[Community-Discuss] Gratitude

[Adewole Ajao]

My worry in all of this is that these board meeting minutes imply that an
AFRINIC director (or directors) attempted to remove another director
because he "violated the NDA" by sharing a public document with the
community.

I rush to conclude that it was an attempt to remove a director from the
board because we have removed directors from the board in recent years
solely on the grounds of NDA violation. With the board NDA still in place,
chances of getting the full story from any of the parties involved are slim
to none. I'm not sure that this community (and company) can ever get to a
point of proper accountability/responsibility if so much is hidden under
the cover of confidentiality.

Is there a globally acceptable standard of board confidentiality for
community-driven organizations that are responsible for managing public
resources? Can we look at improving the confidentiality agreement that is
used by the AFRINIC board? Although as per section 3.2.2 of its terms of
reference at https://www.afrinic.net/govcom#tor the Governance Committee
may not provide advice on specific internal proceedings of the board,
section 3.1.4 puts the issue of NDA within scope as it can be argued that
the NDA signing is part of the appointment process since it is the first
thing a member does on appointment to the board. Failing that, perhaps the
CEO can refer it under the provisions of section 3.1.7 so that a body
outside the board can tackle the issue?

In any case, it is best we look for a good way to get rid of this
us-versus-them that seems to keep recurring between the AFRINIC board and
the AFRINIC community on whose behalf it is elected to act. Getting rid of
unnecessary secrecy may be a good way to start.

Regards,
Dewole.

On Mon, May 27, 2019 at 1:51 PM Sander Steffann <sander at steffann.nl> wrote:

> Hello,
>
> I was just reading the board minutes at
> https://www.afrinic.net/ast/pdf/2019-minutes/20190305-minutes.pdf and I
> am surprised at the level of micro-management that CEO Alan Barrett has to
> deal with. In those minutes both Alan and Seun Ojedeji seem to be
> reprimanded for being open and transparent to this community. The summary
> of those minutes show how the board has made it explicitly clear that the
> CEO is to have no responsibility anymore towards this community.
>
> Therefore I would like to explicitly and publicly express my gratitude to
> both Alan and Seun for their efforts to keep this community involved in
> Afrinic matters in an open and transparent way. I feel this is a strong
> requirement for keeping Afrinic respected and supported by both its members
> and its community.
>
> Sincerely,
> Sander
>
> _______________________________________________
> Community-Discuss mailing list
> Community-Discuss at afrinic.net
> https://lists.afrinic.net/mailman/listinfo/community-discuss


On Mon, May 27, 2019 at 1:51 PM Sander Steffann <sander at steffann.nl> wrote:

> Hello,
>
> I was just reading the board minutes at
> https://www.afrinic.net/ast/pdf/2019-minutes/20190305-minutes.pdf and I
> am surprised at the level of micro-management that CEO Alan Barrett has to
> deal with. In those minutes both Alan and Seun Ojedeji seem to be
> reprimanded for being open and transparent to this community. The summary
> of those minutes show how the board has made it explicitly clear that the
> CEO is to have no responsibility anymore towards this community.
>
> Therefore I would like to explicitly and publicly express my gratitude to
> both Alan and Seun for their efforts to keep this community involved in
> Afrinic matters in an open and transparent way. I feel this is a strong
> requirement for keeping Afrinic respected and supported by both its members
> and its community.
>
> Sincerely,
> Sander
>
> _______________________________________________
> Community-Discuss mailing list
> Community-Discuss at afrinic.net
> https://lists.afrinic.net/mailman/listinfo/community-discuss
>
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