The Bylaws are drafted to serve as a model for any democratically
functioning Diaspora Ethiopian movement.
For example to serve the purposes of Kinijit North America support
group substitute DED by KNA, for Kinijit
Bylaws of Diaspora Ethiopian Democracy Supporters
Preamble
Whereas
the major problems of
Whereas Ethiopians in the Diaspora proclaim to support one-person –one-vote democracy, we have seen how leadership of some organizations are based on friendship or filial kinship as the basis for retaining leadership of purported democratic groupings.
Whereas Ethiopians in the Diaspora love their Ethiopians heritage and wish to empower the people of Ethiopia attain their democratic aspirations, we have seen that the efforts are not grounded on the Ethiopian heritage of democracy in which the leaders have a term of office as practiced in the Luba System of the Boren and Bereytuma tribe of the 16th and 17th century, and a respect of the ambient supreme leader as from the time of the Aksumite Kingdom of the pre and early Christian era.
Whereas Ethiopians in the Diaspora have attempted several efforts at forming a united opposition front against the ethnic-centered tyrannical regime in Ethiopia, we have seen that 1) some of the parties who join in the united effort are ran by people who do not respect term limits as they have been leaders of parties for more than eight consecutive years, 2) the members in the united effort do not have bylaws that they had ratified and had determined to abide by.
Therefore, we consider the above problems as challenges that we have to overcome. We believe that the solution is practicing democracy that is based on Ethiopian heritage and embellished by modern values. We affirm that democracy entails respecting the dignity of man, which is better guaranteed when individuals who are members of a democratic society have ratified bylaws (set of laws) by which they intend to be governed, and determinations are made by majority votes based on one-person-one-vote principle.
We
the Diaspora supporters of Ethiopian Democracy give these bylaws to ourselves
to abide by as we implement a focused vision that is aimed at providing support
to the Ethiopian Democracy nonviolent movement in
The Secretariat of the Diaspora Ethiopian Democracy (DED) support organization shall be at __ city in the state or country of __.
This document will be in effect until a revised version, worked on by individuals and chapters, is ratified with tow-thirds of the votes of all DED members in good standing, by ___ month in the year of ____.
Section 1. Goals.
1.1. The Ethiopian Democracy support group shall be composed of individuals who uphold the values engendered in the Ethiopian Democracy Election Manifesto.
1.2. Meetings and conferences shall be held for
the purpose of providing support to Ethiopian Democracy
1.3. The Ethiopian Democracy support group meetings shall be run by implementing democratic principles enshrined in the Roberts Rule of Order.
1.4. The
executive body of Diaspora Ethiopian Democracy shall be elected by Diaspora
supporters and will be configured to interact with a body appointed by Kinijit leadership of
1.5. All executive officers of the Diaspora Ethiopian Democracy shall serve in their offices for no more than two terms, each term being two (2) years.
1.6.
The legislative body of the Diaspora Ethiopian Democracy (DED) shall be the General
Assembly or its proxy the General Council.
Individual members of DED either directly or through their proxy,
chapters of the DED that assemble to discuss issues of the DED constitute the General
Assembly. A gathering of elected members
of the DED to form a council that will examine the issues of the DED
constitutes a General Council. The legislative body of the DED is co-equal
with the Executive Committee of the DED, but shall not over rule the activities
of the Executive Committee. Disputes
between executive and legislative branches of the DED and all other disputes
within the DED shall be referred the arbitrator (the justice branch of the DED).
The executive, the legislative and the Justice branches of the
DED are coequal bodies within the DED.
** NB. In any “loyal opposition party” the general council of that party is headed by a party chairman. The chairman and the general council are engaged in issues that strengthen the party. The council chairman and the party council help the members of the party to be elected to the parliament. Once the party succeeds in being elected to lead the country, the council will be headed by the majority whip. The general assembly of the party is assembled to nominate the party leader and the potential president of the country.
The bylaws given in this instrument do not refer to the formation of a “loyal opposition party.” They are bylaws designed for a support group to a party that is not a “loyal opposition party”, but to an opposition party which tries to remove a tyrannical ruling party that implements unjust systems.
1.7. The bylaws define and determine the meanings of the following component parts of the Diaspora Ethiopian Democracy Support Instrument: Member, Chapter or group, Meetings (General Assembly, Teleconference, and Executive Committee), Secretariat, Chairman, Vice Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer, Public Relations Officer (PO), Auditor, and Arbitrator.
Section 2.
Key words
DED = Diaspora Ethiopian Democracy
DEDE = Diaspora Ethiopian Democracy Executive
SS = Scribe of the Secretariat
Parliamentarian. At each conference or meeting an individuals will be assigned as the parliamentarian who will rule over the questions arising from democratic order. Such an individual who is made a parliamentarian will be versed in the Roberts Rule of Order. The ruling made by the parliamentarian in any meeting is final for that meeting.
Member in good standing = A member who has paid dues and duly recognized by the secretary of DEDE. Such member can be elected to any office and shall have voting rights.
Section 3. Member.
3.1. Definition. Any Ethiopian who supports the principles engendered in the Kinijit Election Manifesto of May 2005 and who wishes to respect the vote of the electorate shall have the right to be a member of Ethiopian Democracy Diaspora. A member of good standing is one who has paid the dues (__$/ month, payable at least thrice a year) that are determined by the Diaspora Ethiopian Democracy support group.
3.2. Functions.
3.2.1. The member of DED is the fundament component of the DED.
3.2.2 A member of good standing has the right to be an individual member who interacts with the Diaspora Ethiopian Democracy Executive (DEDE) or belong to a local chapter of the DED. He/she has the right to run for election in any of the functions of the DED.
3.2.3. Each member shall have one vote at all meetings that the member may participate directly or indirectly through proxy such as the chapter that the individual might belong to.
3.3. 4. All members and chapters shall keep evidence that they have paid their dues to the DED. This may be achieved by keeping receipts from the officials who took the funds, copies of checks that show that funds were received by an official. If funds are given by hand, a receipt by the official who took the finds with his signature along with the signatures of two other individuals should be kept.
Section 4. Chapter.
4.1. Definition. Members may elect to belong to a group that they call a chapter. The chapter is not necessarily dependent on the place at which the members dwell. A chapter may be formed by members who live in different cities or different parts of the world. There can be one or more chapters within the same city. Chapters are entirely groupings made by the desire of members who wish to work together and as groups.
4.2. Functions.
4.2.1. Chapters shall realize that they are the best ambassadors of DED and will comport themselves in manners that provide better light of the DED.
4.2.2 . A chapter might wish to work on certain projects which it believes that it can do better than others would in order to further the cause of Ethiopian Democracy. If so a chapter can secure the go ahead from the DEDE to perform the task that it has elected to work on.
4.2.3. Chapters will conduct meetings according to democratic practices, and at each meeting (teleconference, chat room, etc.) a person will be assigned to become a parliamentarian to arbitrate in the event a call is made for democratic order by any of its members. The ruling made by the parliamentarian is final.
4.2.4. Chapters have the right to work to increase their constituents.
4.2.5. Chapters shall elect officers in manners analogous to those described for the DED
Section 5. Meetings.
5.1. Definition. Any gathering of members of the DED shall constitute a meeting of those present. Formal meetings of the DED include meetings of chapter members, general assembly, and meetings of the DED and those of the executive bodies of the chapters.
5.2. Functions. The overriding function of meetings of any part of DED is to promote support to Ethiopian Democracy. Three functions will be implemented at the beginning of any meeting in any part of DED. Firstly, an agenda for that meeting will be voted on. Secondly, the name of the parliamentarian for that meeting will be announced. Thirdly, the duration of the meeting shall be set.
5.2.2 . A Quorum for any meeting is met by a single majority, i.e., 50 % +1 of the members of a group who are to hold meeting. For example, for a general assembly of DED that may have 3000 members in good standing 1501 members will constitute a quorum. The members could be represented by proxy. i.e., through their chapters, or they may attend as individuals.
5.2.3. General assembly.
5.2.3.1. The Chairman of Executive Committee of DED shall ask the assembly to elect its chairman. The elected person shall serve as the chairman of the general assembly. The elected chairman shall appoint some one as the secretary for the assembly, so that the minutes of the assembly shall be sent to the Scribe of the Secretariat (see Section. 6) with a copy to the Secretary of the Executive Committee, if the latter does not serve as the secretary of the general assembly.
5.2.3.2. The Secretary of the Executive Committee of the DED shall ascertain the number of members in good standing that will have voting rights in a general assembly. Each member in good standing shall have one vote, and the votes of the individuals shall be counted either through their representatives or as individuals if members elected to attend as such. A chapter with 17 members with good standing will be assigned 17 votes, whereas a chapter with 45 members with good standing will have 45 votes. Executive Committee members in good standing will have one vote each.
5.2.3.2. General assembly by Teleconference. Such assemblies shall be used for the executive to share current issues and to provide information to members. Two sequential teleconferences separated by at least one week are required in order to take votes through a teleconference-based general assembly. The first teleconference will be used to share issues so that chapter representatives may share the information with their members, and determine the vote of their members that they then can report in the second teleconference-based general assembly. Any meeting that is conducted using electronic medium (such as teleconference) should be authenticated and verified (validated by reliable tool).
5.2.3.3. Documentation of general assembly determinations. The Secretary of DED shall take notes of all meetings directly or use the minutes taken by atemproray secretary elected for that assembly. The Secretary shall give a copy of the minutes of a meeting to the Secretariat for safe keeping and archiving of DED activities.
5.2.4. Meeting of the General Council. An elected body from the DED, and or a conference of the chairmen of chapters and individuals who do not belong to chapters will constitute a General Council that would meet at regular times, once or a couple of times a year. The General Council can elect its own executive and deal with the legislative aspect of the DED. Disputes that the general Council may have with the Executive Committee of the DED should be referred to the Arbitrato (Section 14).
5.2.4. Executive committee meeting. The executive committee meetings of DED or a chapter are to be chaired by the respective chairman, unless the chairman wishes to temporarily vacate his chair and assign another person to run the meeting. In each of the meeting valid votes are taken only when a quorum by a single majority is present at the meeting.
5.2.5 There shall be
only one Diaspora Ethiopian Democracy Executive (DEDE). The DEDE will have an ex-officio member,
the chairman of the Ethiopian Democracy Ethiopia representative, who has been
duly elected and approved by the chairman (president) of Ethiopian Democracy
Section 6. Secretariat.
6.1. Definition. The Secretariat is the permanent office of the DED. Whereas many branches of the DED may be headed by officers that may serve for a couple of years, the Scribe, who manages the Secretariat, shall be appointed by the DEDE and may serve for eight years. The Scribe may be replaced only by a two third majority vote of the general assembly. Other staff members of the Secretariat shall be appointed by the Scribe of the Secretariat (SS) after gaining approval from DED executive. The DED shall pay salaries to personnel of the Secretariat and also pay for rent or purchase of offices and office supplies for the Secretariat.
6.2. Function. The Secretariat archives all dossier and documents of the DED. It is a repository of all correspondences between the DED and its various branches and between the DED and other agencies. It monitors all websites, radios, TV’s that are run by the DED, and keeps a record of copies of such public displays of the DED. The Secretariat is answerable to the DED executive.
Section 7. Chairman.
7.1. Definition. Any part of the Diaspora Ethiopia Democrcy support that is organized on democratic principles will have a leader called chairman. Hence there is a chairman of the Diaspora Ethiopian Democarcy support, a chairman of a chapter of the Diaspora Ethiopian Democracy. Each chairman performs his functions according to the wishes of the people who elected him and consistent with the laws that are ratified by the members. The chairman is the chief officer, who enforces the just laws of the organization.
7.2. Election. The chairman of the Diaspora Ethiopian Democracy support is elected by a popular vote of the DED members with good standing. Elections may be made by direct participation of members with good standing or through proxy (chapter representatives), with each member having one vote. If more than one person runs for chairmanship, the one with the highest number of votes shall become chairman. Election for chairman and all other DED executive members shall be held every two years. Any DED member with good standing has the right to ran for any executive office of DED including the office of chairman.
7.3. Duration. The Chairman of the DED can be elected every two years, and no Chairman can serve for more than 4 consecutive years, or more than two consecutive election periods.
7.3. Functions.
7.3.1. Chair meetings. The Chairman shall chair all executive meetings, general assembly meeting of the DED either regular or those called to decide upon specific events. No meetings of the executive or the general assembly of the DED or any grouping of the DED in the name of the DED can be held without the explicit knowledge of the Chairman of the DED. In the event that the Chairman of the DED may not be present in a meeting, or he may elect not to chair a meeting, he shall make it known that another person of his choosing may chair a meeting after that person is approved through a vote of the participants in the meeting. The Chairman of the DED may elect to temporarily vacate his chairman position and request that another individual chair in his stead in order to argue cases as an individual member.
After the Chairman of the DED has brought the attention of the General Assembly to order, he shall ask the General Assembly to elect a chairman for that assembly. It is the chairman who is elected by the General Assembly who shall chair the meeting of that Assembly (see Section 5.2.3).
7.3.2. Task forces. The Chairman, through due approval of the DED executive committee, shall appoint task forces to perform different tasks of the DED. Each task force so appointed shall abide by the bylaws of the DED.
Section 8. Vice Chairman.
8.1. Election. The Vice Chairman shall be elected during election periods of executives that will be held every two years. If more than one person runs for vice chairmanship, the one with the highest number of votes shall become vice chairman. Any DED member with good standing has the right to ran for any executive office of the DED including the office of vice chairman.
8.2. Functions. The Vice Chairman is the chief advisor to the DED Chairman, and will do those just tasks that the Chairman may ask him to perform
Section 9. Secretary.
9.1. Election. The Secretary shall be elected from among the DED members of good standing at the executive election period which will be held every two years. If more than one person runs for office of Secretary, the one with the highest number of votes shall become Secretary.
9.2. Duration. The Secretary of the DED will be elected every two years, and no Secretary can serve for more than 4 consecutive years, or more than two consecutive election periods.
9.3. Functions.
9.3.1. The Secretary will take the minutes of the executive and general assembly meetings.
9.3.2. The Secretary will inform the members of the meeting on the status of members of good standing so that votes may be taken in according to the votes of good standing.
9.3.3. The Secretary will read the minutes of previous executive and general assembly meetings at the subsequent executive committee meeting and obtain approval, with amendments, if any, so that the minutes will be sent to the Scribe of the Secretariat (see Section 6) for archival. If some minutes of the executive are confidential, they should be so identified before they are delivered to the Scribe of the Secretariat, with a notation when the confidential files would be available for general knowledge.
9.3.4. The Secretary will assemble names of members of good standing once every three months (quarterly) by securing information on funds paid by members from the treasurer.
9.3.5. The Secretary will assemble information from individual and chapter members that ought to be discussed at the executive meeting, and present the issues to the Chairman, who will determine the agenda for any of the meeting, executive or general assembly that the members my wish to support or amend before continuing with a meeting.
9.3.6. The Secretary shall recommend individuals to the Chairman so that the Chairman may appoint them to serve in a task force that will increase membership of supporters. [Membership Task Force- M] The M task force will report directly to the DED Chairman in the presence of the Secretary. The M will dispense the obligations that it has been tasked to perform. The M will prepare its internal bylaws consistent with the DED bylaws and submit the same for approval from the DED executive committee. Copies of the approved internal bylaws shall be sent by the Secretary of the DED to the Scribe of the Secretariat.
Section 10.
Treasurer.
10.1. Election. The Treasurer shall be elected from among the DED members of good standing at the executive election period which will be held every two years. If more than one person runs for office of Treasurer, the one with the highest number of votes shall become Treasurer.
10.2. Duration. The Treasurer of the DED can be elected every two years, and no Treasurer can serve for more than 4 consecutive years, or more than two consecutive election periods.
10.3. Functions.
10.3.1. The Treasurer shall receive contributions from individuals, chapters, special event activities, and gifts to the DED. The Treasurer will give receipts with ID numbers to the contributors, enter the contribution amounts and receipt ID numbers in a ledger.
10.3.2. The Treasurer will have general account funds and special account funds. The special account funds are slash funds the Treasurer may by his signature cause to be expended on activities of the DED.. The general account funds may be expended only by the joint signature of the Chairman and the Treasurer.
10.3.2.1. The Treasurer will place all funds in a general account of the DED in banks that are designated and approved by the DED executive. Funds from the general DED accounts will be withdrawn only by a signature of the Treasurer and the Chairman of DED.
10.3.2.2. The Treasurer will place funds in a special account by withdrawing funds from the general account upon the signature of the Chairman and the Treasurer. Funds from the special account can be expended by the signature of the Treasurer.
10.3.3. The Treasurer will provide a report of funds received and funds expended at each meeting of the executive body, and provide a copy of that report to the Scribe of the Secretariat.
10.3.4. The Treasurer will recommend individuals who the Chairman may appoint as task forces to manage fund raising activities. [Fundraising Activities Task Force- FA] The FA task force will report directly to the DED Chairman in the presence of the Treasurer. The FA will dispense the obligations that it has been tasked to perform. The FA will prepare its internal bylaws consistent with the DED bylaws and submit the same for approval from the DED executive committee. Copies of the approved internal bylaws shall be sent by the Treasurer to the Scribe of the Secretariat.
Section.11. Public
Relations Officer (
11.1. Election.
The
10.2. Duration.
The PO of the DED can be elected every two years, and no
11.3. Functions.
11.3.1. The
11.3.2. The
Radio
Transmission Task Force- RT
Television Transmission task
Force- TT
Websites Management
Editorial Committee Task Force- EC
Hard Copy printed journals and
Books Task Force- HC
The RT. TT, WA, EC, and HC task
forces will report directly to theDED Chairman in the presence of the
11.3.2. The
11.3.3. The
Section 12. Liaison
Officer.
12.1. Definition. The Liaison Officer is not an elected body of the DED. It is the chairman of the representative that the Kinijit Party appoints as its Diaspora representatives. He shall be an ex-officio member of the DED executive and participate in all meetings, though he will not cast votes in any determinations based on a vote.
12.2 Functions.
12.2.1. The Liaison Officer shall submit a request of Funds to
the executive for work in
12.2.3. The Liaison Officer may visit different cities and call on the DED chapters to help it organize events for its political programs.
12.2.4. The Liaison Officer shall contact government and private agencies in the furtherance of the political programs of the ED at Ethiopia.
12.2.5. The Liaison Officer shall contact other parties and interact with them in the furtherance of the interest of the ED at Ethiopia.
Section 13. Auditor.
13.1. Definition. Different chapters will recommend the name of an auditor. The individual who receives the highest vote by the members of the executive shall be appointed by the DED Chairman as the auditor of the DED.
13.2. Duration. The Auditor shall serve for three years.
13.3. Functions.
13.3.1. The Auditor will examine the record assembled in the Secretariat and report any abnormalities or incompleteness of record gathered by the Secretariat.
13.3.2. The Auditor will determine how the funds collected, receipts given and received reconcile with each other.
13.3.4 The Auditor will provide a biannual report of its determinations to the DED Executive, and send a copy of its determinations to the Scribe of the Secretariat.
13.3.5. The Auditor shall give an annual report at the General Assembly of the DED.
Section 14.
Arbitrator. (Chief of the Arbitration or Justice Department)
14.1. Definition. The Arbitration Department is a coequal body with executive and legislative branches of the DED. It is the justice department of the DED. The Chairman of the Executive Committee of the DED shall appoint the Chief Arbitrator and four other members of the Arbitration Department of the DED.
14.2. Duration. Members of the Arbitration Department will serve for a period of five years, with replacement of each members being staggered, except in cases of resignation of members which have to be immediately replaced.
14.2. Functions.
14.2.1. Disciplinary problems in any part of the DED shall be referred to the Chief Arbitrator with a copy to the Scribe of the Secretariat
14.2.2. The Arbitration Department will provide solutions to the disciplinary problems brought to it based on the spirit and letter of the bylaws, and provide its recommendations to the DED Chairman with a copy to the Scribe of the Secretariat. The recommendations could include providing censure, suspension or expulsion from the organizations. The DED executive will implement the determinations of the Arbitration Department that is sent to it by the signature of the Chief Arbitrator.
Section 15. Intelligence (“dehnenet”) Branch (IB)
15.1. Definition. The DED shall have an Intelligence Branch that will scrutinize the background of individuals with the view of finding out if any individual within the DED, or new applicants to the DED, is an agent of organizations who are inimical to the DED
15.2. Functions.
15.2.1.The Intelligence Branch will scrutinize, document, and provide its determination on the background of individuals who are brought to its attention.
15.2.1. The Intelligence Branch will send to the Arbitration Department of the DED (section 14), copy of all relevant documents and its determination only in those cases where it makes a recommendation of expulsion of any individual from the DED.