[Community-Discuss] Allegation of Harassment

Sat Mar 17 09:37:15 UTC 2018

Andrew

I will be honest I have not read this long email but I think it expresses your views in detail and yes let’s wait for the outcome of the relevant  committees.

If  i touched a wrong nerve in my
Submission please accept my apologies.

Real work needs to be done so let’s close this. Maybe we will clear our issues over a cup of tea in Senegal.

Regards.

Sent from my iPhone

On 17 Mar 2018, at 11:36, Andrew Alston <Andrew.Alston at liquidtelecom.com<mailto:Andrew.Alston at liquidtelecom.com>> wrote:

Mr Ntege,

Let me start by saying I have no desire to engage in a long debate about this – however, I need to clarify a few things in light of your email below, since you made reference to me “seeing the light” – and I fail to fully understand what you mean by that – and as such I feel it could be misinterpreted or misconstrued by the community and member base.

Firstly – I stated that I believe that you stepping down was the honourable thing to do – you clearly violated the NDA.  In no way however does this reflect an endorsement of your actions which lead to you stepping down, which I believed then and believe now were entirely unconscionable. I also believe that the honour that you restored when you stepped down was destroyed by your subsequent actions when you chose to immediately disregard your blatant violation of board resolutions and continue your candidacy to be re-elected.

With regards to the other allegations – I fully support the governance committee being given time to define the scope of the investigation and the terms of reference, to ensure that we get a full and impartial investigation into what are serious allegations that could have serious ramifications – particularly when we consider that charges such as these if found to be true can carry both civil and criminal penalties (As per the Mauritian Equal Opportunities act of 2008, section 26)

As such, I am refraining from commenting on, or forming any opinion on anything to do with the harassment allegations – and I believe that the investigation needs to run its course.  I will however comment on the NDA issue particularly since my name appears in those documents in references to statements which I made in the context of the board (And as per the 2014 resolution, with those statements now in the public domain and hence no longer covered by the NDA, I feel fully within my rights to say that yes, what was attributed to me in the one or two lines in there, was stated, and I fully stand behind what was attributed to me, and if asked I would be quite happy to provide a written justification in the form of a sworn affidavit as to those remarks and the context of them).

I merely believe that on an issue that was so extensively dealt with in the 2014/2015 time period – the application of sanction should be equally applied to all who are guilty of the same offense, irrespective of position, personal relationships or former standing.  If the application of sanction for violation of the rules differs from individual to individual – we make the rules meaningless.  It would also create a situation where the resolutions of the board are only binding when it is convenient that they be applied – and that is an untenable situation.   As such, I stand by the fact that in light of history and with precedent backing my statements, I do believe that Mr Folayan should tender his resignation from the board while the investigation into the harassment charges made in the document continue unabated until such time as the community is informed of the outcome of said investigation.  I also point out that my request for Mr Folayan to step down has absolutely no bearing on the other individuals implicated in this – since my request is based on a very specific aspect that related to actions of Mr Folayan as exposed by the document, that I do not have any evidence were supported or endorsed by the other implicated parties.  There is no evidence in the documents provided to implicate either the CFO, The Vice Chair (Mr Ek-Nakhal) or the CFO (Mr Deesse) in such NDA violations.

Therefore, let the investigations continue into what were the substantive aspects of the allegations made, and let the governance committee do its work – but my call for Mr Folayan to resign based on NDA violations and precedent related to such remains and I will continue to call for equality under the rules and equal application of said rules irrespective of position or standing.

Andrew

From: Badru Ntege [mailto:badru.ntege at nftconsult.com]
Sent: 17 March 2018 03:20
To: Andrew Alston <Andrew.Alston at liquidtelecom.com<mailto:Andrew.Alston at liquidtelecom.com>>
Cc: Sunday Folayan <sfolayan at gmail.com<mailto:sfolayan at gmail.com>>; General Discussions of AFRINIC <community-discuss at afrinic.net<mailto:community-discuss at afrinic.net>>; members-discuss at afrinic.net<mailto:members-discuss at afrinic.net>
Subject: Re: [Community-Discuss] Allegation of Harassment

Community

It’s nice that our colleague Andrew finally saw the light but I think my decision to release factual information that was being hidden by him and our fallen chair was an attempt to stop the rot which has finally claimed the author at the time.

A’luta continua as the song goes.  We the community made some mistakes in choices to the board. The organization has been hurt but it will heal.

Now I hope the board also handles the member of staff who has disgraced our female employee and continues to mistreat our staff.

Let’s never forget that AFRINIC was created out of the will of the community for the community as much as bylaws leave community as bystanders while members vote.

Ultimately the will of the community is the life of Afrinic.

Right now the community is silent but hurting and we need the board to show swift leadership.

I’m glad that chair finally made the decision that should have been made earlier.

There’s still work to do let’s please dispense of these issues before the upcoming AGMM

Regards.

Sent from my iPhone

On 16 Mar 2018, at 19:04, Andrew Alston <Andrew.Alston at liquidtelecom.com<mailto:Andrew.Alston at liquidtelecom.com>> wrote:
Dear Former Chair,

I am saddened by what I read here, and actually more than a little disturbed.

Firstly – let me state categorically that I agree with waiting for the investigation to conclude on the harassment allegations, and you and I find alignment on that issue.  However, there is another issue where we strongly diverge, and despite the conversations we have had on the matter in the last few days – the details of which will remain private – you have chosen to ignore what has been stated so clearly.

I draw attention to this part of your email:
I do acknowledge  that I shared a chat (with the best intentions) which should have been treated with more caution, no matter how good the intention was.

Sunday – What you did was a blatant violation of the NDA agreement you signed as a board member – and yes I realize fully that you can argue what was shared in the document that was attached to the allegation was a chat between you and two other people and did not stem directly out of a board meeting.  However, you were involved in a discussion around AfriNIC business that clearly and without equivocation related to your work as chair and related to information gained and dealt with in your position as a board member.  You then chose to share that information with a third party.

In 2014 – the former board passed the following resolution:

Resolution 201411.211: The Board RESOLVED ; Information discussed within the Board should not be disclosed to third parties without Board approval. Violation may lead to expulsion from the Board as provided by the Bylaws. However, information disclosed by the Board to third parties not under NDA to the Board is no longer confidential and is deemed to be in the public domain.

Please note – that does not say formal board meeting – it says within the board – and considering the information under discussion in what was shared – it is without dispute that that was board sensitive privileged information and that discussion can be very much considered information discussed within the board – even if it is a subset of the board.

A few months after this resolution was passed – two members of the board, Mr Badru Ntege and Mr Paulos Nyirende chose to violate the NDA – and then chose to do the honourable thing and resign over the breach of NDA rather than face disciplinary action.  I am shocked considering your role in in the authorship of that resolution and your full awareness of the subsequent happenings that lead to two members of the board resigning – that you now hold yourself to a different standard.

I strongly believe that you have done a very good job as chair – and I wish on everything that is in me that I did not have to find myself writing this email – but the reality is – rules have to be consistent – the application of rules has to be consistent – what applies to one must apply to all – anything else makes all rules meaningless – and what you are doing now I find to the height of hypocrisy and far beneath the man I know you to be.

Please – do what is right – and I strongly believe you know what that is.

Andrew

From: Sunday Folayan [mailto:sfolayan at gmail.com]
Sent: 16 March 2018 17:38
To: General Discussions of AFRINIC <community-discuss at afrinic.net<mailto:community-discuss at afrinic.net>>; members-discuss at afrinic.net<mailto:members-discuss at afrinic.net>
Subject: [Community-Discuss] Allegation of Harassment

Dear members and the Community,

Over the last few days, some allegations have been made that are serious
and by very nature threaten to further divide this community and
represent a threat to the AfriNIC organization.

I believe the unity of the community is as important as the sanctity of
the Board, and it is my responsibility to ensure none is compromised
further.

While I categorically deny any claims of any harassment levied at me,
and believe these allegations are entirely spurious, I do acknowledge
that I shared a chat (with the best intentions) which should have been
treated with more caution, no matter how good the intention was.

It is my responsibility to step down as Chair, pending the conclusion of
the investigations on the harassment claims.

May I most respectfully request that we await the independent
investigation that the Board has initiated, and be patient, so that the
community can come out of this strongest. I remain committed as a member
of the community.

I have prior to now, communicated my decision to my colleagues on the Board.

I look forward to being allowed to defend myself, and justice being
served for all, on the matter.

With Kind Regards ....

Sunday Folayan.

_______________________________________________
Community-Discuss mailing list
Community-Discuss at afrinic.net<mailto:Community-Discuss at afrinic.net>
https://lists.afrinic.net/mailman/listinfo/community-discuss
_______________________________________________
Community-Discuss mailing list
Community-Discuss at afrinic.net<mailto:Community-Discuss at afrinic.net>
https://lists.afrinic.net/mailman/listinfo/community-discuss
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://lists.afrinic.net/pipermail/community-discuss/attachments/20180317/f82a9a05/attachment-0001.html>