Dear Team Representatives and players, A few weeks ago, we, the founding fathers, sent out an email explaining the current state of affairs with AESAONE. Our purpose was not to tarnish anybodys name or reputation but to reveal the truth and explain the facts to you the members of this association. Our intention then, as it is now and in the future, is to ensure the continuity of AESAONE with its original intended purpose of being a membership organization belonging to you the players and team representatives. As you all know by now, unfortunately, Ato Bisrat gave a radio interview a few days ago, publicly announcing our name and others and accusing us of wrongdoing, which he said resulted in our removal from our association. 1. The reasons he cited do not apply to some of us who were never been a board member. 2. As a Founding Fathers we were in charge of organizing the first tournament successfully (without his assistance), he has no grounds to stand on, whatsoever, to accuse us of either incompetency or unprofessionalism. Simply, he wasnt there. On the contrary, we want to bring to your attention to one, amongst many, contradictions that Ato Bisrat finds himself in because of what he said on his own public interview. Ato Bisrat clearly said that we were dismissed based on the rules and regulations found in the bylaw; then, in the very next statement, he said, he and the board are still working on the bylaw and that the bylaw is not finished. So, which is the truth? The truth is that there is no by law, and that we were dismissed by Ato Bisrat and his close friends in a closed meeting. Moreover, Ato Bisrat or the so called the BOD is not in a position to dismiss any one individual or a single team from this association. The reason being, Ato Bisrat was dismissed from the board in April of 2013. However, after the end of the second tournament of AESAONE, he illegally put himself along with others in the board w/o any committee’s approval. Being a brother of Ato Abenet does not and should not qualify Mr. Bisrat to be in a position he is in right now. No one, not you the team representatives, has ever nominated or voted for Ato Bisrat to be in the leadership position. We strongly suggest, out of respect for you the players and team representatives, as well as in the interest of the wellbeing of AESAONE, Ato Bisrat should excuse himself from the position he is in now. Ato Bisrat also stated in his radio interview the elected executive committee is working hard to prepare for the next tournament. The truth is that the executive committee is not an elected committee. Moreover, their job is to play the role of liaison to communicate the board’s decision to the players without objection and execute as instructed by the board. The reality is that Ato Bisrat is a self-appointed leader of AESAONE who wants to run our association without challenge and without objection to his misconducts. Finally yet importantly, Ato Bisrat had the audacity to call our name in public media and accuse us of wrongdoing without cause and proof. What we have said and done in all the meetings, since the day we set up AESAONE is a matter of public record. What Ato Bisrat did is a major offense of defamation of our character. He has the obligation, both by the law and by moral decency, to release these minutes to all the members of AESAON and the public. We demand that Ato Bisrat to own up to his personal and legal responsibility, to clear this total lapse in judgment and to apologize to us in public with the intent to restore our name and reputation within our association and the community at large. The Founding Fathers of AESAONE, Mekonnen Demisiew Samuel Tekle Tamru Abebe Ayaya Arega
Posted on: Sun, 02 Feb 2014 05:28:25 +0000