[Community-Discuss] Objection to the notice of AFRINIC AGMM 2022

[Rashida Umar]

Good day AFRINIC Board and Legal Adviser to the Board, 

We are in receipt of an Annual General Members' Meeting (AGMM) invitation. While the invitation is non-compliant with well-established requirements in several respects, we would like to point the following out to you and to the membership. 

1. Resource members pointed out the flaw in the election process as published but the Board in what seems to be a pattern of disdain for the membership, chose not to address the issue. The nominations committee whose lack of neutrality is now very clear, also passed the buck back to you the Board for being a part of the committee and for approving the proposed process. 

2. Resource members have also pointed out the extension of director tenures contrary to the mandates that had been given. They have also pointed out a deliberate failure to respect the law that casual vacancies are supposed to be filled until the next AGMM. Members have also pointed out that a vacant seat that should have been put up for election has been deliberately left out to give room for another casual filling of vacancy of a longer term. Reasons for these are of course best known to the board of directors and legal adviser. 

3. After the release of a candidate slate as output of a process that we are now aware was used to eliminate certain individuals, resource members have requested to have more details of the process by which the candidates for election were selected. The Board and the Nominations Committee in a show of power abuse has again refused to address this either on the mailing lists or in the "report" attached to the defective meeting notices. 

4. If the issues with the current nomination process and the seats up for election are not addressed, it should be noted that by the date of the next valid AGMM (whenever that may be), going by electoral mandate, AFRINIC will have only 2 directors that were placed on the board by mandate of the membership - Subramanian Moonesamy (Seat 3) and Benjamin Eshun (Seat 8). Every other person on the board (with the exception of the board-appointed CEO) would have been selected directly by casual vacancy, self-extension of director term, or by the nominations committee deliberately limiting the choices available to members. This will raise very serious ethical and criminal questions about the Board and the legal team that has allowed or endorsed all of this. 

While there are several issues that need to be addressed, we believe that by quickly addressing the fundamental issues of lawfulness, the election process and mandates of the members, the course can still be corrected. 

We hereby state categorically that we object to the AGMM proceeding under the current circumstances. A manipulated election process should not be allowed to stand and the bylaws should also be complied with in the conduct of an AGMM. 

Signed, 
Rashida 
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