Re: [Community-Discuss] Faulty result for Western Africa in AfriNIC AGMM Elections

[John Walu]

+1.

walu.

On Mon, Jun 11, 2018 at 9:58 PM Bope Christian 
wrote:

> Dear AFRINIC Members and Community,
>
> There has been much discussion about the results of the elections held
> during the AGMM on 10 May 2018, and associated processes.
>
> I will try to answer these questions:
>
>
>- What is the election process?
>- What happened in previous years?
>- What happened in 2018?
>- What does the election process says about the “None of the above”
>option?
>- How should the result be interpreted when “None of the above”
>receives the most votes?
>- Does AFRINIC have an election appeal process?
>- Should the result stand as previously announced?
>- What are the future actions?
>
>
> ## What is the Election Process?
>
> The Election Process (sometimes called the election guidelines) is
> approved by the Board in terms of the Bylaws article 13.2:
>
> 13.2. The election of the Directors of the company shall be carried out
> in line with the Election process approved by the Board.
>
> The current Election Process was revised and approved by the Board in 2014
> (Resolutions 201404.196 and 201411.218)*, *and is published at <
> https://afrinic.net/en/community/elections/bod-election/process
> >.
> Under section 9.2, the following bullet points appear (the bullet numbers
> are not in the original):
>
> [1] • Voters should only vote for one candidate per category/region. Each
> mark on a ballot paper represents one vote. A ballot with more than one
> mark per category/region will be considered spoilt, and not be counted.
>
> [2] • The ballot paper should provide voters with the option to not vote
> for any candidate (a.k.a. "None of the Above").
>
> [3] • This will be a secret ballot election. An inclusion of any personal
> data on the ballot paper will invalidate the vote and will be counted as
> spoilt.
>
> [4] • Elections will be closed as soon as the last member or proxy
> present in the meeting room casts his/her vote. Candidates with the highest
> number of votes in each category will be declared winners.
>
> [5] • In the event of a tie for an open position, voting for that
> position will be repeated (Only by paper ballot) the same day until there
> is a winner.
>
> [6] • All open positions shall be subject to an election process even if
> there is only one candidate. In that event, if the option [none of the
> above] got more votes than the only candidate, then the seat shall be
> considered vacant and the Board will be requested to apply provisions of
> the Bylaws to temporarily fill the vacant seat.
>
> ## What happened in previous years?
>
> The option to vote for “None of the above” has appeared on AFRINIC Board
> election ballots every year since 2013. In 2017, the final computed results
> contained scores for the “None of the above” option. Since those scores did
> not make “none of the above” the winner, they were not mentioned in the
> announcement of results published at <
> https://afrinic.net/en/news/2139-results-of-afrinic-agmm-election>
>
> ## What happened in 2018?
>
> Three AFRINIC Board seats were up for election at the AGMM on 10 May
> 2018.  For all three seats, “None of the above” received the most votes,
> and as a consequence, the seats have remained vacant for the time being.
> This was the first time that ”None of the above” received the most votes
> for any Board seat.  The result was announced during the AGMM and later
> published at  <
> https://afrinic.net/en/news/2391-results-of-afrinic-agmm-elections >
>
> ## What does the election process say about the “None of the above” option?
>
> Bullet point 2 in the election process specifies that “None of the above”
> should appear as a choice for all seats, not only for seats where there is
> only one candidate.
>
> Bullet point 4 in the election process specifies that the candidate with
> the highest number of votes will be the winner.  However, it is silent
> about what happens if the highest number of votes goes to “None of the
> above” instead of a candidate.
>
> Bullet point 6 in the election process specifies what happens when “None
> of the above” gets the highest number of votes in an election with only one
> candidate, but is silent about seats with multiple candidates.
>
> In summary, the election process is clear about what happens in an
> election with one candidate when “None of the above” wins, but is silent
> about what happens in an election with more than one candidate when “None
> of the above” wins.
>
> ## How should the result be interpreted when “None of the above” receives
> the most votes?
>
> It is a widely-accepted principle that, if a written process is silent on
> some point, then the intent should be considered.
>
> The intended meaning of the “None of the above” option is clear in the
> case of an election with only one candidate: bullet point 6 states that, if
> “None of the above” gets the most votes, then the seat remains vacant.
>
> In an 

Re: [Community-Discuss] AFRINIC legal was ( [members-discuss] Faulty result for Western Africa in AfriNIC AGMM Elections)

[Andrew Alston]

SM - Sorry - but that is such absolute garbage.

The election guidelines have NOTHING to do with the fact that we cannot LEGALLY 
hold another election at the moment - that is an issue of quorum - an issue of 
what the bylaws say - an issue of hard legal facts.

The board has an obligation to keep the membership informed of any and all 
issues that affect the company - yet here we sit - with an issue that prevents 
the company holding an AGMM - which puts them in violation next year of the 
companies act which REQUIRES an AGMM within 6 months of financial closing - and 
no way to actually restore the quorum without 2 SGMM's - and are we being 
informed?  Are we getting any information?  No - instead - individual board 
members hide behind the NDA - and the board as a collective says nothing.

It's really quite sad that we have come to this

Andrew


From: S Moonesamy [mailto:sm+afri...@elandsys.com]
Sent: 13 June 2018 22:16
To: Andrew Alston ; 
community-discuss@afrinic.net
Subject: Re: [Community-Discuss] AFRINIC legal was ( [members-discuss] Faulty 
result for Western Africa in AfriNIC AGMM Elections)

Hi Andrew,

[I trimmed the email addresses so as to keep the
thread on one mailing list only]

At 05:39 AM 13-06-2018, Andrew Alston wrote:
>Yet - the board has still not updated us or said
>anyything about the fact that we cannot within
>the current bylaws - hold another election or an
>AGMM - or what thethey are planning on doing
>about this - despite it beingg raised several times.

There was a email [1] from the Chair of the Board
about the past elections. The email mentioned
that the intention is to review the election process for future elections.

Due to legal obligations I unfortunately cannot
provide any further information in response to your message.

Regards,
S. Moonesamy

1. 
https://lists.afrinic.net/pipermail/community-discuss/2018-June/002395.html
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Re: [Community-Discuss] AFRINIC legal was ( [members-discuss] Faulty result for Western Africa in AfriNIC AGMM Elections)

[S Moonesamy]

Hi Andrew,

[I trimmed the email addresses so as to keep the 
thread on one mailing list only]


At 05:39 AM 13-06-2018, Andrew Alston wrote:
Yet – the board has still not updated us or said 
anyything about the fact that we cannot within 
the current bylaws – hold another election or an 
AGMM – or what thethey are planning on doing 
about this – despite it beingg raised several times.


There was a email [1] from the Chair of the Board 
about the past elections.  The email mentioned 
that the intention is to review the election process for future elections.


Due to legal obligations I unfortunately cannot 
provide any further information in response to your message.


Regards,
S. Moonesamy

1. https://lists.afrinic.net/pipermail/community-discuss/2018-June/002395.html 



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Re: [Community-Discuss] AFRINIC legal was ( [members-discuss] Faulty result for Western Africa in AfriNIC AGMM Elections)

[Badru Ntege]

Members

 

Many things went wrong in Dakar and Many more went very well.   

 

As disturbing as it is I urge we look forward, learn from the history as 
opposed to becoming captives of our past.   

 

 Some of the wrongs are people related which calls for some kind of introspect 
and hopefully  behavior changes for the better.

 

Some of the wrongs are policy and process related which we have full powers to 
fix and should now focus our energies at fixing.

 

The chair shared a fair summary of the current situation and I urge and request 
we close this chapter.

 

Continuing this thread is a zero-sum game which gives legitimacy to those would 
be distractors of AfriNIC.

 

The Election in Dakar was a minor setback in the life of AfriNIC.  

 

Members will come and go, elections will come and go, the institution that is 
AfriNIC will be here to serve many more generations to come.

 

Regards

 

Badru

From: "Marcus K. G. Adomey" 
Date: Wednesday, June 13, 2018 at 12:41 AM
To: Andrew Alston , DANIEL NANGHAKA 
, Ashok 
Cc: General Discussions of AFRINIC , AfriNIC 
Discuss 
Subject: [Community-Discuss] AFRINIC legal was ( [members-discuss] Faulty 
result for Western Africa in AfriNIC AGMM Elections)

 

Dear Legal Counsel,

Second  opinion is always good when clearing disputes and to show confidence in 
a system. You playing judge and party  is awkward. All the disputed issues are 
from actions and decisions  supervised  by you. it is more appropriate  for you 
to recommend that they are resolved  otherwise.

We expect from  AFRINIC  legal counsel  to make sure, processes, guidelines are 
unambiguous, strictly followed and the appropriate  dispute resolution 
mechanisms are in place  and tell the board the right thing to do  in case of 
dispute.

By the way, how often does AFRINIC  change its legal counsel?

Thanks


Marcus


 

From: Ashok 
Sent: Friday, June 8, 2018 11:53:36 AM
To: Andrew Alston; DANIEL NANGHAKA; Marcus K. G. Adomey
Cc: General Discussions of AFRINIC; AfriNIC Discuss
Subject: Re: [Community-Discuss] [members-discuss] Faulty result for Western 
Africa in AfriNIC AGMM Elections 

 

Dear All,
I am the legal adviser of the company AFRINIC Ltd. Hence for me to act in one 
way or the other
I need to get instructions from the company.As presently advised I have not 
received any instructions 
to seize the court for adjudicating on the matter.
 For the record,I have already communicated my views to the community on this 
matter ( vide my mail dated 17.05.2018).If any party wishes to challenge these 
views, they are free
to take same to court. Obviously it cannot be me.
Regards
Legal Counsel-AFRINIC.

On 08/06/2018 13:30, Andrew Alston wrote:

The answer to that is simple,

 

For something to be sorted in a court of law – someone has to take it to court. 

 

Since the people who members of this community claim were disenfranchised by 
the vote have not taken it to court – and since there are many – who include 
the AFRINIC legal council based on his previous statements, who believe that 
the correct actions were taken – how is it going to be sorted in a court?

 

If someone wishes to approach the Mauritian courts to adjudicate this – let 
them do so – but that requires someone willing to spend the money and resources 
to do that – and right now – I see a lot of people whining – but I don’t see 
anyone willing to dedicate the resources to doing that – and for AFRINIC to 
approach the court – when they have already stated clearly how they view the 
situation – would be equivalent to litigating against themselves.  I hardly see 
that happening

 

Andrew

 

 

From: DANIEL NANGHAKA [mailto:dndann...@gmail.com] 
Sent: 08 June 2018 12:16
To: Marcus K. G. Adomey 
Cc: General Discussions of AFRINIC ; AfriNIC 
Discuss 
Subject: Re: [Community-Discuss] [members-discuss] Faulty result for Western 
Africa in AfriNIC AGMM Elections

 

Why can't this issue be sorted in court?

Don't we have a legal counsel?

 

On Fri, Jun 8, 2018, 11:36 AM Marcus K. G. Adomey  wrote:

Dear CEO and Legal Counsel,

 

 

I wrote asking for some clarification which should come from your offices. Up 
to now I have not received any response. I would be most grateful if you could 
spare some few minutes from your heavy schedule to do justice to my questions? 

 

 

Thanks

 

 

Marcus

 

From: Marcus K. G. Adomey 
Sent: Saturday, June 2, 2018 10:32:18 AM
To: m...@posix.co.za; General Discussions of AFRINIC; AfriNIC Discuss; Ornella 
GANKPA
Subject: Re: [Community-Discuss] [members-discuss] Faulty result for Western 
Africa in AfriNIC AGMM Elections 

 

Hello,

Thanks Ornella and others who has been actively participating in this 
discussion to help clear this issue once for good.

Can someone explains to me why  “none of the above”  votes were not counted for 
 2017 elections  as it  was done for election 2018 ?

https://www.afrinic.net/fr/news/2139-results-of-afrinic-agmm-election  - 2017