{UAH} UNAA Causes Town Hall Meeting Update

Greetings UNAA Members,

We held our 3rd Town Hall meeting on March 22nd.
Attendance: 111 callers.
Total minutes logged by listeners: 6837
We would like to thank everyone who was able to attend and participate in
the Town Hall.
TOWN HALL MEETING MODERATORS.
1. Council Member Dr. Daniel Kawuma
2. Council Member Victor Lukandwa

AGENDA:
1. The state of UNAA.
2. San Diego Convention.
3. Way forward.

COUNCIL MEMBERS ON PANEL.

Mr. Awichu Akwanya, Council Member, South Pacific Region 2
Dr. Daniel Kawuma, Council Member, Mid-Atlantic Region 2
Mr. Edriss Kironde, Council member, Rocky Mountains Region
Mr. Victor Lukandwa, Council Member, Great Lakes Region
Ms. Haira Nalugemwa, Council Member, Female Youth, Canada
Mr. Andrew Ssembuusi, Council Member, Mountain Region Canada
Ms. Becky Wamala-Brown, Council Member, South Pacific Region 1


QUESTIONS FORWARDED BY MEMBERS TO THE COUNCIL.

Question1. Why are you hosting a separate event from the UNAA Convention?

We are NOT hosting a parallel convention. This will be a festival to
celebrate the first ever UNAA Causes event. The purpose of UNAA Causes is
to make sure UNAA live up to the expectations of our mission statement.
UNAA Causes offers a platform and ladder on which members can climb to
address issues that are meaningful and impact our respective communities.
The theme for this year is 'Healthcare' with emphasis on cancer. Members
are encouraged to participate through fundraising and attending events for
his noble cause to help people suffering in Uganda from cancer. For
registration and donations please go to: http://www.unaacauses.org/

Question 2. What steps have you taken as a leadership team to resolve this
crisis and have a unified convention?

As members of the Council, we have worked through channels available to us
set by the UNAA Constitution. All petitions have been forwarded to the
UNAA Board of Trustees; who are the arbiters in conflicts between the
Association's organs or among the Association's leaders and members. Some
of the filed petitions have been answered while others are still pending
before UNAABoT. The Council members have abided by all the rulings while
the UNAA Executive chose to overrule the authority of the Board of
Trustees by ignoring all the rulings. We have reached out both privately
and publicly to urge the Executive to reconsider their position
unsuccessfully.

UNAA does not have a police to enforce rulings and as a result the
organization is in the current predicament- with the Executive conducting
business without any oversight or accountability. The eight Council
members had two choices, either allow the executive to run the tables or
make a stand. We chose the latter because we truly believe that leaders
have an obligation to respect the institutions that have been passed on
to us. We cannot simply stand by and watch violations by our elected
leaders go unchecked. Our intentions are not to divide UNAA but rather
strengthen it for future generations of leaders and Ugandans as well as
protecting the resources you have all invested in this organization.

Question 3. Who is managing the finances for UNAACauses?

UNAACauses has three members from different states who are signatories to
the UNAACauses donation account. A statement will be made available to all
participants at the San Diego festival. These members are Victor
Lukandwa, Benon Mukasa and Becky Wamala.
Money collected will go towards expenses incurred during the festival and
the remaining proceeds will go to a worthy cancer awareness organization
in the US or in Uganda.
UNAACauses is not a one time initiative but rather a permanent fixture to
remind us that our goals as UNAA members extend beyond the annual
convention.

Question 4. Will there be enough events planned to keep members occupied
and entertained at the Marriott? What's the list of programs/events? What
should an attendee of UNAACauses expect in San Diego?

Since the creation of UNAACauses, the program of the event has been
growing steadily because of the huge interest it has received. UNAACauses
will therefore be building on its program beyond the gala dinner. There
will be a boat cruise, music concerts and various forms of entertainment.

Question 5. Do the UNAACauses festivities have a boat cruise?

Yes. UNAACauses is holding a festival that will include entertainment and
a boat cruise. It is not unusual to have more than one boat cruise. A
non-UNAA boat cruise was arranged last year in Dallas by the current UNAA
Vice President with no problems at all and conventions before that had
other boats.

Question 6. Has the UNAA President reached out to try and resolve the
current impasse?

The president has written a number of times on UNAA List and other forums
that his solution to the impasse is for us to find a "neutral arbiter"
outside UNAA. We have listed a number of reasons why this cannot work
including the fact that our constitution provides for the UNAABoT to be
the arbiter of disputes in our organization, third party arbitrators cost
money and UNAA is currently not in a strong financial position. The UNAA
President has also been changing goal posts whenever rulings were not in
his favor. It's not farfetched to envision a scenario in which rulings by
outside arbitration will likewise not satisfy the UNAA President.

Question 7. Is it true that council members have been blocked from
communicating with members on Unaalist?
This is correct. Not only were the 8 elected council members from about
80 percent of North America blocked from UNAAList and all other member
paid forums, their contacts and pictures were removed from the member paid
website by the Executive.

Question 8. Why are UNAA's financial contracts and director nominees being
voted/approved on unaalist?
The unaalist online votes further confirm that the position held by the
UNAA President has nothing to do with defending the Constitution. We
believe this strategy to bypass the channels of accountability was a
gimmick to confuse UNAA members that the Council wasn't willing to conduct
UNAA business. For the first time in UNAA history, financial contracts,
the year budget and directors have been confirmed without any vetting and
confirmation by the UNAA Council. The Council speaks on behalf of members
and when they are silenced, members will occasionally be used to cast
symbolic votes when a private clique is taking over UNAA.
Numerous incidents reported by the treasurer to the Council regarding
transactions and disbursements conducted on UNAA's bank account without
his approval or knowledge have also happened. We cannot tolerate such
dictatorship and incomptence at a time when UNAA is still recovering from
the former treasurer using the organization's finances to pay for personal
expenses.


Question 9. What needs to happen for the council or UNAA leadership to
function as a team?

1. The UNAA Executive needs to abide by the rulings that have been made
by the UNAABoT and Electoral Commission.
The President reaffirms his commitment to respect and uphold the UNAA
Constitution.

The President advises Mr. Rahim Kabagambe to abide by the decision of the
Electoral Commision and the UNAABOT that he was not duly elected and,
therefore, to remove himself from the UNAA Council.

The President supports the UNAA Council, a body in which he is an
ex-officio member, so that the 14 elected Council members can organize
leadership (was 15 members, but one had to resign due to unforeseen
circumstances).
The Executive resubmits director nominations to the UNAA Council for
confirmation.

2. The UNAA Executive should sit down with the UNAABoT to resolve their
disagreements. It is not the constitutional responsibility of the Council
to engage in arbitration. The current impasse in UNAA stems from a
disagreement between the Board of Trustees and the UNAA President.

Question 10. Have they resolved the issue of the former treasurer who
misused UNAA funds?

The investigation is still pending before the UNAABoT. The UNAA Executive
has also stated that the Dallas financial report depends on this
investigation.

Question 11: What is the way forward?

We would like to assure our constituents that we shall continue to listen
and respond to your needs.
We encourage you to bring your membership to San Diego where once the
issue of imposed directors, some of whom provide oversight, has been
resolved, you can hand it to the treasurer to get member benefits.

Reach out to your friends, colleagues and members of the community to
engage and participate in local and national UNAA and UNAACauses events.

Take advantage of the Town Hall meetings, advise us, give us ideas,
suggestions and hold us accountable.

We are willing to sit down with the UNAA Executive to forge a way forward
including approving the Constitution Review Committee if they are willing
to abide by the UNAABoT and Electoral Commission rulings.
We have answered the pocket book issues of UNAA members by providing a
more affordable hotel , offering a platform for members to speak freely
withouth being pulled off UNAA communication and to put members resources
to good use by supporting causes in their communities. For Hotel
reservations please use the following link:
http://cwp.marriott.com/sanlj/revivalpowerconference/

The date and time for the 4th UNAA Town Hall meeting will be made
available in the near future, soon.

During the almost 3 hour town hall conference call, we had a number of
contributions from a number of members. Members had questions asking the
council members to clarify on issues from what causedd the impasse in UNAA
to requesting for details on the Festival and the hotel where it is being
held.

One member pledged himself to talk to the UNAA presidentt and Moses Wilson
to ask them to reconsider their position and come to the table with the
council members that are opposed to their contribution to the impasse.

Members in general showed a passion for the organization and expressed a
genuine desire to see these issues resolved and urged the Council 8 not to
give up but to keep trying to resolve the issues that are impeding
progress in UNAA.

A member expressed his appreciation for the fact that UNAA Causes was
created. He said that it is good that we plan to continue with efforts to
highlight causes that will enable members to give back to their
communities. We on the Council emphasised that the idea of UNAA Causes is
not a new one. It is a part of the mission of why UNAA was created and
this is only a way to formalize and highlight the causes in particular so
they are not drowned out by UNAA's other priorities. It is a way to
answer the question "What does UNAA do?".

Thanks again for attending the 3rd Town Hall meeting (over 111 of you) and
sharing your thoughtful questions and ideas during the call. Please keep
them coming at: unaa-town-hall-meeting@googlegroups.com. We look forward
to your participation at the next town hall meeting.

Your UNAA Council Members.

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The San Diego 2014 Uganda Festival
On Labor Day Weekend
August 28th - September 1st, 2014
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