Saturday, July 09, 2005
PRESIDENT’S BRIEFING ON ADMINISTRATIVE ISSUES COVERING THE PERIOD FROM OCTOBER 30, 2004 – JUNE 30, 2005
By: H. Kendema Charyoe - National President/ Diompillor America, Inc.
When we took over the leadership role of Diompillor 0n October 30, 2004 in Philadelphia, the City of Brotherly Love, we pledged to rebuild bridges of good relationship with our membership that will help us grow stronger as a community/organization. We submitted the administrative platform to the Advisory Board and the members via email that outlined our agenda for 2005-06. We pledged in that document to keep the membership informed on the activities of our community/organization via emails, meetings, and teleconferences. All attempts have been made to do as promised. Unfortunately, majority of our members have not made use of these great opportunities of information. We have arranged several teleconferences but very few people attended. The recent one was an example, which was attended by only three of us. In view of this situation, I want to brief you via email on the status of our organization.
In this briefing, you will read about the overall status of Diompillor, where we stand after 8 months of our leadership, what we have achieved, our obstacles, and where we need to make effort for improvement as an organization. These are the issues I wanted to discuss with you in the recently scheduled teleconference, but all of you didn’t show up with the exception of Mr. and Mrs. Sahr Johnny. Hon. Henry Hali sent in his excuse he had to travel to Minnesota for a funeral.
I. Status Of Our Membership/Kissi Community-USA:
We were challenged right before taking the oath of office on October 30, 2004 by the death of one of our outstanding members, the late Allen Tambah Taylor. Since then, our community continued to face challenges of death and sicknesses. We want to register our profound words of condolences again to all those families whose love ones went to be with the Lord and may their souls rest with our God of Heaven and Earth.
Even as we speak, some of our members are sick and I want to encourage you to continue to pray for them as requested in my previously sent out emails to the membership. They are:
1. Mrs. Marie Yekeh-Saah, our former First Lady of Diompillor
2. Mr. Montgomery T. Saah, Board Member of Diompillor
3. Mrs. Theresa Talawally, Member, New England Chapter of Diompillor and others that I may not know about now. I pray that God will grant them His healing mercies and fast recovery.
II. President’s Report On Official Visit To Monrovia/Foyah District:
It was in February of this year when the Chairman of Foyah District Development Council, Hon. Saa Philip Joe with the advised and consent of the council and our Kissi People, extended us invitations to visit Koindu District, Sierra Leone and Foyah District, Liberia with our elders and leaders. The visits were to familiarize ourselves with the repatriation, reconciliation, and reconstruction efforts in the post wars Liberia and Sierra Leone. We didn’t make the Koindu trip due to our financial limitation, but made the trip to Foyah District with the help of few of our members. I want to commend them for their vision of support in our administration and their names and amount contributed will be listed in our financial report.
I do understand the need and delay of my official report up to this date. However, there are very good reasons that brought about this delay which I wanted to discuss with you during the recent teleconference. I took two weeks excuse without pay from my job and all the work I had to do was reserved for me to complete upon my return. Also, while I was away, some members of Diompillor called my wife and told her that my trip to Liberia wasn’t necessary but I forced myself to travel. In fact, Diompillor members didn’t approve the travel and that was why many of them didn’t pay a dime for the trip. One of them even told my wife that, he has his family to support in Monrovia and will not pay a dime for me to travel to Monrovia/Foyah to enjoy. Another called and got angry with one of our brothers who helped with the trip.
Furthermore, at the time I came back, we lost one of our sisters, the late Rebecca Kumba Tuckett of Lowell, Massachusetts. We got on the emails to inform the community and I had to lead a delegation to that funeral of which majority of our members didn’t attend nor contribute despite all the appeal letters. And dealing with my family to resolved the problems created by those people that called my house in my absent to instigate my wife into confrontation with me regarding the trip, my pending work for the two weeks I was away, the burial of Rebecca, and the regular busy schedules both at work and home kept me very occupied to complete and submit my report immediately.
However, I briefed almost all those who sponsored our trip with their generous contributions with the exception of Mr. Daniel Solee, who also traveled to Monrovia subsequently upon my return. The financial report of my trip was also submitted to the Board Chairman, Mr. Sahr Johnny. It was even suggested by him for me to report to the board first and later to the membership which, of course, was a good idea. But our schedules for that board meeting didn’t work out well.
As we speak, the both reports – financial and my official report covering the visit to Monrovia/Foyah will be sent out via email next week immediately you digest this briefing. Tomorrow, I will be traveling to Baltimore to attend the BWI Alumni Association Annual Convention and will not be in the position to send my report to you all. It wasn’t any form of negligence on my part as President of Diompillor, rather, the busy schedules we all have in this country. Also, the behavioral aspect of some members in our organization who go extra mile just to create problems for us as leaders is sometimes frustrating. I didn’t expect people to call my wife as much as she’s none Kissi just to get her upset about what I do in Diompillor. This happened before when I traveled to Liberia, decided to visit Foya, and was involved in a terrible motor accident that almost took my life away. One key member of Diompillor here called around and told people that, I was on my way to Foyah to mobilize the youth and seek the removal of Hon. Philip Saa Tali as Foyah District Representative in the House of Representatives, Republic of Liberia. As the result, Hon. Tali also received that information and couldn’t visit me in the hospital for the one week I was there dying. Sometimes, I find myself incomprehensible about how some of us behave to each other but still find time to preach about unity and love for our community. I risked my life on those bad roads, traveled to Foyah with our elders, met with our suffering masses, brought messages and letters from them to many that didn't even contribute for me to travel. And for someone to consider such a trip as an enjoyable one leaves me in shock, disbelief, and total discontentment. We need to desist from such wicked endeavors if we want a better Kissi Community-USA. This is sometimes discouraging.
III. Status of the Relief, Repatriation, And Reconstruction Committee (RRRC): We organized this committee due to the vital and the on going affliction of our people in the refugee camps as indicated by Hon. Saa Philip Joe, Chairman of Foyah District Development Council, during his visit here early this year. I went to Foya District and visited many of our former towns and villages. I traveled through Sierra Leone on my way back to Monrovia and saw the condition of our Kissi People in the post war Sierra Leone. We appointed many of our elders, community leaders, and experienced individuals of our community as members of this relief, repatriation, and reconstruction committee. The members, through their Chairman, Mr. Montgomery T. Saah submitted many recommendations that will enable them carry out the work of the committee effectively and all were approved by the board. One of the recommendations was to open a special bank account in the name of the committee/Diompillor to make sure all proceeds contributed are accounted and used for the relief work. There were series of teleconferences followed by letters mailed out by the Chairman. We sent the Article of Incorporation to the Treasurer, Mr. Isaac Manjoe to open the bank account but up to present, we have received no report from him. And in the midst of all these, I have received a letter of resignation from Mr. Montgomery Saah about two weeks ago. In his letter of resignation, he said that it’s because of lack of cooperation from the committee members and his poor health that he decided to step down as chairman.
I have written Mr. Saah to send us the financial report of this committee to see what has been collected, but up to now, no result. We want to decice the appointment of a new chairman, re-structure the committee, and move on. Some of our brothers from different countries wrote and request the bank information so as to send in their contribution to the relief efforts, but we cannot get anything from the Paramount Chief. If the bank account wasn’t open by Mr. Manjoe as we speak, I am asking him via this media to please stop any further processing of the bank account and mail back all the documents that were sent to him for this project. He should also tender in his report which has been requested several times, according to the Chairman, so that the leadership can decide upon the resignation and how we can regroup to continue this challenge of helping our people back home.
IV. Revitalization of Local Chapters:
We pledged to revitalize the chapters of Diompillor in addition to the New England and Pennsylvania/Delaware Chapters. I wrote Mr. Neorlu Tumbeh of New Jersey over four months ago to help with the revitalization process and up to now, he hasn’t given any favorable reply. I wrote Mr. Isaac Manjoe, Dr. Elijah Taylor, Dr. William Salifu, and Mr. Gregory Hallie to help organize a meeting for us to begin the process of organizing a chapter in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington DC Metro Areas. I also sent to Mr. Manjoe the names of almost all of our Kissi People in that area for the four of them to contact them to attend this very important meeting. This has also been over three months and no progress report from them whatsoever.
I will be traveling to Minnesota next month to visit with our people in that area that have already organized themselves. We need to visit and encourage them to work with us. The New York Chapter has scheduled a general meeting for next month to finally the revitalization process of our chapter, and immediately things are finalized, we’ll inform the membership. I also want to visit with our people in the Chicago and Indiana Areas to try to organize a chapter. We will try other means to see how New Jersey and Washington DC Metro Areas can be revitalized and organized. This is where we stand with the revitalization process of chapters for our organization. We need your import in every way to be able to unite our people in the different areas of this country.
V. Tax Exempt - 501 (c) 3 Status For Diompillor And Other projects:
The 501 (c) 3 Status Project was embarked upon by the Interim Leadership of Mr. John Josiah. The board allocated funds for this project and as of today, we have obtained the Employment Identification Number (EIN), the Article of Incorporation, and we opened an official bank account in the name of Diompillor. Unfortunately, the application for the 501 (c) 3 Status wasn’t filed with IRS. We are working with the former Interim President to give us the overall report of the funds. In the meantime, we have begun the application process of this very important document that will assist our organization in many fundraising projects. We will be appealing to some key members in the organization to underwrite the balance cost of this project since our treasury is somehow low and will keep you informed of our progress.
Also, the amount of $300 that our organization sent to Hon. Philip Saa Tali, through the request of the Director of Liberia Project, Mr. Daniel N. Solee to transport the donated medication by Liberia Project to the People of Foyah District was received by Hon. Tali. Unfortunately, the medication was not transported to Foyah. In fact Hon. Tali told the People of Foyah in a general meeting we held at the Liberia Free Pentecostal Church, Foyah District, that, he didn’t receive any medication from Liberia Project for the People of Foyah District. We will peacefully resolve this issue with the leadership of Liberia Project and inform you of our resolution later.
VI. October 30, 2004 Inauguration Report:
We want to express our regret for not submitting the report on our October 30, 2004 Inauguration up to present. The main reason was that, right after the program, the Chairlady for the Inaugural Program, Mrs. Cecelia Sia Kromah traveled to Liberia on a very important trip for few months. We didn’t want to submit this report without her import and decided to wait until she returned. Unfortunately for us, she spent many months in Liberia and just returned last month.
Actually, the program didn’t generate funds as was expected and the main reason was again, lack of cooperation and commitment by many of our members. The raffle tickets that would have generated more funds for us were distributed and many members returned them to us unsold. However, from the sale of the few of us, we’re able to pay for all the winning prices and the balance will be reported to you in our overall financial report. The gate intake took care of the arrears we had to stage the program. The sale of drinks was almost zero and up to now, the balance drinks are in safe keeping. I directed the local leadership to auction the drinks, but up to now, I have no report regarding that request. And now that Mrs. Kromah is back in the states, we will finalize the report and send it out to you. I regret the delay of this report again.
VII. Membership Registration And Due Payments:
At the end of the term of our Interim Leadership, we put together a revised constitution which called for new commitment procedures in our organization. The constitution which was overwhelmingly approved by our membership called for
A. Re-registration Fee of $100.00 per member
B. A monthly due of $10.00 per registered member.
These two provisions formed the basics to test our new commitment in Diompillor after all the years of the period of our dormancy. Up to date, I want to inform you that, about 15 persons met the complete registration process and 5 persons made part payment of $25 and $50 each and never paid the balanaces as we speak. The vast majority have yet to comply with what they voted for in our constitution. Dues payment is again abandoned by the entire membership. We haven’t collected a dime from any member since our constitution took effect and as the result, Diompillor is financially paralyzed even after our hard work of revitalization process. If nothing is done by the membership to improve on these critical issues, Diompillor is heading to where we came from. And because of this situation, the leadership continued to laterally beg the members for personal contributions whenever there is a death or other hardship in the community that required our involvement. The few that always contributed are also getting very wary of the burden they carry for the rest of us. These issues are draining the interest of the few while the vast majority sits on the fence and watch.
VIII. September 2005 Annual Convention:
We planed on having the Mothers’ Day Celebration for all our women/mothers in Diompillor. Our projection didn’t work out due to many deaths and the contributions our members who always contributed underwent. And because we don’t have money in our treasury to undertake such a project, we had to chancel that program. Now, according to our constitution, we are to have our annual convention in September where all the Kissi People will meet, review our status, programs, the suffering of our people back home, and develop ideas to resolve those issues climax with our fundraising program. The administration will be setting up a committee to plan this program and we are appealing to all of you to get involve for its success. One of the reasons our Inauguration program in Philadelphia failed was that, many people that we taught would help let us down. People had to leave from different states to do some basic things of a program. We are appealing to everyone to be a part of our endeavors in Diompillor.
IX. Recommendations and Appeal By The Administration:
Ladies and gentlemen, now that you see or read the happenings in our organization, we want to submit to you the following recommendations that will safe our organization from sinking back into a dormancy stage again:
A. That those who haven’t officially registered under the new provision of our constitution should honor what the registration provided.
B. That we all begin to immediately pay our pending and current dues as provided by our constitution.
C. That we all should begin to contribute toward the deaths and other difficulties in our organization and not leaving the responsibility on the few as it has always been in the history of Diompillor
D. That we may disagree with each other but we should not disappear from the organization because your way wasn’t done. Many of our members always say what they want at the time they want, but as soon others offer their point of view, they are ready to leave the group with aggravation. I feel that is having a thin-skin. In a group, if your way is not done does not mean your points are not valuable.
E. We should desist from undermining each other and focus on the challenges and suffering of our people and how we can be of help.
I want to thank you for taking your valuable time to read this document. I am calling on the local chapter leaders to make hard copies of this document and distribute it to those who do not have the Internet facility as yet. One day, we all will on the information super highway.
Thank you and May God bless Diompillor
When we took over the leadership role of Diompillor 0n October 30, 2004 in Philadelphia, the City of Brotherly Love, we pledged to rebuild bridges of good relationship with our membership that will help us grow stronger as a community/organization. We submitted the administrative platform to the Advisory Board and the members via email that outlined our agenda for 2005-06. We pledged in that document to keep the membership informed on the activities of our community/organization via emails, meetings, and teleconferences. All attempts have been made to do as promised. Unfortunately, majority of our members have not made use of these great opportunities of information. We have arranged several teleconferences but very few people attended. The recent one was an example, which was attended by only three of us. In view of this situation, I want to brief you via email on the status of our organization.
In this briefing, you will read about the overall status of Diompillor, where we stand after 8 months of our leadership, what we have achieved, our obstacles, and where we need to make effort for improvement as an organization. These are the issues I wanted to discuss with you in the recently scheduled teleconference, but all of you didn’t show up with the exception of Mr. and Mrs. Sahr Johnny. Hon. Henry Hali sent in his excuse he had to travel to Minnesota for a funeral.
I. Status Of Our Membership/Kissi Community-USA:
We were challenged right before taking the oath of office on October 30, 2004 by the death of one of our outstanding members, the late Allen Tambah Taylor. Since then, our community continued to face challenges of death and sicknesses. We want to register our profound words of condolences again to all those families whose love ones went to be with the Lord and may their souls rest with our God of Heaven and Earth.
Even as we speak, some of our members are sick and I want to encourage you to continue to pray for them as requested in my previously sent out emails to the membership. They are:
1. Mrs. Marie Yekeh-Saah, our former First Lady of Diompillor
2. Mr. Montgomery T. Saah, Board Member of Diompillor
3. Mrs. Theresa Talawally, Member, New England Chapter of Diompillor and others that I may not know about now. I pray that God will grant them His healing mercies and fast recovery.
II. President’s Report On Official Visit To Monrovia/Foyah District:
It was in February of this year when the Chairman of Foyah District Development Council, Hon. Saa Philip Joe with the advised and consent of the council and our Kissi People, extended us invitations to visit Koindu District, Sierra Leone and Foyah District, Liberia with our elders and leaders. The visits were to familiarize ourselves with the repatriation, reconciliation, and reconstruction efforts in the post wars Liberia and Sierra Leone. We didn’t make the Koindu trip due to our financial limitation, but made the trip to Foyah District with the help of few of our members. I want to commend them for their vision of support in our administration and their names and amount contributed will be listed in our financial report.
I do understand the need and delay of my official report up to this date. However, there are very good reasons that brought about this delay which I wanted to discuss with you during the recent teleconference. I took two weeks excuse without pay from my job and all the work I had to do was reserved for me to complete upon my return. Also, while I was away, some members of Diompillor called my wife and told her that my trip to Liberia wasn’t necessary but I forced myself to travel. In fact, Diompillor members didn’t approve the travel and that was why many of them didn’t pay a dime for the trip. One of them even told my wife that, he has his family to support in Monrovia and will not pay a dime for me to travel to Monrovia/Foyah to enjoy. Another called and got angry with one of our brothers who helped with the trip.
Furthermore, at the time I came back, we lost one of our sisters, the late Rebecca Kumba Tuckett of Lowell, Massachusetts. We got on the emails to inform the community and I had to lead a delegation to that funeral of which majority of our members didn’t attend nor contribute despite all the appeal letters. And dealing with my family to resolved the problems created by those people that called my house in my absent to instigate my wife into confrontation with me regarding the trip, my pending work for the two weeks I was away, the burial of Rebecca, and the regular busy schedules both at work and home kept me very occupied to complete and submit my report immediately.
However, I briefed almost all those who sponsored our trip with their generous contributions with the exception of Mr. Daniel Solee, who also traveled to Monrovia subsequently upon my return. The financial report of my trip was also submitted to the Board Chairman, Mr. Sahr Johnny. It was even suggested by him for me to report to the board first and later to the membership which, of course, was a good idea. But our schedules for that board meeting didn’t work out well.
As we speak, the both reports – financial and my official report covering the visit to Monrovia/Foyah will be sent out via email next week immediately you digest this briefing. Tomorrow, I will be traveling to Baltimore to attend the BWI Alumni Association Annual Convention and will not be in the position to send my report to you all. It wasn’t any form of negligence on my part as President of Diompillor, rather, the busy schedules we all have in this country. Also, the behavioral aspect of some members in our organization who go extra mile just to create problems for us as leaders is sometimes frustrating. I didn’t expect people to call my wife as much as she’s none Kissi just to get her upset about what I do in Diompillor. This happened before when I traveled to Liberia, decided to visit Foya, and was involved in a terrible motor accident that almost took my life away. One key member of Diompillor here called around and told people that, I was on my way to Foyah to mobilize the youth and seek the removal of Hon. Philip Saa Tali as Foyah District Representative in the House of Representatives, Republic of Liberia. As the result, Hon. Tali also received that information and couldn’t visit me in the hospital for the one week I was there dying. Sometimes, I find myself incomprehensible about how some of us behave to each other but still find time to preach about unity and love for our community. I risked my life on those bad roads, traveled to Foyah with our elders, met with our suffering masses, brought messages and letters from them to many that didn't even contribute for me to travel. And for someone to consider such a trip as an enjoyable one leaves me in shock, disbelief, and total discontentment. We need to desist from such wicked endeavors if we want a better Kissi Community-USA. This is sometimes discouraging.
III. Status of the Relief, Repatriation, And Reconstruction Committee (RRRC): We organized this committee due to the vital and the on going affliction of our people in the refugee camps as indicated by Hon. Saa Philip Joe, Chairman of Foyah District Development Council, during his visit here early this year. I went to Foya District and visited many of our former towns and villages. I traveled through Sierra Leone on my way back to Monrovia and saw the condition of our Kissi People in the post war Sierra Leone. We appointed many of our elders, community leaders, and experienced individuals of our community as members of this relief, repatriation, and reconstruction committee. The members, through their Chairman, Mr. Montgomery T. Saah submitted many recommendations that will enable them carry out the work of the committee effectively and all were approved by the board. One of the recommendations was to open a special bank account in the name of the committee/Diompillor to make sure all proceeds contributed are accounted and used for the relief work. There were series of teleconferences followed by letters mailed out by the Chairman. We sent the Article of Incorporation to the Treasurer, Mr. Isaac Manjoe to open the bank account but up to present, we have received no report from him. And in the midst of all these, I have received a letter of resignation from Mr. Montgomery Saah about two weeks ago. In his letter of resignation, he said that it’s because of lack of cooperation from the committee members and his poor health that he decided to step down as chairman.
I have written Mr. Saah to send us the financial report of this committee to see what has been collected, but up to now, no result. We want to decice the appointment of a new chairman, re-structure the committee, and move on. Some of our brothers from different countries wrote and request the bank information so as to send in their contribution to the relief efforts, but we cannot get anything from the Paramount Chief. If the bank account wasn’t open by Mr. Manjoe as we speak, I am asking him via this media to please stop any further processing of the bank account and mail back all the documents that were sent to him for this project. He should also tender in his report which has been requested several times, according to the Chairman, so that the leadership can decide upon the resignation and how we can regroup to continue this challenge of helping our people back home.
IV. Revitalization of Local Chapters:
We pledged to revitalize the chapters of Diompillor in addition to the New England and Pennsylvania/Delaware Chapters. I wrote Mr. Neorlu Tumbeh of New Jersey over four months ago to help with the revitalization process and up to now, he hasn’t given any favorable reply. I wrote Mr. Isaac Manjoe, Dr. Elijah Taylor, Dr. William Salifu, and Mr. Gregory Hallie to help organize a meeting for us to begin the process of organizing a chapter in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington DC Metro Areas. I also sent to Mr. Manjoe the names of almost all of our Kissi People in that area for the four of them to contact them to attend this very important meeting. This has also been over three months and no progress report from them whatsoever.
I will be traveling to Minnesota next month to visit with our people in that area that have already organized themselves. We need to visit and encourage them to work with us. The New York Chapter has scheduled a general meeting for next month to finally the revitalization process of our chapter, and immediately things are finalized, we’ll inform the membership. I also want to visit with our people in the Chicago and Indiana Areas to try to organize a chapter. We will try other means to see how New Jersey and Washington DC Metro Areas can be revitalized and organized. This is where we stand with the revitalization process of chapters for our organization. We need your import in every way to be able to unite our people in the different areas of this country.
V. Tax Exempt - 501 (c) 3 Status For Diompillor And Other projects:
The 501 (c) 3 Status Project was embarked upon by the Interim Leadership of Mr. John Josiah. The board allocated funds for this project and as of today, we have obtained the Employment Identification Number (EIN), the Article of Incorporation, and we opened an official bank account in the name of Diompillor. Unfortunately, the application for the 501 (c) 3 Status wasn’t filed with IRS. We are working with the former Interim President to give us the overall report of the funds. In the meantime, we have begun the application process of this very important document that will assist our organization in many fundraising projects. We will be appealing to some key members in the organization to underwrite the balance cost of this project since our treasury is somehow low and will keep you informed of our progress.
Also, the amount of $300 that our organization sent to Hon. Philip Saa Tali, through the request of the Director of Liberia Project, Mr. Daniel N. Solee to transport the donated medication by Liberia Project to the People of Foyah District was received by Hon. Tali. Unfortunately, the medication was not transported to Foyah. In fact Hon. Tali told the People of Foyah in a general meeting we held at the Liberia Free Pentecostal Church, Foyah District, that, he didn’t receive any medication from Liberia Project for the People of Foyah District. We will peacefully resolve this issue with the leadership of Liberia Project and inform you of our resolution later.
VI. October 30, 2004 Inauguration Report:
We want to express our regret for not submitting the report on our October 30, 2004 Inauguration up to present. The main reason was that, right after the program, the Chairlady for the Inaugural Program, Mrs. Cecelia Sia Kromah traveled to Liberia on a very important trip for few months. We didn’t want to submit this report without her import and decided to wait until she returned. Unfortunately for us, she spent many months in Liberia and just returned last month.
Actually, the program didn’t generate funds as was expected and the main reason was again, lack of cooperation and commitment by many of our members. The raffle tickets that would have generated more funds for us were distributed and many members returned them to us unsold. However, from the sale of the few of us, we’re able to pay for all the winning prices and the balance will be reported to you in our overall financial report. The gate intake took care of the arrears we had to stage the program. The sale of drinks was almost zero and up to now, the balance drinks are in safe keeping. I directed the local leadership to auction the drinks, but up to now, I have no report regarding that request. And now that Mrs. Kromah is back in the states, we will finalize the report and send it out to you. I regret the delay of this report again.
VII. Membership Registration And Due Payments:
At the end of the term of our Interim Leadership, we put together a revised constitution which called for new commitment procedures in our organization. The constitution which was overwhelmingly approved by our membership called for
A. Re-registration Fee of $100.00 per member
B. A monthly due of $10.00 per registered member.
These two provisions formed the basics to test our new commitment in Diompillor after all the years of the period of our dormancy. Up to date, I want to inform you that, about 15 persons met the complete registration process and 5 persons made part payment of $25 and $50 each and never paid the balanaces as we speak. The vast majority have yet to comply with what they voted for in our constitution. Dues payment is again abandoned by the entire membership. We haven’t collected a dime from any member since our constitution took effect and as the result, Diompillor is financially paralyzed even after our hard work of revitalization process. If nothing is done by the membership to improve on these critical issues, Diompillor is heading to where we came from. And because of this situation, the leadership continued to laterally beg the members for personal contributions whenever there is a death or other hardship in the community that required our involvement. The few that always contributed are also getting very wary of the burden they carry for the rest of us. These issues are draining the interest of the few while the vast majority sits on the fence and watch.
VIII. September 2005 Annual Convention:
We planed on having the Mothers’ Day Celebration for all our women/mothers in Diompillor. Our projection didn’t work out due to many deaths and the contributions our members who always contributed underwent. And because we don’t have money in our treasury to undertake such a project, we had to chancel that program. Now, according to our constitution, we are to have our annual convention in September where all the Kissi People will meet, review our status, programs, the suffering of our people back home, and develop ideas to resolve those issues climax with our fundraising program. The administration will be setting up a committee to plan this program and we are appealing to all of you to get involve for its success. One of the reasons our Inauguration program in Philadelphia failed was that, many people that we taught would help let us down. People had to leave from different states to do some basic things of a program. We are appealing to everyone to be a part of our endeavors in Diompillor.
IX. Recommendations and Appeal By The Administration:
Ladies and gentlemen, now that you see or read the happenings in our organization, we want to submit to you the following recommendations that will safe our organization from sinking back into a dormancy stage again:
A. That those who haven’t officially registered under the new provision of our constitution should honor what the registration provided.
B. That we all begin to immediately pay our pending and current dues as provided by our constitution.
C. That we all should begin to contribute toward the deaths and other difficulties in our organization and not leaving the responsibility on the few as it has always been in the history of Diompillor
D. That we may disagree with each other but we should not disappear from the organization because your way wasn’t done. Many of our members always say what they want at the time they want, but as soon others offer their point of view, they are ready to leave the group with aggravation. I feel that is having a thin-skin. In a group, if your way is not done does not mean your points are not valuable.
E. We should desist from undermining each other and focus on the challenges and suffering of our people and how we can be of help.
I want to thank you for taking your valuable time to read this document. I am calling on the local chapter leaders to make hard copies of this document and distribute it to those who do not have the Internet facility as yet. One day, we all will on the information super highway.
Thank you and May God bless Diompillor
# posted by KYB Secretariat @ 10:57 AM 
