[rpd] Board Composition

[Dawda Jatta]

I totally agree with Andrew's view.
On the other hand, Owen too has a valid point. Currently there might not be
conflict of interest when it comes to the point Owen raised but might
surface in the future. But I think the reason why the seat is called
"independent" is to give opportunity to capable people who could not make
it because of demographic restriction. I think putting restriction would
defeat its purpose. Since power belongs to the community, let the community
decides who to elect.
On May 3, 2016 6:59 PM, "Dorothy K. Gordon" <
director-general at aiti-kace.com.gh> wrote:

> Really! I think Owen's points are all valid and we need to make sure we
> amend the rules to prevent this issue coming up again.  Perhaps a united
> AfriNic would be better served if companies avoided placing us in this type
> of situation.
>
> best
>
> Dorothy K. Gordon
> Director-General
> Ghana-India Kofi Annan Centre of Excellence in ICT
> Mobile: 233 265005712
> Direct Line: 233 302 683579
> Website: www.aiti-kace.com.gh
> Encrypt Everything - https://gpgtools.org https://silentcircle.com
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Andrew Alston" <Andrew.Alston at liquidtelecom.com>
> To: "Owen DeLong" <owen at delong.com>, "rpd" <rpd at afrinic.net>
> Sent: Tuesday, 3 May, 2016 4:34:44 PM GMT +00:00 Casablanca / Monrovia
> Subject: Re: [rpd] Board Composition
>
> Owen,
>
> Allow me to take a slightly different view on this, and allow me to look
> at your own country and its democratic system for guidance.
>
> Let us for a moment stop, and consider that Donald trump is quite likely
> to be the GOP nominee, and, he might even win the election.  This is
> despite everything he has said and everything that he has done.  Now, many
> would consider this bad for the USA, bad for immigrants, bad for
> reputation, bad for many many reasons.  But, here is the thing, if he gets
> elected, it is because the people across the states, be they conservative
> or democrat, caucasian or hispanic, rural or urban, together voted and the
> tally would have been counted. This is irrespective of who is a minority,
> who is a majority, or any other factor.  It is pure overall majority vote.
>
> Now, let us look at at AfriNIC when we look at our board and those that
> sit on it.  Each board member is elected by the community, as a whole, and
> the votes are tallied and those that the majority feel should have their
> seats, take up their seats and do their best to serve the organisation.
> Board members at that point do not represent  region, they do not represent
> their employers, they have fiduciary duties that are aligned only to the
> good of AfriNIC as an organisation.  I really honestly feel that if people
> want another candidate, let their voices be heard at the ballot and let
> them vote.  If the majority votes in a particular way however, there is no
> way that anyone who did NOT partake in the vote can cry about it, and those
> who DID vote need to accept the majority vote.
>
> When we start introducing demographics and language and discussions like
> these, we are not actually working in the interests of a united AfriNIC,
> instead we are diving it by highlighting our differences rather than our
> common cause.  Just as in the states, part of the pledge of allegiance says
> “One Nation, Under God, Indivisible, with Liberty and Freedom for All”,
> perhaps it is time we as a community took a similar approach, "one
> continent, under one board, elected by all".
>
> Unless of course you advocate for a contested convention where the
> majority vote means little?
>
> Andrew
>
>
>
>
> On 03/05/2016, 6:36 PM, "Owen DeLong" <owen at delong.com> wrote:
>
> >It has come to my attention that Mike Silber is running for the
> independent seat that is opening on the AfriNIC board in the next election.
> >
> >While I consider Mike to be an excellent candidate and believe he would
> be a true asset to the AfriNIC board, I have a concern that I must express.
> This concern has nothing to do with Mike himself, but rather is a concern
> about organizational structure.
> >
> >There are only 8 elected members of the AfriNIC board. If Mike Silber is
> elected, then 25% of the elected board seats would be held by employees of
> Liquid Telecom. Personally, I do not feel that the board can properly
> represent the diversity of the AfriNIC community if we allow multiple board
> seats to be held by representatives from the same organization. While I do
> not believe that Liquid has any sort of goal of organizational capture or
> any nefarious intent whatsoever, the reality is that if this is allowed,
> then it does create the possibility for some other organization to achieve
> a form of organizational capture.
> >
> >The board has tremendous authority and responsibility within the AfriNIC
> organization. As such, I think it is important to consider these generic
> structural issues seriously, no matter how much we may like and admire the
> candidates in question.
> >
> >Again, this is not personal. If it were, I’d be endorsing Mike rather
> than calling his candidacy into question. However, from a structural
> perspective, I think it is important that the community at least consider
> the issue.
> >
> >Owen
> >
> >
> >_______________________________________________
> >RPD mailing list
> >RPD at afrinic.net
> >https://lists.afrinic.net/mailman/listinfo/rpd
> _______________________________________________
> RPD mailing list
> RPD at afrinic.net
> https://lists.afrinic.net/mailman/listinfo/rpd
>
> _______________________________________________
> RPD mailing list
> RPD at afrinic.net
> https://lists.afrinic.net/mailman/listinfo/rpd
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://lists.afrinic.net/pipermail/rpd/attachments/20160503/192c3fd8/attachment.html>