michigan, whom served as Campaign manager and brought Mr. Tillman Collins to head GGAA for two consecutive terms. He derived the name Team “R.U.S.H” which is the official label for Mr. Collins’ supporters. Mr. Gilman, after securing a second term for Team R.U.S.H, broke away for reason convoluted, and embark on a campaign trail to paint a very disturbing picture, financial impropriety, of the very people he brought to power. While under the auspices GGAA as membership committee Chairman, Mr. Gilman undertook social media project—a way for GGAA to connect with its members—and established ‘Gedeh Forum’ on which he served as an Administrator including other appointed members. As Grand Gedeans sign up to Gedeh Forum as a way to get in touch with GGAA, Mr. Gillman claimed it as his own and never return it ever since. As the bad-blood between President Collins and Mr. Gillman, Co-Chairman of IEC deepens, Mr. Gillman recruited few members including Tarwo Michael Goah to enhance his campaign against the Collins Administration. They called themselves ‘concern Grand Gedeans’. With the help of Mr. Gilman and Mr. Weeks technological skills they able to secure a conference number to call mass meeting, and at the same time engaged email proliferation about Collins’ short comings. The conference number is the same use by 2015-IEC to assess candidates Mr. Alphonso Bargblor, Secretary of IEC, is a former member of the national Board of Directors who ambitioned to reclaim chairmanship of the Board against Hon. Eric Kohn—a man labelled soft-handed in favor of President Collins; However Mr. Bargblor failed to survive his local board’s election in PA, was not opportune to make it to the National Board to pursue his dream. In spite of his disappointment, Mr. Bargblor reroute his energies against Hon. Kohn, then, Chairman of the Board, on Facebook painting Hon. Kohn in a very undecent way. Mr. Nyenoh, publicity Chair of IEC, is an independent journalist who first commission to run Minnesota web—a site for GGAA Minnesota Chapter, and is current Editor in Chief for independent eyes news (indeyesnews). He is a former Secretary of the National Board of directors. Mrs. Suzanna Waylee, Member of IEC is a very active member of Konobo district and a leader of the KSDA chapter of Iowa. The constitution scripted out the requirement, and it is in the purview of the commissioners to uphold the constitutions as commissioners’ mandates. Article VI – Qualifications of Officers Section 1: General All candidates seeking elective positions, including the position of the chairman of the Board, shall not be indebted to their local chapters and/or the National Association financially, not have outstanding reports and/or records belonging to their local chapters and/or the National Association, and shall be active members of the National Association. Proof of active membership for the purpose of this provision shall be 1) attendance of at least two (2) of the last four (4) National Conferences immediately preceding the National Conference during which elections are to be held, 2) regular attendance of chapter meetings, and 3) being current with payment of all dues and taxations, both local and national. The National Administration shall maintain record of all National Conference attendees for each National Conference for no less than four (4) years. The “at least two (2) year National Conference attendance” provision of this paragraph shall come into effect four (4) years after this amendment is adopted. Section 2: The National President shall have the following minimum qualifications: a) Be a Grand Gedean with residency in one of the countries in the Americas and be a bona fide member of the Association, as defined in Article III, Section 5(a) for at least five (5) calendar years. b) Must have at least a high school education or its equivalent and must be financially upto- date with his/her chapter of affiliation and the National Association. c) Must have held an administrative position in his/her chapter. Section 3: The National Vice President a) The qualifications of the National Vice President shall be the same as those of the President. Section 4: The National General Secretary The National Secretary shall meet the qualification requirements in Article VI, Section 2(a) and 2(b). Section 5: The National Treasurer a) The National Treasurer must meet the eligibility requirements set forth in section 2(a) and 2(b) of this Article. b) The Treasurer must have the ability to keep the financial records of the Association. c) Must have general knowledge of bookkeeping and Accounting. Section 6: The National Chaplain a) The National Chaplain shall be a person of good deportment, moral character and religious inclination. Article VIII- Elections and Tenure of Elected Officers Section 2: Elections Commission a) Election of all national officers, except the leadership of the Board, shall be conducted by an Elections Commission. The Commission shall consist of five 5 members who shall be elected by the National Conference. b) The Commission shall scrutinize candidates for qualification and eligibility, determine eligible voters in accordance with Article HI, Section 5(a), conduct elections, and declare winners. c) The Chairman of the Elections Commission shall not vote except in the event of a tie, in which case he/she shall cast the tie-breaking vote. d) The Commission shall be automatically dissolved following the swearing-in of the elected officials. The heat about current election stemmed from the number, caliber and characteristics of aspirants and election commission stiffness or weakness in following what is required of applicants. In my opinion, current aspirants fed into these four categories under constitutional requirements. a. Education and bona fide status qualified—this mean an applicant met all requirement including commitment to dues, convention attendance and education competence. b. Somewhat qualified—met clear educational requirements, but either missing convention or local leadership requirements. c. I-say-I-qualified—clearly missing educational requirement but have convention attendance and local leadership. d. Quasi-qualified—missing education and other major qualifications. The Independent election commission must be careful not to be carried away by these moving pieces. Chairman Joloka got a burden, his leadership is at a zenith of test. Members of his commission are associated with almost all of these categorical aspirants and those members are pressured to be nimble to constitutional echoes. Will they put integrity above personal biases, the results will show. While these shady discussions are ongoing, the constitution availed ambiguity which the commission will find difficult to provide answered for that would not cause more discontent and rift within the union. Under qualification, Article VI, the ambiguous sections read: 2 c) Must have held an administrative position in his/her chapter. 5c) Must have general knowledge of bookkeeping and Accounting. Section 2c insists that presidential candidate must hold administrative position in his chapter, but how is administrative position define? Is it appointment, by election or other? Secondly, section 5c required a treasurer candidate to have ‘general Bookkeeping and accountant knowledge’. What does that mean and how do we ‘define general Bookkeeping and accountant knowledge’. To deepen our drive to uncover this ambiguity, let us start by defining the key words: general, bookkeeping and accountant’. I decided to open google and the online dictionary to find the meanings. 1. Bookkeeping—the activity or occupation of keeping records of the financial affairs of a business 1. Accounting—the action or process of keeping financial accounts. 2. General—2 considering or including the main features or elements of something, and disregarding exceptions; overall. Since the constitution did not required specific skill for the Treasure position but a general knowledge on keeping financial records and managing bank accounts, anyone who is a high school graduate, has opened or own bank account and able to keep financial paper is eligible to a treasurer of GGAA according to the constitution. Another area I feel the IEC overstepped their constitutional mandate is extend the clause of Article VII which states-- 2b) The Commission shall scrutinize candidates for qualification and eligibility, … This clause does not empower IEC to conduct Oath or pursue other avenues beyond scrutinizing candidates for qualification and eligibility, because what is considered qualification and eligibility were already defined in the constitution. Conducting lengthy interview tending to assess candidates’ suitability or fitness to their respective position on policy is not in the purview of IEC but Grand Gedeans who have the power to elect their leader. Conclusively, the hands in the upcoming elections are far-reaching, and the commissioners must be careful in following their mandates and the constitutions to avoid punitive mistakes. Mr. Joloka’s Commission has raised the bar and we must be supportive to guide them.
Posted on: Sun, 16 Nov 2014 02:21:47 +0000
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