{UAH} OUR LEADERS THEN and NOW ~ Ugandans At Heart (UAH)

Edriss,
I have just seen your email below where you attached my letter of resignation from the Election Commission (EC). The circumstances that the EC faced in 2011 are similar to today...except that some players have switched sides!
1. in 2011, Mr Wilson and Mr Senoga put pressure on the EC to suspend the parts of the new constitution that they did not like. As a result of their constant interference, I decided to resign from the EC.
3. In 2011, Mr. Gaburungyi was one of the very vocal people that came out against my resignation. One of his arguments was that reasonable people could disagree on the need to uphold the constitution as written! He also did not like the fact that I went public with my resignation!
4. In 2011, Dr Muniini was in support of upholding the constitution as written and opposed the Board's decision to suspend some provisions of the new constitution!
thanks

From: Edriss Kironde <edriss.kironde@gmail.com>
To: brian.kwesiga@yahoo.com
Sent: Sunday, August 11, 2013 2:15 AM
Subject: UNAALIST Public Appeal to the UNAA Electoral Commission & UNAA BOT

(01) We may or may not agree that the UNAA EC issued confusing dates

(02) The UNAAEC changed dates immediately and many were caught unaware

(03) It is not a requirement that to be a UNAA member one needs an email - it is a must have on UNAA.org

(04) After the sudden change of dates, I posted a single line asking whether the THE UNAAEC will be more motivated by the" gotcha" stance or voter empathy

(05) UNAA constitution also puts a date when financials must be out
(06) The UNAA Constitution also prohibits discriminating people for belonging to political parties
(07) In Denver a the EC was requested to extend the registration deadline as money was needed and to encourage more people to register to vote.

This is also in the UNAA Constitution

9.9: ARBITRATIoN: Any electoral complaint that is not resolved by the

Electoral Commission shall be referred to UNAA Board of Trustees for arbitration
and resolution within four (4) weeks or before the elections, whichever comes first
There were Complaints of glitches on www,unaa.org prior to the new deadline as quite some got challenged to register online so as to beat the deadline

I want to leave you two letters for your perusal

Letter Number 1
On Jul 21, 2011, at 22:28, WILTEC10@aol.com wrote:

I happen to agree. This is a very valid point. I have already taken it up with the EC. Unfortunately, the UNAA Board has to tread very lightly when it comes to EC matters.

I will pass this message along and impress upon the EC that it is a serious problem.

Moses

In a message dated 7/21/2011 6:42:59 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time, kirondeannette@yahoo.com writes:

In addition to these questions, i want to add a concern regarding the vote registration deadline; The imposed fee message was relayed a couple of weeks ago to UNAA members and just yesterday, yet another message was released that the voter registration is closing Aug 4th.
My concern is that voters probably haven't had enough time to come up with the now $270 exclusive of this fee and then have been slammed with a deadline that is 2 weeks away!!
Secondly, because this message wasn't communicated earlier on this year, it creates an unfair atmosphere to would be voters who are and have been UNAA members. They feel denied of their right to vote. i do understand that the master voters register must be compiled however, can we at least extend this another 1-2 weeks just so the message sinks in?
Mr President announced yesterday on Radiouugandausa that he has taken over the registration process until candidates provide volunteers to do this exercise. My question is, isn't it a little too late for this? Also, while we may provide the necessary manpower(never mind diverting resources!!), my guess is that they will still be using the same "company" that has been manning registration. At this point in time, the "other candidates" have had all this time to access this information while the rest of us have had to shoot blanks!!!
While i appreciate president Wilson's effort to make this a fair and transparent exercise, it came a little too late; however, i will work with him and the commission to adhere to the process.
My plea is for all sides, the voters, members and EC to compromise on this issue. UNAA members have a right to VOTE as stipulated in the constitution. One of the many qualities of good leadership is being a good listener. And that's why i am running for office.

Angela Ssemukutu
"..The mind is like a parachute.

Letter Number 2
Subject: RESIGNATION FROM UNAA ELECTION COMMISSION

I have decided to resign from the Election Commission (EC) for three reasons:
1. I do not agree with the decision of some members of the Board who believe that the Board has power to disregard the new constitution's definition of an eligible voter.
2. I do not agree with the decision of some members of the Board who believe that the Election Commission should not be independent of the Board.
3. I fear that if the Board forces the EC to ignore the constitution, the EC might be sued by a disgruntled candidate or voter and UNAA may not pay EC legal fees.

NEW CONSTITUTION
a- At the convention last year, it was announced that the new constitution was now the law
b- In January of 2011, the UNAA President sent out a letter saying that "henceforth", the new constitution was the law
c- A week ago, the Chair of the Constitutional Review Commission (CRC) told the Board and the EC that the new constitution is effective.

A few weeks ago, the EC decided to reminded voters that according to the new constitution, eligible voters are those that meet residency requirements, have paid membership fees, present in Denver and are in good standing. A resolution to that effect was unanimously passed.
A member of the Board did not agree with the EC's decision and told the EC (via several emails) that voter eligibility is the prerogative of the Board. He also said that the EC should operate under the old constitution. He sent us an email saying that voter eligibility would be based on the old constitution but also include the new restrictions on residency and a requirement for paying membership fees!

I did not agree with the Board member's view and told him that if the new constitution was effective, we had to work under the new one. But if he preferred the old, then we should work within the old alone. I also tried to remind him that voter eligibility is not granted by the Board but by the constitution-the Board is only responsible for setting the membership fee. I added even in the old constitution, voter eligibility was a matter determined by the constitution not by the Board. My efforts were fruitless and he eventually instructed me to stop discussing the matter.
In meeting with the chair of the CRC, the Board and the EC, the CRC chair informed us that new constitution became effective in Sept 2010 and reiterated that the old was no longer effective. The UNAA President responded , among other things, that the new constitution's voter requirements could not work this year. I kept asking what was difficult about them but he did not answer. Instead, he directed us to combine both the old and new constitutions (on voter eligibility) without citing any constitutional authority to do so. My view is that the Board cannot amend the constitution unilaterally.
To be clear, the issue is that, in my view, the new constitution does NOT require eligible members to pay for the convention/the cruise/dinner etc in order to vote. In my view, it should be easy for the Board to provide the EC with a list of eligible voters that have paid the membership fee and have them vote in a room away from other activities that a voter may not have paid for.
Worse, without adequate EC voter education, it is possible that the elections may attract less than 200 voters.

EC INDEPENDENCE
Some members of the Bard have insisted that the EC cannot work independently of the Board. I do not agree with this position because I feel that since we (EC) did not know who might stand for elections, we should consider all UNAA members as potential candidates. To conduct free, fair and clean elections, the EC should conduct its work free of the Board's control (as long as the EC works within the constitutional constraints). Again, some members of the Board reject this view.
note: two weeks ago, a fellow EC member from northern CA resigned from the EC because the Board was interfering with the EC's work.

POSSIBLE SUIT
The last EC was threatened with a suit by disgruntled candidates/voters. In my view, it is possible that if the Board forces the current EC to ignore the new constitution, a disgruntled candidate can sue the EC. But the President told us that UNAA took care of the suit in 2009 and tried to assured us (the current EC) that UNAA would defend the EC in case of a similar suit. But I am not assured by this since it is possible that a new Board could come to a different conclusion and refuse or delay to defend the EC. I also do not know if UNAA will have money after the convention.

For the above three reasons, I have decided to resign.
thanks

Joseph Musoke
Secretary, UNAAEC 2011.

On Sat, Aug 10, 2013 at 6:25 PM, Brian Kwesiga <brian.kwesiga@yahoo.com> wrote:

Members,

Last night, the UNAA BOT summoned and recommended to the UNAA Electoral Commission very disturbing proposals in violation of articles 9.2 and 9.6 of the UNAA Constitution.

My very public appeal to the UNAA BOT and UNAA EC is, lets just uphold the UNAA Constitution.

A violation of the constitution will cause a schism in this organization like nothing we've ever seen. I mean this.

I trust that the good lord will offer you all the much needed wisdom.

9.2: Independence of the Electoral Commission: Once the members of the Electoral Commission have been appointed by the UNAA Board of Trustees and confirmed by the UNAA Council, they shall operate independently of all UNAA organs.

Article 9.6 Functions & Powers of the Electoral Commission
Set the deadline for registration for voting, which shall be no later than thirty (30) days prior to the election;

--
Brian M. Kwesiga
(972) 415-6372

Candidate for UNAA President, 2013-2015
www.unaa2013.org

"Good Judgement for Change"

Ugandan North America Association . 1337 Massachusetts Avenue . Suite 153 . Arlington. MA . 02476

Email: info@unaa.org

Ugandan North America Association . 1337 Massachusetts Avenue . Suite 153 . Arlington. MA . 02476

Email: info@unaa.org

Ugandan North America Association . 1337 Massachusetts Avenue . Suite 153 . Arlington. MA . 02476

Email: info@unaa.org