- Board of trustees, TAC fails to attend claiming to be unaware
- Concerned group gives them two weeks to avail themselves
Following a successful court battle to hold a Special General Meeting that had initially been blocked by Okavango Kopano Mokoro Community Trust (OKMCT) board of trustees, a concerned group of beneficiaries from four settlements under the trust on Friday convened the long-awaited meeting at Daunara settlement.
While over 100 members from beneficiary villages being-Daunara, Xaxaba, Xuoxao and Boro were in attendance, the board of trustees and the technical advisory committee (TAC) were conspicuously absent. The absence of the trust’s board of trustees resulted to collapse in the quorum, though the meeting proceeded.
OKMCT’s constitution states that a special general meeting may proceed if attendants from the 5 beneficiary villages are 50 or more while the board of trustees should have 5 or more in attendance. Should the numbers fail to match it means that the meeting then does not form a quorum.
During the meeting, residents unanimously decided to remove the board of trustees through a court eviction in the next meeting which is set to take place in the next two weeks being the 28th October. The primary reasons for this decision included poor governance, corruption, unfair resource distribution, and favoritism of individuals within the trust.
In his address chairman of the Concerned Group, Gonewamang Samoxhose explained that prior to the meeting they notified OKMCT and the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) about the meeting despite their failure to honor it. He stressed that the invitation and the meeting was legalized by high court.
“Since we were given rights to convene the meeting and the fact that attendees from the 5 beneficiary villages is more that 50 that means the special general meeting is legal,” he emphasized.
In the other legal aspect, Samoxhose noted that if the board of trustee does not honour the special general meeting they are then given a period of two weeks after which another meeting will be called which will not need either OKMCT or the TAC as is the case now.
“On the next special general meeting on the 28th we will not need OKMCT board of trustees or TAC to host the meeting because we will be using our minutes from today’s meeting and using a eviction through the high court,” Samoxhose explained.
He reiterated that what prompted the meeting was the board’s mishandling of trust affairs indicating that currently the board operates with 4 member, against the trust’s constitution that requires for members to be 7 in total.
Kelebogile Kekgaogetswe of Daunara was of the view that the current OKMCT leadership uses the divide and rule tactic, claiming that if they realise that some are against their wrong doing they cut them off from the trust.
He highlighted that they initially voted for 7 board members but 3 were removed without any explanation to the community but were instead given an instruction to make a replacement.
“We expect to be given a full report as to why the members we had elected were removed. The powers to remove someone from the board lies with the community of OKMCT since we are ones who elected them,” Kekgaogetswe said.
Kekgaogetswe suggested that the current leadership of OKMCT should be removed since they have not been doing things according to the trust’s constitution.
Another resident, Oduetse Motlalekgosi who also shared the same sentiments accused the current leadership for favoritism claiming that there are certain people who are assisted while others are not when requesting the same. She highlighted that in one instance she went to the offices seeking transportation of her goods to Daunara but was turned down while someone else who came after her seeking the same was assisted on same day.
Motlalekgosi added that she has been suspended from benefiting from the trust for a period of six years because she aligns with the concerned group. The distressed old lady who says she has been supporting her family through mokoro poling, lamented that she now lives in dire poverty since her suspension.
“I have been suspended for raising my concerns, I do not benefit from the trust and have been barred from operating my mokoro business within the NG32 mokoro stations even though I stay near the station,” Motlalekgosi lamented.
In an interview OKMCT manager Seikaneng said he was not aware of any special general meeting adding that only the trust’s board of trustees can organise and host a special general meeting.
He further added that about 117 members who form part of the concerned group have been suspended for 6 years from the trust. He indicated that the decision was made at the trust’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) that was held in Xuxao. Efforts to reach TAC were not fruitful as their phone rang unanswered.
