hi,
excuse that i write this email, while not beeing directly concerned,
but maybe there are some similarities to other countries, like in this
case switzerland.
the bylaws state that the auditors have access to the financial books
at any time. if the bylaws are violated, the board, the members
personal or via general assembly and the tax authority can take
action.
examples: the board itself can immediately change the roles, i.e. put
in place a new treasurer. the general assembly can change the board,
the tax authority can revoke the tax exempt status, a member can sue
the treasurer, wmch can sue the treasurer.
while normally members and board members are not personally liable,
this changes in case of a violation of the bylaws. there might be
criminal liability, or material liability vs the local law.
a little more to the role of the auditors:
* "mandate" is defined simple in the bylaws: access at any time to the
financial statements. members do not have that.
* "access" is defined quite simple: there is an account and account
statement, and for every money movement, there must be a receipt or
document in support. and if the auditor shows up, the responsible
person (treasurer in our case) must be able to show it. at the general
assembly they propose to accept or reject the financial statements.
auditors only suggest how they want to have the financial statements -
but never measures for wmch in general (this is the general
assemblies, and boards business).
side note:
wmch might not be directly comparable though, as wmch is organized
like a football club, i.e. the general assembly of the members is the
highest body giving the direction, giving the bylaws, and electing the
board.
there is a committee (i.e. board), which runs the business, the
treasurer beeing one of the board. and there is the auditors, which
was 2 members, not board, in former times (which could choose to ask a
company for help), nowadays a company only.
best regards,
rupert.
On Wed, Jul 25, 2012 at 10:23 AM, Limoke Oscar <oslimoke(a)gmail.com> wrote:
Having an Audit Committee is a good idea, however my
question is, What are
its mandates? I mean like yes I want us to have one, but what happens when
they make recommendations incases of malpractice in the board? I say this
because technically all the members have been some sort of auditors and have
been checking and asking for answers from the board especially as regards to
vary many decisions, financials included. So please let us lay out the
mandate of the committee and there is nothing worse like making
recommendations that never get implemented like most commissions and
committees in Kenya.....my personal 2 cents
That Said, I know Abbas, Grace (who stepped down from the Chapter) and
Kosgei are the other volunteers, so I guess we have an audit Committee ready
On Wed, Jul 25, 2012 at 10:52 AM, Branton Obwari <bruceobwari(a)gmail.com>
wrote:
Hi ,
matters of integrity ,n accountability are bound to rise ,in this kind
of organisation i personally thought the issue we just heard on the
mailing list would have been avoided if there was an audit unit as
suggested earlier .
i am available to volunteer on that capacity together with others.
My regrds
Bruce.
On 7/25/12, David Mugo <raidarmax(a)gmail.com> wrote:
Guys,
I hope you are good, I am writing this in great concern of what is
happening with the chapter and finances. We are a very young chapter and
we
need not be where we are at this point. When we elected the board, we
agreed to have an audit committee that will be there to keep check on
the
board's decisions in all matters including finances.
The fact that WMKE is ran by the board means we need an external organ
to
ensure accountability and responsibility.
I would hereby propose that we suggest/nominate 4 members who can handle
this until we have the next meeting to either confirm the members or
conduct a process to appoint these members. I would like to leave this
open
but also insist that it is really urgent as we decide on the current
situation, its solution and action to be taken by the chapter regarding
the
matter. Please suggest names or volunteer and we can all come up with a
final process to create membership of this committee.
--
-------------
David Mugo,
Adviser to Kenya's VP on Digital Media & Technology,
CEO & Board Chairman, Wikimedia Kenya
http://mugo.me
Twitter: @raidarmax
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Regards,
Limoke Oscar,
Dream.Believe.Become....a world of endless oportunities
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