Quorum Concludes Chamber Elections

It proved to be another tempestuous meeting for the Ethiopian Chamber of Commerce and Sectoral Association (ECCSA), as they assembled to conduct their biannual presidential elections. In an event that spanned 11 hours, at two different five star hotels, and provided a week’s worth of heated exchange, on May 8, 2014, the ECCSA elected Solomon Afework as president on the sixth general assembly.

The departing Chamber executives finished  their time four months ago, but the general assembly meeting was postponed twice and only managed to be held last Thursday. The members from regional and city administration chambers gathered at the Sheraton Addis Hotel to elect the new board of directors.

The general assembly drew enough members in to achieve a quorum of 174 members, something that had famously eluded the chamber in previous meetings. The members were gathered to discuss five agenda topics, including the presentation of the chambers’ annual performance and audit reports, and the election of the Chambers executive – namely a president, vice president and nine members of the board of directors.

Last years’ performance was presented by the departing Chamber president, Mulu Solomon. She reported on the establishment of the Chamber Academy, the draft of the Ethiopian Business Code of Ethics and finalising the plans for an ECCSA building after a 40 year dispute, on what would prove to be her final assembly as president.

In Mulu’s report, she also listed problems with human resource capacity, the failure of members to pay their membership fees, reduced support from international donors (mainly a result of the global economic crisis) and the rate of taxation the chamber has paid despite significantly reduced profits.

She also explained that the chamber conducted a feasibility study, submitted to the Addis Abeba City Administration, to get a 100ha plot of land to construct a new exhibition centre, conference centre and the Chamber Academy.

The external auditor reported that the Chamber earned a net 1.17m Br profit during the last fiscal year.

Another agendum was a proposal, which was passed with a vote of 156 to 10, whereby a regulatory body, comprised of erstwhile directors (including the ones just leaving), would be established.

The proposed regulatory body, termed the Advisory Board, has the power to bar the ECCSA board of directors if it observes ethical problems and take the case to the general assembly for further decision.

“The decision for the establishment of the Advisory Board should come from the new upcoming board of directors, because it affects the rights of the board of directors,” said one unsatisfied participant.

The Credential Committee – an internal committee that conducts the election of the executive – brought additional controversy to the proceedings with a reminder to members that they obey the Proclamation No. 341/2003 – Chambers of Commerce and Sectoral Association Establishment Proclamation – which requires that one person cannot be a candidate for the presidency if they had occupied the presidential or vice presidential positions twice previously.

The ECCSA members expressed their dismay at being given the reminder, believing it to be a targeted attack on individual members of the body, particularly a proposed candidate for the presidency, Gebrehiwot Gebreegziabher – a current board member who would be disqualified from the candidature if the law was enforced.

“I know the question has raised specifically intended to bar me from the presidency, but eight months prior I had already decided not to continue on the membership of the board,” said Gebrehiwot.

The committee also introduced prerequisites to the candidature for the presidency – a minimum of two years management experience, a degree and knowledge of at least one international language – another divisive issue, as regional chambers’ of commerce cried foul for not being consulted on the formulation of the prerequisites prior to the committee’s decision to apply them to the current election.

After a two hour argument over the application and validity of the criteria, and a side spat over the overstaffing of the Credential Committee – instigated by a member of the committee itself – the assembly decided to accept the prerequisites and subsequently rejected three candidates for executive positions. However, the credential committee managed to maintain its size.

Four individuals were nominated for the presidential position – Mulu Solomon, the president prior to the election; Tadesse Gena from the Oromia Regional State; Ayenew Getachew, from Amhara Regional State, and Solomon Afework, from the Southern Nations, Nationalities & Peoples Regional State (SNNPR) and previously president of the Hawassa Chamber of Commerce and Southern Chamber of Commerce.

Mulu Solomon’s name featured among the four nominated, but she insisted that she did not want to be included and got her name removed from the list.

“I said I do not want the position and you should accept that,” she said.

After the members of the general assembly voted and left the hall, the executive of the Chamber was asked to vacate the Lalibela Hall at the Sheraton, as they had consumed all the time they had booked, without actually finalising the counting of votes. Only after the general assembly members and the media moved to the Hilton Hotel, were the results announced, declaring Solomon Afework as the winner with 65 votes out of 174.

There were also three candidates for the vice-presidential post, after Gebrehiwot’s name was removed. The second nominee, Muluwork Kidanemariam, who has been president of Tigray’s Chamber of Commerce since 2007 and self professedly the one who had the idea to establish the Chamber Academy, and the third candidate from the Addis Abeba Chamber, Wondmagegne Negra, who has been president of the Oromia Corporate Bank for the last three years.

The winner, Abebaw Mekonnen, who owns a wood and metal work business, and is a member from the Ethiopian Chamber of Sectoral Associations and vice president of the Addis Ababa Chamber of Commerce & Sectoral Associations (AACCSA), got 72 votes for the vice presidency of the ECCSA.

For the membership of the board of directors, 30 nominees from the regional chambers and sectoral associations participated, and only nine of them were elected. Among the nine newly elected board members, two of them are female and two additional members were elected as reserve members.

The newly elected president, Solomon, promised that he will work to strengthen the regional chambers, which were sidelined as the ECCSA was engaged in strengthening itself.

“The people we expected to be elected were not elected, and we respect the voice of the members of the general assembly and the departing board members will help the newly elected board of directors in every aspect,” former president Mulu said in her farewell speech.

In addition to the new prerequisites for election to the presidency and vice presidency of the chamber, the Credentials Committee also introduced a new coded voting card, with separate voting boxes for each position to simplify counting. After announcing the new procedures, another committee to facilitate the election was selected and this committee finally carried out the election.


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