{UAH} Fw: [UNAANET] The Challenge to the findings of the UNAA Electoral Commission [1 Attachment] ~ Ugandans At Heart (UAH)

Sent from my BlackBerry 10 smartphone.

From: Moses Nekyon

Sent: Saturday, October 5, 2013 14:59

To: Unaalist

Reply To: UNAANET@yahoogroups.com

Subject: [UNAANET] The Challenge to the findings of the UNAA Electoral Commission [1 Attachment]

[Attachment(s) from Moses Nekyon included below]

Members;

I saw the report posted by the Chairman of the EC and came away with amazement as to how decisions have been made to try and bring finality to all petitions.

It seems more errors in judgment are being used to correct past errors, in other words the illogical is being used to justify the illogical.

There are double standards at play.

Before I make my case; I want to thank the EC Chairman for providing a window for which we the members can challenge their decision. As I have explained many times in the past; all these challenges have never happened before simply because no such mechanisms existed and it beholds well for our organization.

I will not waste time discussing the cases of Council Members Ms. Haira Nalugemwa and Eng. Nicholas Wakou since clarity has been provided by EC with nothing contentious left to discuss in my opinion.

The EC rightly apologized for running a shoddy process in regards to the UNAA 2013 elections. All their mistake seem to have manifested themselves in a big way in how they handled the candidatures of two Council Members; Mr. Rahim Kabagambe and Mr. Gerald Awichu.

I would have found their mistakes forgivable if there was at least some consistency in how they (EC) conducted their investigations of the two Council Members. The threshold of proof for Council Member Rahim Kabagambe seems to be a lot higher when compared to that of Council Member Gerald Awichu.

There are double standards at play and here is why;

Mr. Rahim Kabagambe:

The EC thinks that Council Member Mr. Rahim Kabagambe was not a member in good standing because:

1. There was no proof of his payment on time, which was supposed to be postmarked by Midnight 15th of August 2013. The only notice according to the EC Chairman is that the then presidential candidate, Mr. Brian Kwesiga sent an email with an attachment of a money order bought on the 14^th of August to the EC notifying them that the payment had been sent.

2. Here is where things get illogical; if someone informs you that payment has been sent and the date it was sent, with a photo of the envelope and the Money order, logic demands one to think it must be sitting somewhere and some follow up should happen.

3. Furthermore; an address on the photo of the envelope is clearly visible for all to see where it was sent. If the person who was responsible for controlling that address is made to resign on the 16^th of August – two days after the money order was sent, as a result of derelict of duty does that perhaps explain why no one had access to the UNAA Mail Box? Which also begs the question; the instruments of the office of Treasurer were handed over to someone as designated by UNAA-BOT, it seems for one whole month those responsible made no attempt to access any mail sent to this address. This according to the UNAA BOT and EC is "the fault" of one Mr. Rahim Kabagambe??

4. When the BOT made its initial statement on Rahim Kabagambe, part of its decision was made as result of no proof that his payment was sent by Midnight of the 15th of August. Inconclusive investigations if you ask me, but fair enough reason with one huge problem; proof surfaces backing the Council Member's assertions that he had beat the deadline by a full day; post office stamp and all. See attached Exhibit 1.

5. When Rahim Kabagambe sent in his Candidate's Agreement to the EC, the document stipulated that each candidate was required to "at-least provides three endorsers." It does not state or restrict the candidate to which document he or she could only list or be endorsed on by the required three endorsers. Mr. Rahim Kabagambe, in a nutshell had the required three endorsers.

6. By having one extra endorser who never sent an email, did it give Rahim Kabagambe an extra boost over other candidates? The answer is simply no! If we agree to that the answer then it begs, what was the candidate to gain by listing Ms. Haira Nalugemwa, who is a family friend of the said candidate when he had three other people listed in electronic form (email)? Mr. Rahim Kabagambe had the required three endorsers, namely, Mr. Brian Kwesiga, Mrs. Aisha Musoke Ogwang, Ms. Yvette Kibwika. Period.

Mr. Gerald Awichu:

We now come to the case of one Gerald Awichu; if you are confused by the case of the Council Member, Mr. Rahim Kabagambe, put on your seat belts in regards to our Council Member from San Diego.

1. Separate payment for membership in UNAA begins in the lead up to the Denver elections in 2011 as a result of a new constitution. It is decided that $50 is the going rate; and thereafter $20 to renew in the following years, provided one renews each year. If one misses a year without renewing, they would need to pay the $50 again. Only about 150 members register which some assume is a result of charging an exorbitant rate. Mr. Gerald Awichu's name for some reason appears on the UNAA Members roll for 2011, despite there-being no proof of payment. How he got there is one of those yet to be resolved UNAA mysteries.

2. In 2012, as a way to fund raise for UNAA; a raffle is created where an Airline ticket, specifically from South African Airways is the main prize. On 8/18/2012 at 12:33Hrs Mr. Gerald Awichu paid $20 via PayPal to purchase a South African Airways raffle ticket. See attached Exhibit 2.

3. Sales Receipt Number 1553 showing the details of the purchase of a SAA Raffle ticket was sent to email address: aawichu@gmail.com on August 18, 2012 at 8:42pm (GMT-0400). See attached Exhibit 3.

4. It is this payment for the raffle ticket, which Gerald Awichu is now using more than a year later to say that it was payment for his membership renewal fees. So let us be clear about what he is trying to say; a raffle ticket is obtained on August 18^th, 2012, which gives him the privilege of competing to win an Airline ticket provided by South African Airways. Because he did not win in that raffle he decides now, one year later to transfer the value of that ticket $20 to pay for his renewal of membership of last year, after a petition is written challenging whether he should have been on the council to begin with.

I want somebody to try and go to his or her local liquor store and buy lottery tickets to the tune of $20 and after not winning, come back one year later, and ask the store clerk to use that spent $20 on something else. If you believe that refunds and transfers on past raffle tickets are possible, then I guess you will be that Elvis Presley and Michael Jackson are still alive.

5. Since he did not pay his membership renewal dues at the time, Mr. Gerald Awichu's name does not appear on the UNAA Members roll for 2012. Although there were no elections, membership dues were up for all members irrespective of ranking or position held.

6. In a telephone conversation with the Secretary to the Association on July 30^th 2013, while doing her due diligence, which she did with all UNAA leaders who had not paid their dues, Gerald Awichu was advised that he was not a UNAA member in good standing because he had not paid his membership renewal fees in 2012. During the same call Mr. Awichu was advised that he needed to pay the new member $50 fee since he had not paid in 2012.

7. On August 6^th 2013 a counter credit of $20 was received on the UNAA Bank Account from an unknown source and for an unspecified purpose. Keep this in mind for the simple reason that the deadline for eligibility to vote in the upcoming elections in Dallas was August 2nd 2013 and that Gerald Awichu should have not voted in the Dallas elections.

8. Only 4 days ago on October 1^st 2013 Mr. Gerald Awichu got in touch with the former UNAA Secretary and claimed responsibility for making the counter credit of $20 on UNAA's account as his membership renewal fee. Mr. Awichu advanced the documents in Exhibit 4 as proof.

Gerald Awichu's explanation is that paid he paid the $20 to renew his membership which I have shown has not been paid since 2011, so the rate that he should have been paying is $50.

9. Here is where the mystery deepens; The Chairmen of the EC and the BOT signed a document to authorize Mr. Awichu to vote in the election of September 1^st 2013. The question then begs what information were the Chairmen of the BOT and EC basing their decision on; to allow Mr. Gerald Awichu, to vote, considering that he was not even a member in 2012 and had also missed the deadline of August 2^nd by claiming two months on October 1^st 2013 that the August 6^th payment was his? More on that later!

10. If there is any humor to be found in the litany of explanations given by the EC chairman one stands out. Gerald Awichu's pays $20 when he was supposed to pay $50. He (Awichu) does not tell anyone but the EC Chairman attributes this silence was a result of the $20 being misappropriated. Considering the turnover UNAA account experiences which are in the thousands, how did the EC Chairman know which $20 had been misappropriated?

If I went to the bank and deposited $1000 and a few days later the biggest bank heist happened in America at the same branch, it will not affect the bank's obligation to me as the custodian of my $1000 as long as a receipt was issued.

11. Which brings up another question of concern; why is the EC chairman making excuses on behalf of Gerald Awichu using the fired Treasurer as an excuse while not extending the same courtesy to Rahim Kabagambe? Mr. Kabagambe's payment sat in a post office box for one whole month because the said Treasurer had been removed by the BOT which is not his (Rahim's) FAULT or RESPONSIBILITY.

12. If we interpret the UNAA Constitution, strictly as it is written, Mr. Gerald Awichu is still presently not a UNAA Member in good standing.

So what does all this mean?

We can all conclude with some authority that;

a) As a result of inability or due to being overwhelmed by the task before them the EC made errors that are yet to be explained;

b) Starting with the arbitrary movement of the registration deadline date showed lack of appreciation of the magnitude of their decision relative to the constitution;

c) Lack of consistency in regards to the ruling by EC by having different thresholds when dealing with Rahim Kabagambe relative to Gerald Awichu;

d) In relation to point c, the explanation behind the vetting process is a head scratcher to say the least, and it goes something like this; Rahim Kabagambe, WAS NOT VETTED but was CLEARED by same EC by mistake and thus should not have been a candidate.

Gerald Awichu, WAS NOT VETTED but was CLEARED by the same EC by mistake and thus should not have been a candidate.

Why then should Rahim have not been cleared but Gerald should have?

e) The first job of the EC is to vet candidates in order to judge whether they are fit for office or not. It is during the vetting process when any deficiencies are discovered. As long as no vetting took place a candidate cannot be cleared. PERIOD! That is irrespective of all positive attributes or actions that the candidate may have. In simple English, a candidate in good standing still has to be vetted to qualify for national office.

Why is vetting important if we do not intend to use is it as an instrument for looking for good leaders for our organization?

f) So what is so special about Gerald Awichu when compared to others that he does not need to pay membership fees, is cleared to vote with no proof shown and is cleared to run for national office with no vetting process?

As long as the EC has admitted to it's shortcomings as manifested in not only the run up to the election but also it's aftermath it has lost the moral authority to judge what is wrong or right at least for this election cycle.

Learn from these mistakes by living by them and preparing for the next elections early on.

With all these facts, one begins to understand why the UNAA Members have heeded the UNAA President's call rejecting the ruling of the UNAA BOT over a matter they had no jurisdiction over to begin with and Mr. Rahim Kabagambe remains a member of the UNAA Council.

Moses Ocen Nekyon

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Attachment(s) from Moses Nekyon

1 of 1 File(s)