[Community-Discuss] Don't sell your Vote!

[Owen DeLong]

> The election of Board members, or any elections, is a constitutional right and supposed to be a democratic process, unintimidated, and uninfluenced by anything, not to mention any illegal activities such as malicious offers of money.

This is true… It should not be obstructed by the board making arbitrary decisions about the number of seats that stand for election.
It should not be obstructed by the board and nominating committee conspiring to prevent legitimate candidates from reaching the ballot.
It should not be obstructed by the nominating committee placing only one candidate before the body for a given office when there is no way available for the body to express a desire not to put that candidate in office.

An election is supposed to be about choosing. When the board and the nominating committee act in bad faith to prevent the orderly conduct of choosing of board members in the above manner, action must be taken to hold the board to account and to insist that corrective actions be taken.

> But, someone and his agents have been:

> - bullying, manipulating, intimidating, and spreading false news about the future of AfriNIC.
Oh really? Wh would that be and why do you not name this offensive person?
Do you have any evidence of these acts to present or are you attempting to bully, manipulate, or intimidate the electorate with false news and false rumors?

> - contacting resource holders with offers of money, $5000-$7000-1000$, and promising other future investments, in return, you must provide the right to access your AfriNIC portal and cast the vote.
Again, do you have any evidence to present to support these allegations? It is difficult to give much credence to an accuser who offers neither the name of the accused, nor any facts or evidence to support the allegations.

>  - give them authority to file litigations against AfriNIC, In my view, on this point, is to abuse the judicial system and defame the organization.

How can one entity give another authority to file litigations unless the entity in question is a lawyer retained by the first entity? You are making little or no sense here.
 
> Paying anyone to buy his right to vote is squandering and abuse of the legal democratic practice of the constitution, have we asked ourselves the real motive behind this and the bigger outcome on the whole region?

While I am unaware of any efforts to purchase votes, I would point out that there is nothing in the organizations constitution regarding such possibilities other than the specific provisions that allow for proxies. There is nothing in the bylaws (constitution) which prohibits the purchase of proxies. IMHO, such an act would certainly be immoral, unethical, and corrupt, but in terms of the “legal democratic practice of the constitution”, I suggest that you read same prior to making such claims.
 
> This dissipation is egregious and includible, that such entities have a good cause. In fact, it demonstrates audacious practice.

Try as I might, I am unable to parse the above gibberish into any logical meaning.

>  Their proposition of money=right-to-vote is an insult to us as members, to our pride as Africans, to our integrity as operators, it is only those without any sense of belonging who will accept a bunch of dollars for their rights.

If this is true, then there are two possibilities expressed by you here:

	1.	You think that the majority of your fellow Africans cannot be trusted and have no sense of belonging.
	2.	This email should be utterly unnecessary and serves no purpose as nobody is likely to be swayed in such a manner.

So which is it? Are you writing an unnecessary rant to hear yourself bloviate or are you so insulting the integrity of your fellow Africans?

> (Rain beats the leopard's skin but it does not wash out the spots)
> 
> Yes, bribery and malicious offers made a few stands against AfriNIC as the legitimate RIR for the region, making them believe that they can actually sell their IPV4 to corporates outside the region at a CERTAIN AMOUNT as disclosed by the Mastermind Himself,
Again, I ask who is this individual you has sold AFRINIC addresses outside of the region? Perhaps you are referring to Elad Cohen, as he is the only individual I can think of who fits such a description.

> Another way of systematically abusing the system was by sponsoring members to attend the Annual Members General Meeting & voice the bosses’ message so that negative impressions can be built against AfriNIC and discredit it, its management, and its reputation.

I wasn’t aware that Mr. Cohen had a sponsorship program or a message. Please do elaborate on this and present any evidence you have to support such a claim.

> (Sticks in a bundle are unbreakable!)
> 
> If we believe in our sovereignty in Africa, our region, we should stand against such malpractices, and insidious attacks, and ignore such voices as we cannot call the forest that shelters us a jungle.

Indeed, I fully support a call to action to right the various wrongs that have been done in the AFRINIC electoral processes. Let us all make it clear to the board that their malfeasance will no longer be tolerated. Let us demand free and fair elections among all qualified candidates.  Let us insist that all board seats that are empty be chosen by the electorate and not appointed by the board or a conspiracy between the board and the nominating committee. Let us bring to light all of the misdeeds of this board and the staff. Let us solve all of these problems and build a stronger, cleaner AFRINIC for the good of all Africans. One built on the rule of law and without the corruption. One which does not attempt to make up the rules as we go along without regard to what is written.
 
> I call on all of us for ratiocination in the quagmire we have, which is at its apotheosis.

I confess I had to look up ratiocination, but I agree it is the right word. Let us please apply some deep thinking and resolve the quagmire that is the current board.
 
> VOTE FOR AFRINIC SOVRIENTY, VOTE AFRICA, and DON’T SELL YOUR VOTE.

Well, you are close, but not quite… Vote African sovereignty. Vote Africa. Do not make or pretend that AFRINIC is the sovereign. The community and the membership must be the sovereigns over AFRINIC and its board, not the other way around. They are there to serve the community according to the rules and procedures defined by the community and not to make arbitrary and capricious rulings of their own.

Owen

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