CHAIRMAN PYNE [Dueh] ROCKS THE BOAT ON TROUBLED WATERS—vote of no-confidence to dissolve Board Leadership, not too distant ========================================================= SIOUX FALLS, SD— The National Board of Directors which comes second in authority next to the National Conference under the structure of diaspora Grand Gedeh Associations’ umbrella organization, GGAA, has never been in good health since Mr. Pyne ascended as Chairman through a controversial ballot over saw by a former Board Chairman, Mr. Isaac Vowal, under whose leadership the Grand Gedeh Association (GGAA), split in equal halves over conduct of elections nearly crippling GGAA. Most Grand Gedeans reference it as Glay & Martha Kannah controversy. The seeming to be most controversial Chairman in the history of GGAA National Board of Directors, Chairman Pyne ignited a fire and shocked every board members including the most experienced ones last Sunday, December 7, when Chairman Pyne forced on members a reschedule of the teleconference that had already logged in 31 out of 36 members and reached a quorum by the time of his entry. It was apparent that Mr. Pyne saw the mood of the meeting as unfavorable and would not be able to have advanced his objectives as he did in infamous meetings when few handful members of his were the only informed, present and participants on board’s conferences. Although the roll call of individual board members, as strange as it was, was done perfectly without glitch in IT system; as he entered late, Mr. Pyne began to ramble about technical difficulties when he saw that most of his die-hard supporters which included Bull Yonly, Jeremiah Shar, Vivian Dianh, and Joseph Kweh were absent. To save the conference with such attendance, Mr. Vowal offered a tentative alternative to continue the meeting if technical issues mentioned persisted, but Mr. Pyne ignored the offer and quickly disconnected everyone logged into the conference before they had the chance to question reasons for abrupt reschedule with no consent from members. Sometime before the aforementioned teleconference, wrong access code was distributed to a good number of members. Whether the instance was an honest mistake or a deliberate act to discourage attendance turnout, is yet to be determined. However, even members who were not lucky to have received valid access code, manage to log onto the conference successfully by contacting closest members. It is a clear indication that all members are now tired of handful members making decision on their behalf and overclouding the board with despair. Although there is zero collaboration from the leaders of the board in scheduling and managing recent meetings as Chairman Pyne monopolizes the process, major issues of contention which is forcing an emergency convocation, included recommendation from Mr. William Nyanue, a lone negotiator who was later joined by Mr. Jalarue and Mr. John Collins, and a protest filed from Youboty’s Team citing ECOM irregularity. The recommendations proposed by Mr. Nyanue, as a result of the Board going disorderly and tramping over constitutional provisions, insisted that Chairman Pyne rescinds all unconstitutional improprieties and unfit accusation against Co-chairman Johnson, and further apologizes for lighting the fire. The recommendation went on and requested the Co-Chairman and the Secretary to apologize for feuding the process also. The recommendation concluded by requesting all stakeholders to apologize for mutual respect. However, one of the major miles stones forces Mr. Pyne to be cognizant of the constitution by undoing all of his infamous decisions, but the recent event where Mr. Pyne unceremoniously shutoff the conference on 31 members of the National Board of Directors is perceived across members as rocking boat over troubled waters. The protest filed against ECOM and addressed to Chairman Pyne is yet to be made public to all Board members. Ever since the complaint was addressed to the Board through Chairman Pyne, he has not presented it to members of the board including the Elected Leaders, and at this time, we are not sure what Mr. Pyne intend to do with it. In as much as it is unclear, it is certain that Mr. Pyne as individual member of the board has no power to decide how the protest will be addressed. In the same token, no committee is empowered by the Board to address alleged issue of constitutional violation except AD HOC may be established contingent of filed complaints—all members must participate in such process. Whether Chairman Pyne has resolves to follow previous pattern that got the board in trouble, it is still unclear, but I warn that unilaterally handling the Protest on the part of Mr. Pyne without input from Executive Committee and members may derail the entire election process and also dissolve the board. As we progress in this information age, I believe it is import that every Grand Gedean is equally informed about what goes on in the association especially the National Board of Director, which supposedly is the directional force that shapes GGAA. The Board comprises members, some of which had never read the constitution or contributed logically to any matter except by raising hands to vote. Now, such members who are not abreast of issues, and remained on the national board by proxies that were not properly checked due to the many problems hunting the board, what much can we expect. Vulnerable members who probably are not from a well-functioning chapters, are vessels Mr. Pyne utilizes to advance decisions, even when the decisions were unconstitutional. Most of those members may or are not aware of what is or is not constitutional—theyve never read the constitution, in fact, although they have a copy. Diving in the history of diaspora Grand Gedeans, GGAA was founded by Cllr. Boon who, upon seen a suffering Grand Gedeans with medical issue, saw reason to connect with his people to form a heritage-bond to profess mutual care. Cllr. Boon’s idea was embraced and GGAA was established as a not-for-profit organization registered in the State of New York, 1975. As Grand Association gained momentum and publicity as a result of diligently well-deserved Grand Gedeans sacrificing their time to keep the organization over the waters, others saw it as an opportunity to propagate political platforms or use it as stage to exercise or muster political muscles that would be requisite for careers in Liberia. The mixture of concepts is necessary for the growth of any organization, but ours is tending to flush out our core idea, the foundation of GGAA. Grand Gedeh Association is now a small Liberia where every pragmatics and dogmatics are trending day-ins and day-outs, feeding philosophies, which do not fit within the structural constitutions. Secondly, the growing dynamics and complexity of Grand Gedeh Association which attracted young, vibrant and level headed professional Grand Gedeans has surmounted stagnated leadership attributes subjecting GGAA to needing overhaul to keep up. According to Ms. Martha Yoway’s recommendation during one of the board’s sessions, it impending to device training for board members to bring them up to speed with their responsibilities. She believes education may help board member gain skills necessary to lead in such complex society. Mr. Edmund Bargblor, one of best writers from Grand Gedeh, who by his contributions to ‘THE NEW HORIZON JOURNAL’, brought US State Dept. to gain interest in GGAA by following monthly articles, has recently faded away activities with the board for he felt disappointed and discouraged about the management of the National Board of Directors. Mr. Bargblor is a Mathematics Instructor in US school systems, and served as a Chairman of Protest Resolution Committee under Chairman Kohn, a committee that produced one of the best comprehensive recommendations on protest in the history of Grand Gedeh Associations. To move forward with GGAA and continue to attract valuable Grand Gedeans who may advance essential goals and prepare this organization for the next level, we need to get down to the root cause analysis, understand the cradle of the smoking gun and ask ourselves few questions as honorable board members. If the current leadership of the Board is the reason the direction of GGAA is stalling and causing valuable members to disassociate, I believe it is about time to dissolve the board leadership for a new one, or if the Chairman presents himself as unfit to lead the diverse philosophic composition of the National Board, it is time to let him go through no-confidence vote. Flash back, Mr. Nyanue, a former President of GGAA, never had a contested election including Mr. Gbotoe who took over from him without election process. Those times were flexible and GGAA was not as complex as it is today. The most contested election introduced in GGAA at the beginning of its complexity, was Glay & Kannah election. Tillman, Dennis & Gwyan election introduced intense competitions, and Tillman & Gwyan Texas election propagated political teams with die-hard loyalists entrenched across Board, Administration and sectional lines. I believe mentioning these events will draw our attention to understanding where we are and where we need to be. Conclusively, GGAA is not about one person, it is about the good and survival of Grand Gedeans interest. Leaders need to be leaders of voice of the people; that is listening to their concern and addressing it appropriately. When leaders’ trouble troubled waters, they must be willing to expect the roaring of water-falls. When the Chairman of the National Board of Director becomes unable and unfit to manage the leadership effectively and the fast growing complexity of current Grand Gedeh Association in the Americas, I believe it is about time say goodbye to let other experienced leaders in, so as to move forward. We cannot continue be apprehensive as leaders and dwell in the past. It is about time to birth new leadership of the board that will mend broken pieces and reawaken confidence. We hope to see the new dawn of GGAA where all Grand Gedeans can be Grand Gedeans proudly!
Posted on: Sun, 14 Dec 2014 01:46:33 +0000
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