Dear Chair, In your email of June 30, 2016, you categorically promised to get back to the community after board meeting on the process around the fees proposed . Your promise to get back to the community came as the result of some questions asked on the process of introducing the new fees. Instead of responding to those vital questions, it is disappointing to serve the community with a "philosophical lecture" which unfortunately has fallen below the standard to convince community on what “Bottom-up” means for them in the AFRINIC governance. Embarking on this “philosophical lecture” is purely a diversionary tactics to mislead the community and sweep those questions under the carpet.
The community is expecting the answers to those questions, PLEASE. Thanks Marcus To: community-discuss@afrinic.net From: sfola...@gmail.com Date: Fri, 8 Jul 2016 13:11:44 +0100 Subject: [Community-Discuss] Fwd: AFRINIC - Matters Arising -------- Forwarded Message -------- Subject: AFRINIC - Matters Arising Date: Fri, 8 Jul 2016 13:10:27 +0100 From: Sunday Folayan <sfola...@gmail.com> To: members-disc...@afrinic.net <members-disc...@afrinic.net> Dear Members and the Community at large, Further to my email of 30th June 2016, I will like to share some thoughts: There seem to be differing interpretations of the way AFRINIC is organised, the powers of the Board, the powers of the Members, the powers of the Community, the bottom-up philosophy, and other related matters. Some definitions and clarifications are appropriate, to explain the Board’s understanding of the status quo. It is necessary to distinguish between the AFRINIC community, AFRINIC membership, and AFRINIC Ltd as a company. The community includes all stakeholders and beneficiaries of AFRINIC’s efforts, including resources and other benefits. The membership is a subset of the community. AFRINIC Ltd is a membership-driven organisation, with a company registration, bylaws, directors, and all the other things that companies have. The phrase “Bottom-Up” refers to a philosophy and not a specific process. The bottom-up philosophy is used in the processes that we use to develop policies, elect the Board, change the Bylaws, and also allows members or the community at large to make suggestions or participate in discussions on any relevant matter. AFRINIC Ltd. is registered in Mauritius as a company limited by guarantee. In terms of the Companies Act of Mauritius (Act no 15 of 2001), such a company may not have more than 25 (twenty-five) members. Because of this, the Bylaws state that only the nine Directors (the Board) are Registered Members in terms of the Companies Act. However, the Bylaws give the broader membership (specifically Resource Members) almost all of the rights shareholders would enjoy in a normal company. AFRINIC Ltd. is run by an executive that reports to the Board, and the Board exercises their fiduciary responsibilities to guide the Company. These responsibilities include the areas of sustainability and operational efficiency which also includes the setting of fees. The powers utilised are granted by the bylaws and the companies act. The Board or the executive may ask for comments from the membership or from the community before making decisions, but there is no general requirement that they do so. Even in cases where the Board or the executive do not explicitly invite comments, the members or the community are free to make suggestions. If the members or the community would like more consultation, they are also free to ask for that. The Board of Directors is accountable to the Members in that the Members elect the Board. The Board is also accountable to the community via the subset that is the membership base. Neither the Members nor the community have power over the day to day operations of the company, and the Board exercises an oversight function rather than day to day operational handling. The Board and the executive note all comments submitted, and may respond only after they have received due consideration. Best Regards ... Sunday Folayan Chair, AFRINIC Board _______________________________________________ Community-Discuss mailing list Community-Discuss@afrinic.net https://lists.afrinic.net/mailman/listinfo/community-discuss
_______________________________________________ Community-Discuss mailing list Community-Discuss@afrinic.net https://lists.afrinic.net/mailman/listinfo/community-discuss