UPBACDA GENERAL ASSEMBLY MEETING

 

The meeting started at about 10:15 pm, some 1hr. 15 minutes behind schedule.

In the absence of the secretaries, the President read the proposed agenda. It was adopted without any alterations.

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Opening Prayers:  was led by Mrs. Emelia Tabe. who called on God almighty to take total control of the meeting.

 

The President thanked the host group especially the Eyong family, and more especially Mrs. Ngozi Eyong for opening their doors to the meeting He encouraged members to join in the discussions, since decisions that would be made are going to be binding on everyone.

Minutes of the previous meeting were read and adopted by Dr. Solomon Agbor and Mrs. Elizabeth Enoh=Ebika

 

Matters Arising:

 

Under matters arising from those minutes, Mr. Samuel Orock said he was opposed to the decision to merge members’ project dues with their annual dues He said it wasn’t fair to members who were less well off, and that the decision was not voted upon. Ms. Martha Akombi also supported the idea for the same reasons. Chief Mondi held the same thought, suggesting that two separate accounts: annual dues and project accounts be created and members should be encouraged to contribute into both concurrently. But since none of these suggestion solved the problem of some members choosing to not pay at all, the President made the argument that combining project and annual dues and spreading it thinly throughout next year had the dual advantage of making it less burdensome on members while at the same time compelling every member to pay.

 

Dr. Solomon Agbor said once the meeting had decided and voted on both the project and the amount to be contributed, the decision had become binding on everyone, even those who were against it. Ma Mariana Tabe and Mrs. Elizabeth Enoh=Ebika echoed the same thoughts. Mrs. Belta Mondi thought that the cut off time for members to complete their prject dues be brought forward to March 2017. She argued that 1 full year was too much.

 

The President and Dr. Solomon Agbor pleaded that since the project would not kick off right away because of the on-going political unrests in Cameroon, members should be allowed to take advantage of the situation and pay more conveniently. Mr. Samuel Orock concluded that having been finally clarified on the wisdom of merging both 2018 annual dues and project dues, he is going to bring out the list of members who are still owing project dues, then see how much quarterly payments for those members would be. He however raised the question or members who will join the meeting next year, or those who joined the meeting after the project had been voted on. It was agreed that those members should not be subjected to the payment of those dues, but should be pleaded with to support the cause in any way shape or form

 

Other matters:

December meeting.

The next issue that arose was about December. Traditionally, December has always been set aside for our end of year party. But because members are already expected to contribute to the

project, asking them to make additional sacrifices to have an end of year might be a little too much.

So it was agreed the executive should at least consider a middle way situation where members would at least have the opportunity to spend the end of year together.

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Long term goals. The President said aside from projects, the meeting should start thinking of some long term goals. It could be an Upper Bayang hall, or something of the sort. Mr. Andreas Tabe suggested we start thinking about promoting the learning of the Kenyang language. Dr. Solomon Agbor suggested we could create a summer camp dedicated to teaching the Kenyang language to kids. Ma Mariana said she would not subscribe to it unless it is free.

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Hosting: The President said one of the problems that that has beset his administration so far is hosting. He said hosting was a responsibility, and even a duty. So members should stop treating hosting as though it were optional. He promised to come up with a hosting list for the year 2018, and whether members are present or not, they should endeavor to leave behind their own share of entertainment.

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Constitution: The President proposed that the constitutional amendment committee be revived so as to update and make available the constitution to all members. He begged Chief Mondi to think about forming one.

 

Finances:

          The secretary provided a rundown of members’ annual contributions. He read the names and asked members to check with him if they noticed any discrepancies with their accounts. In answer to Ms. Martha Akombi’s question to know how many members are in the meeting, the secretary answered that there are 105 members, but judging from contributions, only 76 can be considered members.

 

 It was on that note that the meeting was officially closed. Entertainment followed after.

 

 

          President:                                                                                               

Prince Enoh John-Ebika Ashuagbor