REPORT ON THE 7th GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE PAN AFRICAN ORGANISATION FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
| From left to right: | Pappie Mokoena John - MEDET, Makono Diarra - INAGEF, Lawrencia Adams - POSDEV, Adamou Adamou - KOKARI, Emelia Oguaah - ACHD, Roger Thiombiano - MWANGAZA ACTION, Alidou Takpara - APIC, Bernardin Gatete - POSDEV. |
TOLON KUMBUNGU-TAMALE, GHANA
Tolon Kumbungu-Tamale, Ghana 3rd February 2005
OFFICIAL OPENING CEREMONY
There was a short official opening ceremony from 3:15 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. The outgoing POSDEV Vice President Mrs. Emelia Oguah welcomed member organizations to the General Assembly. She mentioned in particular Honorable Pappie John Mokoena, Mayor of Bloemfontein, who traveled all the way from South Africa at his own expense for this very important meeting at a critical time in POSDEV’s existence.
2. GENERAL ASSEMBLY
The General Assembly began at 3:15 p.m. 3rd February 2005 Six member organizations out of 12 were represented. ACOD and ACJ could not send their representatives because the former had difficulties to get a flight to Accra. The representative of the latter could not make it because he was away in Brazil. SABA, ORAP, APOR and G-FORCE were absent. No apologies were received from them. ZATONA-ADIL would have wished to take part in the GA but their participation required POSDEV to cater for their traveling costs. Unfortunately POSDEV was not in a position to fulfill this request. The outgoing President and Treasurer were also absent without apologies. The information to the run up of the GA started being disseminated as far back as July 2004 through a series of updates and e-mail correspondences.
A total of 9 participants were recorded at the meeting. (See List of participants: Annex 3 ).
On the agenda of the 7th GA were review of minutes of the last GA, matters arising, update of activities at the Secretariat, member organizations’ activities reports, Coordinator’s report, financial situation of POSDEV, future of POSDEV (membership and leadership), presentation of Hon. Pappie John Mokoena, Executive Director of MEDET’s Mangaung Institute of Sustainable Development, elaboration of short-term plan of action and discussion on other matters of relevance.
3. REVIEW OF MINUTES OF LAST GENERAL ASSEMBLY
After a minute’s silence in remembrance of Annie Davis of DEVNET, Nigeria, one of the active collaborators of POSDEV who passed away in January 2004, the outgoing Vice President of POSDEV reviewed the minutes of the last General Assembly which took place in Mali in 2002. It was unanimously adopted by all participants.
4. MATTERS ARISING
The Coordinator gave a quick recap of the happenings in 2003, the year in which the GA could not meet, mainly due to financial constraints. As requested however, the Secretariat submitted the 2003 budget to member organizations; two telephone EXECO meetings were held the first at the end of January and the second in September 2003 as well as issued a call for nominations for the EXECO. Only APIC-ONG replied to this call.
A crisis solution arrangement (US$165/MO) was set up to which a few MOs responded positively. It was noted that only KOKARI, INAGEF, APIC, MWANGAZA, ACJ, ORAP, ACOD and ACHD paid their membership dues in 2003.
5. SECRETARIAT ACTIVITIES UPDATES
The Coordinator briefed MOs about the Secretariat activities during the year 2004. A comprehensive documentation on updates was also provided to MOs in their conference folders. She also informed participants about POSDEV being the focal point of InterAction’s Africa Liaison Programme Initiative [1] (ALPI) Ghana Country Team on which it (POSDEV) serves.
6. ACTIVITY REPORTS OF MEMBER ORGANIZATIONS
With regards to member organization’s activities reports, almost all members did not have their reports available. It was agreed that they should send their reports to the Secretariat latest by March 1, 2005. These reports form part of a global report which is also posted on POSDEV website.
7. COORDINATOR’S REPORT
The Coordinator commended MOs who made it to the 7th GA. She lauded this as being one of the fact testifying to their commitment to POSDEV and the vision it stands for despite the rather discouraging note on which the 6th GA ended. She went on regretting the absence of the President and Treasurer despite numerous messages aimed at informing and inviting them to the GA. She presented the apologies of those MOs who indicated their inability to make it to the Assembly.
The Coordinator informed MOs about the Secretariat’s decision to discontinue the cooperation with African Centre for Humana Development (ACHD) in the implementation of IFAD/POSDEV project. She explained that the discontinuation was triggered by ACHD failure to undertake the activities agreed upon in the first semester and failure to account for funding received for the implementation of those activities, a situation that should have put the Ghana component of the whole programme into jeopardy if not the hard work of Programme Officers at the Secretariat. The Secretariat had to deal directly with the ACHD’s field officers in Kadjebi and Nkwata to get the project implemented to a certain extent. The decision to discontinue had to be taken when the ACHD headquarters refused a proposal to plan and implement activities and be reimbursed upon completion of each section of activities.
On the future of POSDEV, she stressed the future of POSDEV would largely depend upon members’ commitment to the ideals of POSDEV, a commitment which is more than monies paid in membership dues. The fate of POSDEV would also depend on the kind of leadership within its community. The organization needs a leadership capable of fostering a strong voice of civil society, a leadership capable of advocating for an inclusion of civil society’s role in the greater African initiatives like the African Union, NEPAD, and Tony Blair’s Commission for Africa.
The Coordinator concluded by reassuring those MOs that might feel threatened by a strong Secretariat that it is critical for the survival of the organization. She reiterated her commitment to do whatsoever it would take to move POSDEV forward.
(Copy of Coordinator’s address attached: annex 4 ).
8. POSDEV FINANCIAL STATEMENT
A Programme Officer at POSDEV, Mr. Bernardin Gatete gave an overview of the financial situation of POSDEV from January to December 2004. He presented the income and expenditure statement covering that period to the GA. (See copy attached: annex 1 ).
Members unanimously acknowledged the shaky financial situation of POSDEV and suggested among other things a renewed commitment of member organizations to fulfill their obligations by paying membership dues on time, putting in place mechanisms and rigorously applying existing regulations to ensure that MOs fulfill their financial obligations, intensifying efforts to engage in income generating activities, etc. Budget estimates for the year 2005 were also presented to MOs. ( See copy attached: annex 2 )
9. MEMBERSHIP STATUS
In a Memo dated January 28, 2005 from Mr. Wilbert Tengey, Executive Director of ACHD to General Assembly-POSDEV and read by the outgoing Vice President of POSDEV who is also the Deputy Director of ACHD, announced the withdrawal of its membership from POSDEV effect from February 2005. They also expressed their wishes to see POSDEV dissolved. Members present debated the ACHD’s letter of withdrawal and the proposition to dissolve POSDEV at length and in the end the motion to dissolve POSDEV was defeated. All MOs present took note of the withdrawal of ACHD and decided the dissolution of POSDEV was not an option.
The departure of ACHD prompted a consideration of co-signatory issue to POSDEV accounts to which the outgoing Vice President was a co-signatory. For operational and practical purposes, MOs suggested that a Programme Officer at POSDEV should be the new co-signatory to POSDEV accounts until further notice.
POSDEV statutes stipulate that failure of a member organization to meet their financial obligations (payment of dues) towards POSDEV for two (2) consecutive years leads to the suspension of that MO. G-FORCE has already gone beyond two years and has automatically been suspended from being a member of POSDEV. It was hinted that G-FORCE might have given its withdrawal letter to the President of POSDEV. But neither the Secretariat nor any other MO has been officially informed about the G-FORCE withdrawal from POSDEV.
MEDET would have fallen into the suspension box at the end of 2004. But the Executive Director of MEDET and active founding member of POSDEV Mr. Pappie John Mokoena present at the 7th GA was there to personally renew the MEDET’s membership to POSDEV. He also informed other member organizations about the Mangaung Institute for Sustainable Development, an Institute set up to look at issues of capital city building and involvement of civil society in Africa-wide initiatives. He sees the potential of POSDEV and its vision being a CSOs’ bloc on a continental scale that can have a strong voice for CSOs in civic movement within the governmental and intergovernmental bodies such as AU, NEPAD, SADC, ECOWAS, etc.
10. EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE (EXECO) RENEWAL
The outgoing Vice President informed the meeting that the tenure of her team expired in December 2003 but she in particular has had to stay on because no GA has been held since 2002. The Coordinator added that a call for nomination was launched in November 2003, but it was only APIC that responded. The statutory provisions, for a new EXECO was read but it was agreed that given the current situation the provisions could not be applied and that other options should be examined. Discussions revolved around amending the statutes for elections to be held among members present. In the end three persons/organizations volunteered to form an Interim EXECO to lead the organization until such a time as another GA is held. Representatives of MOs regretted the unexplained absence of two of the three members of the outgoing EXECO i.e. the President and Treasurer. The Secretariat intends to seek further clarification about the President’s position vis-à-vis POSDEV. MOs also suggested holding, if possible, another GA before the end of 2005 to elect a new EXECO.
The Interim EXECO is made up of the following:
| President | Mr. Pappie John Mokoena (Executive Director, MEDET INSTITUTE FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT) |
| Vice President | Mr. Alidou TAKPARA (President, APIC) |
| Treasurer | Mr. Roger THIOMBIANO (Coordinator, MWANGAZA ACTION) |
11. OTHER MATTERS
Mwangaza Action informed other member organizations that Mrs. Clotilde KY is no longer with Mwangaza since November 2002. Her departure will be officially announced in an extraordinary Mwangaza scheduled in March 2005.
12. SHORT-TERM PLAN OF ACTION
- Establishment of Interim EXECO till next GA on date to be agreed upon later
- Preparation and dissemination of minutes/report of the 7th GA
- Secretariat to officially write to G-FORCE to clarify their position vis-à-vis their membership to POSDEV
- Formulation of a one (1) year strategic plan
- Member organizations to provide the Secretariat with their activity reports latest by March 1, 2005
- Reply to ACOD’s e-mail on the questions concerning the absence of the President and Treasurer to the GA and seek more clarification.
13. CLOSING
In their closing remarks, the Coordinator, the outgoing Vice President and Mr. Pappie John Mokoena (President of Interim EXECO) appealed to the MOs to remain committed to POSDEV’s vision and objectives, to be more involved and thanked everybody for responding positively to the invitation.
The Meeting ended at 8p.m. on Thursday 3rd February 2005
[1] An Interactive Initiative To Bring Development Partners in Ghana Together For Positive Development (InterAction, US largest coalition of international development agencies).
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