Minutes of Last meeting held on August 16, 2015
The meeting was called to order by Mr. Eddie Stewart, President of the Association and Chief Presiding Officer at 6:25PM Eastern Standard Time, although it was cited for 6:00pm EST.
The adopted agenda was as follows:
1. Call to order
2. Opening Prayer
3. Self-Introduction
4. Welcome Remarks and goals of the meeting --- Mrs. Wilson, VP
5. Special statement from the President on the state of affairs of AMEZU-AAA and overview of actions since its inception
6. Presentation of committees and members
7. Reports
a) Program / convention. Committee
b) Financial
c) Comments, suggestions, questions and answers
8. Brief statement from Mr. Aloysius Gargar
9. AOB
10. Adjournment and Closing
Opening prayer was offered by Mrs. Karina Wilson, Vice President.
Those in attendance when the meeting started were Eddie Stewart, Karina Wilson, Peter Bemah, YinkaOgudare, Aloysius Gargar, Dwanah S. Dwanah, DoliakehQuiomie, Oscar Dennis and TwenGleekeh (sp).
Mrs. Karina Wilson, Vice President of the Associationgave the opening remarks at which time she welcomed everyone to the first general meeting since the inception of the new leadership. Commenting further, Mrs. Wilson gave a synopsis of what the meeting would entail as cataloged in the agenda as well as the expectation of the Executive Committee at the end of the meeting. Mrs. Wilson ended her brief comments by admonishing everyone to mute their phones when they do not have the floor to speak and only unmute them when the opportunity to speak is imminent, as background noises are a big distraction to our meetings.
The President, then, presented a special statement encapsulating the state of affairs of the Association and his leadership’s plan of action. The President said that one of the main goals of the leadership is to ensure that all alumni members are brought on board and to establish a concrete working relationship with the Liberia based chapter of the alumni association, the Board of Trustees, the A.M.E. Zion Church and Bishop Benjamin Lartey. To this end, the President intimated that he has officially communicated with Mr. Abenego Kofi, President of the A.M.E. Zion University Alumni Association in Liberia to formally introduce the USA chapter’s leadership all stakeholders in the realm of A.M.E. Zion. He also reminded participants of the meeting aboutan earlier communication from Mr. Kofi citing the deplorable condition of the University and the administration’s lack of will and competence to move the university forward. Mr. Stewart stated that his leadership’s intent to launch a full function computer lab might be derailed if the University does not have the capacity in terms of accountability and a permanent home that would house the project.
In his concluding remarks, Stewart informed the meeting that there was a process underway, asdriven by YinkaOgundare, to have the Article of Incorporation electronically signed by the incorporators, which would pave the way for the processing of the 501 (c) 3 tax exempt document - a legal requirement for non-profit organization like ours.
Mr. Oscar Dennis pointed out that in order to attract more members for the association, the leadership should increase the level of publicity by taking advantageof social media like TLC, Facebook, etc. The President welcomed comrade Dennis’ idea and informed him that the Membership and Communications Committeewill be primarily responsible to publicize the organization to the outside public. Oscar Dennis is also a member of said committee.
Presentation of committee Members was the next agenda item, and the President made the following appointments:
A. Membership and Communications Committee
1. Mr. Albert W. Sherman-Chairman
2.Mrs. DavidettaChea Williams-Co-Chairperson
3. Mr. Paul Morris-Member
4. Mr. Oscar Dennis-Member
5. Mr. Albert Payne-Member
Administrators for the Website
1.Mr. YinkaOgundare-Chief Administrator
2. Mr. Peter Bemah- Assistant Chief Administrator/Secretary General
3. Mr. Teaker Harris, Sr. Financial Secretary
B. Ways and Means Committee
1. Mr. Patrick Teajay-Chairman
2. Charlesetta Garnet-Co-Chairperson
3. Alexander Kwaigaye-Member
4. Augustine B. S. Dolo, Sr. Member
5. Dwanah S. Dwanah-Member
6. Mr. Nelson R. Gbortoe-Member
7. Mrs. Karina Wilson-Vice President, as Executive official to the Committee
C. Mr. Aloysius Gargar as Advisor to the current administration
D. Mr. RooseveltForh ....as Liaison Officer between USA and Liberia chapters and the University Administration
The Program committee Chairman and the Financial Secretary made separate reports which were forwarded to all members of the Association.
At the conclusion of the Program Committee report, Mr. DoliakehQuiomie made an inquiry about the report and suggested that the report be made clearer than it was presented. Comrade Quiomie averred that the report didn’t state in clear terms what was received by the committee in financial and other terms, what was expended, who contributed what, what was generated, ending balance, etc. Mr. Stewart, then, thanked the Program Committee and directed the Secretary General to forward the committee’s report to members. The President’s attempt to dissolve the program committee did not land well as Comrade Quiomie, supported by Comrade Teaker Harris and others suggested that that program committee should not be dissolved until its report has been received and accepted. The suggestion was taken into consideration by the presiding officer.
The Secretary General was then given the floor to brief the body on the convention and its outcome. Though not an agenda item, the SG indicated, it was necessary to do so as to inform the new comers or others who didn’t attend the convention. Mr. Bemah briefly narrated that the convention birthed the Resolution Committee as a result of the fact that there was limited time for the convention to craft a resolution. He touched on the election of new officers as well as reports from various committees at the convention.
As already stated, the former Financial Secretary also made his report, and it was suggested that since said report was in the possession of the Secretary General, it should be distributed to all members before discussion on the financial report are concluded. The Secretary General emailed the financial report to all members after the meeting.
Finally Mr. Aloysius Gargar, former President gave brief remarks at which time he thanked Mrs. Ruth Mario for the assiduous work done to ensure the success of the convention. Mr. Gargar also hailed the work of the new leadership thus far. He specifically mentioned the progress being made in finalizing the Article of Incorporation and the 501 (c) 3 document. He also cautioned all members to consider time factor during the meetings, stating that is only by being time cautious that an organization like ours can be expeditious with progress and success. He concluded by asking those who have not purchase t-shirts to do so because there were four t-shirts left after the convention.
Under Other matters, Mr. YinkaOgundare encouraged all members to sign up for their email on the website so as to make communication easier for everyone and enhance the work of the leadership.
A motion for adjournment was made by Teaker Harris and seconded by Aloysius Gargar.
Closing prayer was offered by James Findley
, Chaplin General.
Signed: Peter Bemah
Secretary General