[rpd] Re: Afrinic Accountability (was Re: Legal Notice from Board Member)

Tue Aug 4 07:43:46 UTC 2015

Colleagues,

I see that my original attempt to include the RPD list was wrongly
addressed.  This might be a matter for members but the issues raised may
have impact on policies.

It would be great to hear from those who have experience or suggestions
to share and to see some leadership from both board and community.

Best wishes
Omo

On 01/08/2015 00:14, Omo Oaiya wrote:
> Dear Members
> 
> I am well aware of the “truce" between board and community and the need
> for cooperation but the subject of Afrinic accountability has to be
> openly discussed, at least in the context of preparations towards IANA
> transition if not in the broader sense suggested after the Tunis
> meeting.
> 
> As others have opined, courts cannot be the approach to resolving issues
> among members in a community based organisation. It would seem
> that one can end up in court in open discussion or that we all need come
> to meetings with our lawyers. This could set a precedent that divides
> the community unnecessarily or even worse, Afrinic itself could get
> dragged into the suit.
> 
> Past discussions on accountability have not been detailed enough or from
> my observation too easily dismissed or forcefully rebutted. This has
> manifested in the dysfunction we are witnessing but when there is
> dispute, members are entitled to impartial resolution so I have a couple
> of questions:
> 
> - Why don't we have dispute resolution or arbitration options for members?
> - Can we not change the RSA to require that members exhaust all internal
> dispute resolution and arbitration means before court or for that matter
> ban court completely?
> 
> To encourage a full and open discussion on the matter of Afrinic
> accountability, I list some of the issues here again:
> 
> 1) No dispute resolution and arbitration available in Afrinic. Hence
> any disagreement among members or between member and Afrinic will end
> up in court
> 
> 2) governance committee for board and management has been proposed but
> with vague descriptions. The scope of such bodies are normally limited
> to board and executive and do not include community. It is perhaps
> desirable to collectively define the scope properly.
> 
> 3) the ability for community to have final say in recalling board
> members was raised when a member called for vote of no confidence in the
> board. I now know that there is no such mechanism in the bylaws.
> According to Mauritius company law, the members of the company are the
> board members therefore the community has no say as only board members
> can remove each other.
> 
> 4) the suggestion for separation of a members association from the
> Afrinic corporation becomes even more valid as we can then combine
> Mauritius company law and our community centric RIR practices in a more
> suitable mix
> 
> 5) bylaws review requests have been made including an attempt to use
> special resolutions to amend bylaws. The community called for a
> committee to review all proposed modifications and work to get consensus
> on draft bylaws before sending to board for their consideration and
> approval. These are community issues that should not be combined with
> the need for board governance as some have attempted to do becasue it
> can drown community interests.
> 
> 6) Service Level Commitments (SLC) had been developed by Afrinic but not
> committed to. What is in the RSA is a best effort service delivery.
> Committing to the SLC may prove to be useful community empowerment in
> post IANA transition.
> 
> 7) the community has asked for minutes of board meetings be made
> public and for the board to even consider having public meetings. This
> would certainly help build confidence in the relationship between board
> and community
> 
> These are issues that deserve to be discussed in detail, one by one,
> until closure. It would be very good for the board to contemplate this
> and work with the community.
> 
> To be honest, it is difficult to imagine how the board can be effective
> if a member and former chair are in court over matters arising from
> their roles in it.  As a result, issue #1 in the list needs urgent redress.
> 
> A very concerned member
> 
> On 30/07/2015 08:24, Boubakar Barry wrote:
>> This is in any case an unprecedented and very sad move, especially for
>> an organisation like AfriNIC that is supposed to be community-driven and
>> sort out issues based on dialogue and consensus.
>>
>> Nothing to be proud of.
>>
>> B.
>>
>>
>> On Thu, Jul 30, 2015 at 3:19 AM, Noah <noah at neo.co.tz
>> <mailto:noah at neo.co.tz>> wrote:
>>
>>
>>     On 30 Jul 2015 03:56, "Bope Domilongo Christian"
>>     <christianbope at gmail.com <mailto:christianbope at gmail.com>> wrote:
>>     >
>>     > Speaking on my own capacity and express my deepest concern to our beloved organization.
>>     >
>>     > What .!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
>>     >
>>     > This very very serious and unbelievable for the Driven Organization.
>>     >
>>     > Since I was the one who moved that resolution according to draft minutes published by Mr Badru at Tunis concerning Mr Andrew Intregrity Issue, and my mane was mentioned, I will be willing to give a testimony in court.
>>     >
>>     > 
>>
>>     After the community chanted so loud about the integrity issue...The
>>     chair (Sunday) in one of his responses had kindly [ requested the
>>     community who wanted Andrew's head so bad to give him a break
>>     considering his limitations as an individual ] and i think the
>>     community silently backed off from the issue having listened to the
>>     Chairs request so that we could move forward.
>>
>>     But it seems to me this integrity issue is not over yet!
>>
>>     Noah
>>
>>
>>     _______________________________________________
>>     members-discuss mailing list
>>     members-discuss at afrinic.net <mailto:members-discuss at afrinic.net>
>>     https://lists.afrinic.net/mailman/listinfo.cgi/members-discuss
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> -- 
>> CEO/Directeur Général, WACREN
>> P.O. Box 5353 Dakar-Fann, Senegal
>> Mob.: +221 776390393 / +233 246682059
>> Web: http://www.wacren.net
>>
>> ***Keep it simple, as simple as possible, but not simpler. (A. Einstein)***
>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> members-discuss mailing list
>> members-discuss at afrinic.net
>> https://lists.afrinic.net/mailman/listinfo.cgi/members-discuss
>>
> 

-- 
Omo Oaiya
CTO/Directeur Technique, WACREN
Mobile: +234 806 4522778, +234 708 4410514
Skype: kodion
http://www.wacren.net

-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: signature.asc
Type: application/pgp-signature
Size: 870 bytes
Desc: OpenPGP digital signature
URL: <https://lists.afrinic.net/pipermail/rpd/attachments/20150804/ffa896a5/attachment.sig>