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Dear Mr. Chairman:
I
have read with indignation your Press Release dated June 28, 2009, in
which statements were made, in order to justify the illegal transfer of
funds from the Grand Gedeh Association’s bank account in the tone of
$33,000.00. Your communication also tries miserably to position the
board as an unbiased institution and as a promoter of community unity.
The deceitfulness of the content of the press release is an embarrassment to the membership of our association.
With reference to the illegal transfer of funds from the association’s bank account, the board wrote the following:
1. About a week subsequent to the elections, the Board of Directors was informed by the new administration that it had made several unsuccessful attempts to get the Glay administration to comply with Article X, Section 4:(a) of the GGAA's Constitution which calls for the out-going administration to immediately turnover, to the in-coming administration, all bank records of the Association. The new administration requested the Board’s intervention in order to ensure the out-going administration complies with the constitution and to protect the financial interest of the association.
2. In response to the administration’s request, the leadership of the Board initially attempted to contact the out-going administration but those attempts proved unsuccessful as well. In order to ensure the functions of the association do not grind to a halt and that the constitution is upheld, the Board sent a letter to Citizens Bank located in Yeadon, Pennsylvania, where the association’s accounts are held, to introduce the new leadership of the association and to request the bank’s assistance in transferring control of the GGAA's account to the new administration. A copy of the letter to the bank, which was dated June 3, 2009, was sent to Mr. Glay as head of the out-going administration.
Upon careful scrutiny of counts 1 & 2, I realized contradictions upon contradictions of a board whose actions are bent on the creation of confusion and disunity. May I ask Chairman Vowal?
1.Is it the same board, with one Sarah T. McKinney as secretary, that paid death-ear, when the incoming Glay administration was trying to have the out going President, Mr. David Gbortoe to turn over?
2. Is it the same board that failed to investigate the alleged disappearance of the sum of $32,000.00 that was allegedly turned over to Mr. David Gbortoe by his predecessor, Mr. William Nyanue?
3. Is it the same board that refused to approve the purchase of lappas for Grand Gedean women and proceeded to request the profits generated from the sale of said lappas?
4. Is it the same board that refused to participate in the Christmas and Year- End Party hosted by the Glay administration that generated over $6,000.00 income, and subsequently deposited into the association’s coffers, an occasion that was graced by the presence of the Liberian Ambassador?
5.Is this the same board that refused to participate in the program designed for the honoring of progressive women of Grand Gedeh Association in Philadelphia a year ago?
6. Is it the same board that wanted to impeach the administration of Mr. Henry Glay, because he spoke out against the illegal imprisonment of Gen. Charles Julue and Col. Andrew Dorbor?
7.Can the board identify any account that was turned over to the Glay Administration, from the out going Gbortoe’s leadership?
8.Can the board point out to the general public whose administration established said account that is currently in question at the Citizens Bank in Pennsylvania, since your protégé, out going president David Gbortoe, left no bank account from which to transfer funds from?
In its conclusion, the board made the following observations:
The Grand Gedeh community in the United States has, by and large, been a united community. We have had our differences in the past but we’ve have always managed to focus on the big picture and the real issues that matter. This time that unwritten covenant which has held the community together has been violated and we are now navigating in uncharted waters. Like the Board of Directors of any corporation, we realize that our primary responsibility is to secure the interests of our association and community. Those interests include working with the executive leadership of our association to invest in and focus on programs that promote the wellbeing and unity of our membership. This we commit to do without fear of favor.
It is sad for a ‘board of directors’ to evade the events within its jurisdiction by spreading lies. As the saying goes, ‘you can fool some of the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all the people all of the time.” How can you talk about fostering unity, when your institution, the board, is the one that is perpetuating disunity, disorganization, refusing to turn over the results of an audit conducted by the board (after the executive paid for the hotel accommodations for some of your members to carryout said audit in Iowa, including you as chairman )?
It is your intransigence to foster hatred among Grand Gedeans that have brought us to this impasse. Your disregard and disrespect for the elders within our community, your misguided arrogance to- know- it- all attitude, your disregard for the constitutional requirements, your out- right disrespect for the rule of law, your primitive attitude to understand and appreciate the diversity within our community, your tendencies to always invade the truth, are the causes of the prevailing circumstances within our association. Tell me Mr. Chairman Isaac Vowal, what have you and members of the board done to generate funds for our association? You and some members of the board have always stood against progress, your reactionary attitude have created the present dilemma. The only interest you are trying to secure is your own and not those of our membership. Your actions are a disgrace to say the least.
A protest letter was filed with the elections commission within twenty four hours consistent with the constitution of our association, a copy of said protest was forwarded to you. You have yet to respond, you proceeded nevertheless, irrespective of the protest, to install Mrs. Martha Kannah and her associates. Is this your definition of promoting programs and wellbeing of Grand Gedeans? Your recent endeavor to illegally take over the website of the association and your request to the court to have Martha Kannah to represent the association as its president instead of President Henry Glay, relevant to the present suit before the court, is an embarrassment. Especially, when the election in which she participated is the one that is in dispute. How can she represent our association as president, when her presidency has yet to come into existence? Do you see the logical application of your mindset?
Mr. Chairman, I have no apology for the condescending tune of this letter, I will accord you no civility, because you and members of the board deserve no honor. Your actions have brought dishonor and disgrace to the membership of our association, especially our people on the ground that look up to us for leadership.
In every civilized organization, at the end of the counting of the ballots cast, parties involved are usually ask to sign a form, sanctioning the tallies of the ballots and reaching a consensus as to the winner of said election. This was not done; one of the contesting parties refused to sanction the result due to the enormous and massive irregularities that occurred during the election. A protest letter was issued less than twelve hours to the elections commissioner. A lawsuit is in court, challenging the results of the election and calling for an opportunity that would grant fellow Grand Gedeans from Rochester, (they were denied, the opportunity to participate within the electoral process), to finally exercise their right to vote. The present inconclusive statistics about the elections’ tallies were given out by elections- observers; we have yet to receive, an official communication from the elections commission. How can you proceed to install Mrs. Martha Kannah as president of the Grand Gedeh Association, when we have yet to receive an official communication from the elections commissioner informing us about the results of said election? Also, how can you go to the bank to ask for the transfer of funds to Martha Kannah, when you have not received an official communication from the elections commissioner, informing you about the results of said election, or are you equipped with clairvoyant and telepathic powers that enabled you to read the minds of the members of the elections commission, as to the outcome of the election?
President Henry Glay, to my recollection, has not received any communication from the commissioner telling him about the results of the election. Where is the official Tallies Release Form that should have been signed by both Martha Kannah and President Glay’s team of observers?
The board’s biased and predisposed mindset towards President Henry Glay, has exposed it as an institution that continues to fail to uphold the rule of law and the fostering of transparency. This jungle mentality should not be practiced nor be tolerated within the United States of America, a country that is a cradle of contemporary democracy and the promotion of human rights. This posturing, in my view, is designed to undermine the integrity of the Grand Gedeh Association and also points out that you lack objectivity in the current conflict. You are
now part of the conflict, by your intransigence you have brought dishonor to our association. You have indeed forfeited your role as a viable and neutral institution.
The role of the board of directors of a non-for-profit organization includes but not limited to each of the following attributes:
1.Understand the mission and purpose of the organization
2. Are adequately knowledgeable about the organization's programs
3.Act as ambassadors to the community on behalf of the organization and its constituencies
4.Follow through on commitments they have made as board members
5.Understand the role that volunteers play in the organization
6.Understand the respective roles of the board as a balancing force in the resolution of internal conflicts
7.Are appropriately involved in board activities , without fostering hidden agendas
8. Members don’t perpetuate politics as a medium of operational apparatus; members institute policies that will bring about the avoidance of favoritism or preferential treatment.
A Chinese philosopher once said: “A man who knows not, and knows not, that he knows not, is dead to the world, we should resuscitate him.” The board from all indications needs to be resuscitated!
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About the Author: Mr. Edmund Zar-Zar Bargblor, Sr., is former Chairman of GGAA Board of Directors. He can be reached at:
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or 401-996-0685
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