Facts about the Tabi/Mondi Vs COC Law suit - Lessons Learned: Report by Sesekou Philip Tabi

The Tabi/Mondi Team took part in the MECA-USA elections of 2007 in Houston, TX vying for the NEC position. That Dear people,

On behalf of the Tabi/Mondi Team I would like to thank all of you for taking time off your busy schedules to attend this important event which has been coined as "The MECA-USA Truth and Reconciliation Conference" taking place today October 10th, 2009. We do understand that in every organization, problems are bound to occur and we also do understand that when such problems occur, members of the same organization should never shy away from looking for plausible solutions to the problems.

MECA-USA since its inception has faced so many problems. The members have always looked for ways to resolve those problems. Also, in the history of this organization, every successful leadership has in one way of the other never shied away from attempting to resolve issues or problems plaguing this great association. On that note, I thank all the members who have constructively made all their efforts for this reconciliation to happen election was marred with massive electoral irregularities such as our opponent the Ako/Besong Team registering members in the hall and failure of the electoral committee to respect and follow articles in the constitution that deals with election. The following members who never belonged to any MECA chapters, were registered on the floor by the Ako/Besong Team and allowed to vote by the Electoral Committee made up of Council of Chiefs. Mrs. Judith Ebini from Maryland, Ms Ashuntantang from NC, kima from MN. The Tabi/Mondi Team wrote a petition to the Council of Chiefs to look into the irregularities. The COC met in a teleconference and ruled that there were no irregularities and declared the Ako/Besong Team as the winners despite some objections from some chiefs to at least acknowledge the irregularities (see email from Dr. Kingsley Takor). The COC did not even care to talk to our Team or even invite us to any teleconference. We reiterated our position and called on COC to revisit its verdict for the sake of peace. They met again without inviting us and reiterated their stance on supporting the Ako/Besong Team amidst all provocations from our opponents to go to court.

The Tabi/Mundi Team through their Attorney filed a lawsuit against Ako Peter for acting as the chairman of MECA-USA, John Etta, the head of COC and Solomon Egbe as the resident agent of MECA-USA, asking for”MEDIATION" and not to destroy MECA as our opponents twisted the information and asked for legal defense funds from various chapters. See court documents.


ROADMAP LEADING TO LAWSUIT WITHDRAWAL.

Concerned manyuans have worked hard behind the scene in order to withdraw the lawsuit and settle the issues that emanated from the 2007 election convention amicably. One of those individuals is Minister Mengot who gave me a surprise call from New York where he was attending a UN summit. We spoke for almost an hour and he assured me that he had spoken with Ako Peter for us to withdraw the lawsuit. I listened to the Minister, respected his opinion and welcomed his suggestion.


A teleconference was organized between some members from the Ako/Besong Team and Tabi/Mundi Team. Present at the teleconference were the following members:
1) Dr. Essim Daniel
2) Mr. Ekumah Emmanuel
3) Dr. Besong Samuel
4) Dr. Peter Ako
5) Ms. Patience Ebini
6) PA Hamilton Ayuk
7) Philip Tabi
8) Baiyee Mondi

During this teleconference, we all came into a conclusion that the lawsuit was to be withdrawn the following day, that Philip Tabi will announce on Manyunet and inform all the members that the lawsuit has been withdrawn followed by a similar announcement from Dr. Peter Ako. Finally, the Ako/Besong Team to put all logistics together and call for a General Reconciliation Meeting in Dallas, TX.


The following morning, I called our attorney and notified him that we had had a teleconference and the decision is for him to withdraw the lawsuit. The attorney accepted and went ahead that morning and withdrew the lawsuit. I went on Manyunet and made the announcement and calling upon the Ako/Besong Team to put the logistics together for a general reconciliation meeting in Dallas, TX as per the teleconference.

Two days later, I received a call from Dr. Peter Ako informing that the reason why he has not come out to write on manyunet as per the teleconference was because some of his supporters were fighting him and never liked the idea that he took part in the teleconference. Few days later, his running mate Dr. Samuel Besong wrote a mail (attached with this report) challenging the teleconference, challenging me that I have not been regular in my local chapter meeting and that he will never spend his money to sit on a table with people who do not contribute financially to MECA-USA, thereby objecting to any reconciliation.


From this point up to this point that we are meeting today neither the Ako/Besong Team nor COC ever called for any reconciliation so that we can collectively solve the problems affecting this organization today. Instead, we were faced with different types of electoral fraud in Washington, DC 2009 involving absentee ballots from the same Ako/Besong Team. COC again put the same dagger they used in Houston 2007 by giving the Ako/Besong Team another two years term without elections being held in Washington 2009. This was another major catastrophy to the serenity of the organization.

NEC Handing Over Process: The Issue behind the books. By former Chairman, Sessekou Solomon Egbe

Take-Over from the Joe Eyong Administration, July 2003

It is important for me to start by addressing issues related to the take-over from the Joe Eyong Administration.

In July of 2003, I took over as Chairman of MECA-USA from Joseph Eyong, after serving as his Vice Chairman for 4 years. At the 2003 MECA-USA convention in California, Dr. Samuel Besong, Chairman Joe Eyong’s Treasurer, presented his final financial report which was rejected by the general assembly and returned to him. The first objection to the report was raised by Mrs. Esther Ayukeno who pointed out that the numbers on the report, when added up, did not match the total figure on the report. Dr. Besong explained that some smaller donations were not included on the list, but were included in the total amount.

Ms. Kathy Ettandip then raised an objection that she donated $500, but her name was not on the list. Mr. George Takang then added that his donation too was not reflected on the list and various people started raising objections to the report.
Sessekou Arreymbi then raised a motion that the report should be returned to Dr. Samuel Besong to be corrected, and that an audit should follow after the report was amended. (The report is attached as Exhibit A) (Report # 6)

Following this complication, I then assigned incoming Financial Secretary, Ms. Patience Ebini, to contact the outgoing Financial Secretary, Ms. Joan Essim, to smoothen the transition. After several weeks of collaboration, she collected all receipts that were in Ms. Essim’s possession and they went to the bank and transferred signatures. However, there were about 3 Western Union receipts that Ms. Essim did not have copies of estimated to add up to about $6,000. Because the funds were transferred using former Chairman Joseph Eyong’s Western Union discount card, only he could request a duplicate receipt from Western Union. After about six attempts to get him to go to Western Union with her to request copies of the receipts, including one time when late Justice Ekortarh was in DC, Ms. Essim gave up.

At the Dallas Convention in 2006, an issue was raised about the $6,000 discrepancy between Late Justice Ekortarh’s financial report and the Joe Eyong Administration’s report. I pointed out that the Eyong administration report included $5,933 that was spent at the beginning of the project before Justice Ekortarh was recruited as Legal & Financial Representative of MECA-USA in Cameroon. (See Exhibit B) Unfortunately, Chairman Joseph Eyong never showed up to answer the specific issues about the Western Union receipts that got lost in his possession. I therefore convened a leadership meeting in Maryland to give the former chairman an opportunity to address the issue. Again he did not show up. I convened a third meeting at his home in Silver Spring, but this time only me, Philip Tabi, Cletus Ayuk and Angel Tabe showed up for the meeting.

Up to date, the issue about the missing Western Union receipts and its related $6000 transferred to Cameroon, but never received by Late Justice Ekortarh has not been clarified. Most of the information above was gathered through interviews with the Eyong Administration’s Financial Secretary, Ms. Joan Essim.

End of the first Solomon Egbe Administration, July 2005:

At the 2005 MECA-USA Convention in Boston, the outgoing administration did not present a financial report. The issue was raised on the convention floor to attack my candidacy to run for a second term. My supporters argued that my outgoing Treasurer, Ms. Elza Etchu intentionally withheld the financial report to frustrate my campaign because she was not in my new administration, and was supporting my opponent. I explained the attempts I had made to get the Treasurer to produce the financial report without success, and won the elections by landslide. I hereby attach various documents (communications) between me, my Financial Secretary and Treasurer asking for the financial report. The documents also include the Treasurer’s e-mail to me warning me to get off her back about the report, and that she will make it available at the convention. (See Exhibit C1, 2, 3 and 4).
All the relevant documents pertaining to the first Solomon Egbe administration were handed over to the Peter Ako Administration on July 29th, 2007.

End of the Solomon Egbe Administration, July 2007:

At the 2007 MECA-USA Convention in Houston, members of the Ako/Besong Team spent hours questioning me (even though I was not running for office) until about 7PM. As we ran out of time to prepare for the elections, several steps of the electoral process were skipped, including the collection of administrative documents by the Council of Chiefs. The election ended up in chaos amidst allegations of fraud, most specifically because the Ako/Besong Team was declared winners by one vote which was cast by a member who had been suspended by MECA-DC. In addition to that, I personally observed MECA-DE registering members from different states on the floor, so long as they supported the Ako/Besong Team. Supporters of the Tabi/Mondi Team did not have this option because no other chapter was that blatant in their violations of the electoral rules. They immediately filed a petition to contest the results and threatened to file a lawsuit if the matter was not promptly addressed.

With all the confusion surrounding the elections, everyone left Houston without a proper handing over ceremony taking place. When I got to Maryland, I notified the Council of Chiefs that I will hand over all the documents that were supposed to be handed over to the Council of Chiefs to them through the MECA-DC Chapter Chief, Mr. Cletus Ayuk. The documents, which included all documents pertaining to the office of the Chairman of MECA-USA were handed over to Mr. Cletus Ayuk on July 29th 2007, for forwarding to the Council of Chiefs.

They included: (1) MECA-USA 501C3 documents; (2) MPC Land Title; (3) MECA-USA Financial Statement from the 2007 convention; (4) E-Mail from MECA Houston Chief acknowledging receipt of $2,525 sent to him as loan from MECA-USA to help finance the convention; (5) MPA Expense & Revenue Summary from 2000 through 2007; (6) MPC performance agreement and update letters from Ekor-Tarh and Tambe Carl; (7) Application with Standard Insurance Company to give universal life insurance coverage to all MECA-USA members; (8) Survey documents to create MECA-USA Credit Union; (9) Copies of all Western Union Transactions carried out by the two Solomon Egbe administrations; (10) Various receipts of reimbursed and un-reimbursed expenses during Chairman Solomon Egbe’s tenure; (11) Various letters from IRS; (12) Consent decree between Chairman Solomon Egbe and MPC contractor Tambe Carl regarding repairs on the MPC building; (13) Registration documents for MECA.org web site; (14) MECA-USA Official stamp and seal. These are the material that I used to run MECA-USA for the 4 years that I was chairman, and coupled with the $2,525 that Houston promptly forwarded to the Ako/Besong administration, there was sufficient resources for the association to move forward smoothly. (See Exhibit D)

Technical Difficulties in the transfer of authority:

First of all, the Ako/Besong Team kept insisting on transfer of books. They went all over the airwaves whining that my administration did not transfer “the books” to them. I explained the difference between “transfer of power” and “transfer of books”, but they kept to their story, so I kept quiet. I knew that I had already transferred the books in my possession, and that the information will eventually come out. I also realized that with the type of pompous attitude that the incoming administration was exhibiting, they could never bring themselves to the point of engaging my administration properly to discuss the process of “transfer of power”. Instead, they spent their time insulting us on the internet in an effort to bully us to the point of “magically transferring powers to them” without a formal process. We understood that they could not figure out how to proceed, but with all the negative attacks on us, we decided that we would not volunteer assistance if it was not specifically requested by them. Blinded by ego, they resorted to accusing my administration of embezzlement, as a means of pressuring us to rescind our position. We stood our grounds, and the new accusations even pushed us further to request an “independent audit” before our finance team would even have any conversation with them about transferring their documents over. Up till today, they are blocking an independent audit.

The Lawsuit:

In the meantime, the Tabi/Mondi Team announced that they were going to file a lawsuit against the Ako/Besong Team and John Etta’s Council of Chiefs for stealing the elections. As we anticipated the lawsuit, I did a due diligence of the association and found out that its incorporation status had lapsed. I did not know this earlier because the former Chairman, Joseph Eyong, remained the resident agent after he left office. In August 2007 I went to the Secretary of State’s office and revived the association and changed its resident agent to me. The dispute between the Ako/Besong Team and the Tabi/Mondi Team ensued until October when the matter moved to court. The Tabi/Mondi Team accused the Ako/Besong Team for stealing the elections with the complicity of John Etta and the Council of Chiefs. John Etta and Ako Peter responded, on behalf of MECA-USA, claiming that the Tabi/Mondi Team filed the lawsuit to cover embezzlement by my administration.

I filed an inter-pleader, arguing that the real party qualified to defend the interest of MECA-USA is me, and that I needed to know who the legitimate leader was, so I could hand over to them. I also argued that MECA-USA’s position was that both parties should come together in a conflict resolution forum within the association and resolve this matter peacefully instead of wasting the association’s limited resources on a lawsuit. I strongly objected to the use of an external attorney who was causing the association tens of thousands when we could use pro bono attorneys within the association for free and use those funds to help the poor and sick in accordance with our charitable mission. While the Tabi/Mondi Team funded their lawsuit with donations from their supporters, the Ako/Besong-John Etta Team funded their legal bills through some insidious means with MECA-USA funds with the complicity of some chapter chiefs who did not secure the opinion of their chapter members to disburse such large sums of money for a purpose that was not charitable in nature. In the end, Theodore Nkwenti, Esq., was the attorney for the plaintiffs on record; Jonathan Shurberg, Esq., was the attorney for the defendants Ako/Besong and John Etta; Solomon Egbe, Esq., was the attorney on record for MECA-USA. (See Exhibit E).

The Mediation:

Eventually, Mr. Emmanuel Ekumah, Dr. Daniel Essim and Ms. Patience Ebini and several others from both camps, organized mediation through teleconference, where the Tabi/Mondi Team agreed to drop the case in exchange for the Ako/Besong Team to call a reconciliation conference. The issue of whether my administration would “transfer the books” after the lawsuit was dropped came up, and I was contacted by the Tabi/Mondi Team. I agreed, on condition that and “independent audit” of my administration is part of the reconciliation process. The Tabi/Mondi Team dropped the lawsuit, and the Ako/Besong Team reneged on their promise to call a reconciliation conference. They came to me for “the books”, and I told them to setup an independent audit of my administration. Just because they did not want to implement an idea that came from me, they refused and Ako Peter resorted to attempt to suspend me and three other members of MECA-USA from the organization. The suspension failed, primarily because my home chapter MECA-DC refused to implement it.

MECA-DC Investigation:

At its September meeting, the general assembly of MECA-DC decided that they should give my administration an opportunity to explain the “handing of the books” issue. They setup a meeting at the former chapter chief, Cletus Ayuk’s residence. At that meeting I explained that I had handed over the books to Cletus Ayuk 14 months earlier, and was disappointed that when all this issue about “handing over the books” came up, that he never said anything. He explained that he sent an e-mail to John Etta and Peter Ako the day after I handed the books to them and explained that they had been transferred. Everybody at the meeting which noted that they had never seen anything from Peter Ako or John Etta acknowledging receipt of anything from my administration, and that they may have intentionally misled MECA members into believing that we were just refusing to hand over books. Mr. Cletus Ayuk then added that when he contacted my Treasurer to hand over his files, my Treasurer said he would hand them over only if I gave them the go ahead to do so. The members then asked if I would give the go ahead for my Treasurer to hand over the files, and I said yes – so long as my administration was audited first, so that Ako Peter and John Etta can show where they embezzled money. The members pointed out that the Ako/Besong Team is alleging now that they never said my administration embezzled money, and I produced a copy of their answer to the Tabi/Mondi complaint which accused the Tabi/Mondi Team of trying to cover up my administration’s embezzlement.

The minutes were taken by the current MECA-DC Chapter Chief, Chief Etchu Tabenyang, who presented his report to the general MECA-DC meeting. The chapter then decided to setup an independent audit team comprising 1 representative of my administration, 2 auditors appointed by the Ako/Besong Team, and two “independent auditors” appointed by the general assembly. The chapter appointed its 2 auditors, Peter Ako appointed his 2 auditors, and I was the last to appoint my 1 auditor. I was asked to tell my Treasurer, Financial Secretary and Cultural Officer to turn over all MECA-USA material in their keeping to the coordinators of the audit – Mr. Victor Etta and Mr. Maurice Tabe. All the material requested were transferred before the due date. On the date of the audit, all the auditors showed up, but before the audit could begin, the Ako/Besong auditors withdrew. They refused to participate in the audit, that Peter Ako who appointed them had no authority to appoint them. Since then, all the material remained with the auditors and/or coordinators, and none was ever requested to be returned to my administration. However, at the convention, the Ako/Besong administration tried to use the police to remove members of my administration from the hall, that we still held MECA-USA material. The MECA-DC members, knowing that this was a blatant lie as the material was with auditors almost started a riot against the decision. Their attempt to remove my team from the hall was stopped by the masses in the most embarrassing manner. These “books” have been with auditors since March, and up till today they are still refusing to participate in an audit.

Conclusion:

The truth is that the Ako/Besong Team focused so much on “handing over of the books”, when they should have focused on “transfer of power”. They went through four lawyers trying to strong arm me, but realized that they could not do anything, and certainly nothing could be done without the “audit” or “accounting” that I had requested. Not wanting to give in to my demands for and audit, they figured they could insult, blackmail and tarnish my reputation to force me into submission. They underestimated the amount of goodwill I have cultivated in the community over the years and were frustrated by their inability to destroy the loyalty of my supporters. By the time they realized that they had to focus on “transfer of power”, they had already antagonized my administration so much that they could not call them to discuss the transfer process as is normally required. Unfortunately, there is no other way to do it besides discussing the transfer process with the outgoing administration, or going to court.

MECA-USA TRUTH & RECONCILIATION CONFERENCE SPEECH BY LADY K. ETTANDIP ARRAH-MANYI

Manyu Elements, Comrades, Ladies and Gentlemen:

When MECA-USA was formed 20 years ago, hardly did I know that many of us will still be standing here as friends and family, to bear witness to MECA-USA’s 20th Anniversary. Today marks the true testimony that Satan has powers which can NEVER stand the power of God’s graces in humanity. Today marks the first day of TRUTH and RECONCILIATION for the TRUE believers and the real devoted members of MECA-USA. Yes, we are the Flag Bearers of Love for MECA!

We have come far and near to stand witness and fight for the RESUCITATION OF MECA-USA from the worst test of TRIALs and TRIBULATIONS, this Family Association in the Diaspora, had to endure. I congratulate and welcome you for your selflessness in spending monies that your family needs!

Those who kept telling me over and over: “Lady K, stop promoting this your LOVE & PEACE BECAUSE MECA-USA WILL NEVER DIE…” have become the same people slaying our brain child, the very MECA-USA that they have been purporting to protect. These same brothers & sisters are dividing MECA-USA into various factions from the United Kingdom to the United States of America.

Today, LET God be our guide and Savior so his wisdom may direct us and make MECA-USA not only live forever, but prove that there’s only one MECA-USA that will be recognized in the United States of America. That, Ladies and Gentlemen, will be the one and only MECA-USA holding our original Records of Incorporation and MECA-USAs 501©(3) from the State of Maryland. Today, we have paid flight tickets; and others have driven miles and miles across the United States, to STAND TOGETHER for the UNITY OF THE MANYU PEOPLE. We have come to BEAR WITNESS TO OUR TRUE LOVE FOR THE PEOPLE OF MANYU AT HOME, ABROAD, and in the United States of America! Let’s learn: “I AM SORRY!”

MECA-USA WAS FORMED TO UNITE, NOT TO DIVIDE US. MY UTMOST PRAYER IS THAT COME THE NEXT 20 YEARS, WE WILL BE HOLDING HANDS TOGETHER, PAYING HOMMAGE TO THE 40TH ANNIVERSARY OF MECA-USA. Ladies & Gentlemen, I am appealing to you, that, we Manyu Sons and Daughters in the World, should start emulating Barrack & Michelle Obama’s spirit of LOVE, UNITY & RESPECT for Family, Community and Country:

* To our men: Remember that what makes a Real Man is his ability to stand by his word! Let us start a new lease in life by learning to say I’m SORRY when MISTAKEN. The Manyu Man must learn to LOVE himself, his WIFE and CHILDREN. Let us show love and respect to our WOMEN. Let us stop the verbal, emotional and physical abuse of our women and children.
The ugly words: “AKPARA Woman” must be eradicated from the lips of ALL Manyu Men from today forwards! You must protect your homes, your marriages & your families. Please show dignity to all Manyu Women because they are: your Mothers, Sisters, Wives, Daughters, and your beloved friends! You must respect your women as life partners with equal goals and dreams that need nurturing. Please learn to love, pamper and nurture your wives and teach your wives to love, pamper and nurture you, so you can both be fulfilled/happy and sleep better every night!


* To Manyu Women: Please, LOVE and RESPECT yourselves! Love, respect, pamper, and support your husband’s ambitions, (as he would yours). Make your man the HEAD of your Marriage & Family! For, a marriage without LOVE, RESPECT, and SUPPORT is like home built on sand, without a solid foundation. It will eventually CRUMBLE. And, many have crumbled! I am appealing that we start respecting ourselves as Manyu People. I beg that we start respecting our homes & families which are in distress and disarray. Let us start loving, respecting/humbling ourselves in the presence of God. Let us start promoting the fear of God which is the beginning of wisdom for our children and the Manyu Family.

Manyu People, let us start loving and respecting our Holy Matrimonies and God given Friendships. Ladies & Gentlemen, Let us reunite MECA-USA for ourselves, our children, our future and the future & sustenance of MANYU Division. Standing here today, I have no apologies or excuses for our brothers and sisters who could not join us today, due to their unforgiving souls or ill-fated tendencies. Today, let us not give room in the Manyu Community for envy, lies by our men & women, vile gossips, evil-mindedness, jealousy, divisiveness and HATRED. Today, let us start becoming our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers by promoting Love & Peace in the Manyu Family! OUR MARRIED Men Women, called: Manyu COUPLES, must show love respect for our single brothers and sisters so they too can find husbands & wives and be UNITED in holy matrimony.

Our Community is riddled with lack of respect, innuendo, gossip and hatred. Any community that doesn’t have respect & the love of family is amoral and lost! We are not immune! We must learn, and strive to SURRENDER ourselves to the LOVE of GOD our CREATOR, so he may GUIDE, UNITE, and KEEP us TOGETHER For-Ever. Let us LOVE & Cherish one-another like only another Manyu Son or Daughter would; as we are the only People whose UNITY will eventually build Manyu Division. Therefore, let us STAMP out envy and hatred!

LONG LIVE MANYU ELEMENTS CULTURAL & DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION (MECA-USA). Long Live Manyu Division; Long Live the Republic of Cameroon; Long Live the United States of America in which we live.
MY LOVE to YOU as ALWAYS, and May the LOVE of God Be with You All!

LADY K. ETTANDIP ARRAH-MANYI
* MOTHER OF MECA-USA.
* The last daughter of: Papa Moses Ettandip (Talangaye in Ossing Kingdom) and the Lovely Mami Frida Manyi-Etta (of Batchuo-Ntai Kingdom).
* Former Vice Chairwoman of MECA-USA 1995-1997.
* Former Chairwoman: MECA-California 1998-1999.
* Former Vice President: the Cameroon Group Los Angeles, CA (CAMG-LA) 2005–2009.
* Former President: the Cameroon America Community Assoc., (CAC-LA) 1992-1993.
* Former President, Cameroon Students Assoc. (CAMSA-USA), Lubbock TX, 1986-1989.
* Legal Scholar and Civil Rights.

Address by Patience Ebini: Candidate for Vice Chairperson MECA USA

Dear Brothers & Sisters,

I am very pleased to be here today for the Peace and Reconciliation Conference. I am also honored to present a report of the events before and after the MECA USA Convention 2009 in MECA DC that led to an aborted election but the Council of Chiefs(COC) decided to hand over power to the Ako-Besong Team to lead MECA USA for the next two years. It is unfortunate and disappointing that none of the Ako-Besong team members or supporters is here today for an initiative to set the ball rolling for reconciliation and seeking common grounds for the sake of the organization and Manyu. Nevertheless, with such an impressive crowd, it shows that there are so many of us who are willing to move forward.

BACKGROUND:

As most of us, if not all of us present here today already know, Prior to the convention, a lot of things transpired that left several people asking last minute questions but no answers were provided by the ruling team(Ako-Besong). The most pressing issue was the abrupt change of the convention venue (about two days before the convention). The initial venue that was reserved by the MECA DC chapter chief, months before, despite all warnings from some members in the community about fire code violations, was subsequently, not available because the Montgomery County Fire Dept. eventually shut it down. Due to time constraints, he sought the assistance of a few members to search for a venue. Mr. Etchu Samuel (former MECA-DC Chief), one of the committee members, quickly identified a hall that he has been doing business with the owner for more than ten years. Mr. Etchu has signed numerous contracts over the years on behalf of MECA and individuals for events in that hall without any problems. With the approval of the President, he reserved the hall, a security deposit of $500(non refundable) from MECA DC was paid toward that on or about June 3rd, 2009. A few days before the convention, reliable sources from the Ako/Besong team notified a few people that there had been a series of teleconferences going on about excluding certain people from participating in the convention by bringing in police officers to enforce restraining orders against those four MECA DC members. Thereafter, Mr. Etchu started receiving calls from the President and the MECA DC Treasurer to quickly cancel the contract in his name and let the President solely sign the contract. Mr. Etchu insisted that he should be given a valid reason for doing so because it was too close to the convention and it made no sense. The President got some elders involved and requested a meeting for them to ask Mr. Etchu to immediately rescind the contract. The meeting did not hold because it did not make sense that a couple of days to the convention, without compelling reasons, the convention venue should be changed. Despite efforts to get him or any other person added to the contract, the President insisted that it had to be him solely or the contract must be rescinded. Otherwise, he and his cohorts will not have exclusive control over the events in the hall. Eventually, the President, went ahead single-handedly, using MECA-DC funds to secure a more expensive hall for the convention just for them to be able to carry out their motives.

DJ Issue:
As part of the convention program, the name of the DJ was not included but instead referred to as DJ Manyu. This was also a part of the larger scheme to exclude certain people from the hall. Following serious arguments within the MECA DC group against the will of the President and some of his folks, Mr. Oben Ernest was confirmed by the meeting as the DJ for the convention. Following a personal issue between him and one of the dissenters (Mr. Larry Eyong-Echaw), a complaint for a restraining order was filed against Mr. Ernest Oben by Mr. Eyong-Echaw claiming that the new convention venue was his school, in anticipation that it would be granted just prior to the convention date to exclude Mr. Oben from participating in the convention, thereby stopping him from being the D.J. This scheme was also futile because by the time Mr. Oben was served, he was already installed in the hall.

Petitions to the IEC:

As you all read on open forums before the convention, the Agbor/ebini team filed several petitions with the IEC proactively with their concerns about electoral issues. One of them was the absentee ballots that were anticipated to be the most problematic issue as far as the election. Despite the specifics of that petition, the IEC never acted upon their constitutional mandate to respond to the petitions because the IEC Coordinator, Dr. Ann Asam, a staunch supporter of the Ako/Besong team ignored the petitions and never brought them to the attention of the IEC body. Thereby, leaving the agbor/ebini team and its supporters with no other options but bring their case to the convention floor to be addressed and resolved. All the agbor/ebini team requested was for proper constitutional procedures to be adhered to and proven for all absentee ballots. Despite several open disclaimers by members who were registered in DE to vote in abstentia without their knowledge, they still had them for absentee ballots. Some of them made it to the convention only to testify that they were not affiliated with any MECA USA chapters. How could we have accepted that?

At The Convention:
Despite all the wahala, the excitement of people being at the convention was extremely impressive. People argued but still chatted and hugged one another. However, on Friday was the prelude when Dr. Samuel Besong, former Vice Chairperson of MECA USA instructed the MECA DC President to stop Mr. Assam Assam Eyong from talking on the microphone because he claimed he was not a member of MECA USA. According to him, Assam was one of the members that were suspended from the organization by the Ako/Besong administration. Thanks to one of the moderators who later clarified on Saturday that the previous administration had handed the books to MECA DC appointed individuals long ago in the process of the chapter intervening to resolve the stalemate. Mr. Assam was then stopped and asked to hand over the microphone which he did not comply.

On Saturday, the deliberations went well. Then, came time for the electoral process to start. The IEC was installed and the Council of Chiefs Coordinator, John Etta (a fervent supporter of the AKO/BESONG Team) announced to the Manyu people that four individuals who were already admitted into the hall and paid their convention registration fee would not be allowed to vote. In addition, there were four restraining orders against them not to be in the hall. Two police officers were ushered immediately into the hall to make sure that those individuals vacated the hall immediately. For once, the reactions of the Manyu people took the schemers by surprise as they shockingly watched the officers stand dumfounded by the overwhelming reactions/resistance from the crowd, screaming at the top of their voices that it was not going to happen. The restraining orders and the officers were rendered powerless. The Ako/Besong team was left extremely dejected, humiliated and frustrated.

Then, came, the issue of absentee ballots that the IEC body could not move on with their deliberations because of a "deadlock". Dr. Ann Assam vehemently refused to make available all the absentee ballots for review to the IEC members. Although she reported to the General Assembly that by a vote of 6 to 3, the IEC had accepted to admit absentee ballots, she was confronted right there by IEC members who expressed that it was a blatant LIE as they never voted based on her refusal to present the ballots for review if they EACH met constitutional requirements and payments. Dr. Ann Asam, IEC Coordinator shamefully retracted her statement claiming that it was a mistake.

Although, Mr. John Etta, and the Ako/Besong supporters were given opportunities to continuously present the issue to the assembly as though the agbor/ebini team was acting as if it was unaware that the constitution allows for absentee ballots, they never gave any of the agbor/ebini team members the opportunity to clarify its position too. However, eventually, people like Seseko Ebini, Mr. Ekumah Emmanuel, spoke and outlined the real issues of the absentee ballots and asked that each and every aspect of the constitution must be applied strictly and at this point that it had become a serious contentious issue, the ballots should be reviewed not only by one person (Dr. Ann Assam) but by the entire IEC. There were a host of conventioneers that expressed their disappointments about the creation of absentee ballots in MECA.
While Mr. Cletus Ayuk requested that all the IEC members be allowed to express themselves, it was also suggested to the MECA DC President that all the absentee ballots should be handed over immediately to four identified individuals and possibly any other interested members( Ms. Joan Essim, Seseko Ebini, Mr. Cletus Ayuk, & Mr. George Ashu) in conjunction with the IEC, who will review and validate each and every one of the requests per the constitution and bring the results to be added to the electoral votes. All IEC members had an opportunity to finally speak and express their concerns about the absentee ballots. At the end, the IEC Coordinator spoke and explained how the ballots were sent to her i.e. by compiled lists from some chapters like California as opposed to individual members. She expressed that the constitution was vague and ambiguous on the absentee ballot issue making applicability impossible. Basically, by the time she finished, she made it clear to all how she bent the rules to admit all absentee ballots from the Ako/Besong team. The assembly was left with no other option but screaming that the absentee ballots be thrown out. Even a family member to Dr. Peter Ako that was singled out from the crowd to express how she felt about the absentee ballot, said on the microphone, "Throw them out". This brought Dr. Ako staring into her eyes in shock and she repeated her words without blinking. The MECA DC President, and others pushed as much as they could to bring MECA CA to the ballot box and save the absentee ballot review for last to no avail as people were bent on having the ballots reviewed before the electoral process could start. Some IEC Members resisted the process and expressed that reviewing and validating the ballots was a domain exclusively for the IEC and none other. Therefore, the ballots must be handed back to the IEC Coordinator. Following heated arguments and obstructing MECA CA members from casting any ballots into the box, the next thing we knew was the sudden declaration from initially, Dr. Bessem Besong, IEC member from DE & Wife to former vice chairperson, Dr. Besong. Thereafter, Dr. Ann Asam made an announcement cancelling the election and asking everyone to leave the hall immediately. Dr. Ako & Dr. Besong quickly brought the police officers back into the hall and they declared the meeting adjourned and making it clear that there was no election. People could return to the hall at 10 p.m. for the gala. The scheme to defraud the election was unraveled, frustrated and out of shame, the election was called off.

COC & Its Plans for MECA USA:

The Council of Chiefs confirmed on the convention floor that NEC handed all documents to COC. At the time when the IEC took over, it was incumbent on them to make it clear that the office of the chairman was vacant until a new one was elected since NEC is not appointed.
Although COC decided to hand over power to the Ako/Besong team until 2011, despite clarion calls for a caretaker or interim government until elections occur at a future date, the agbor/ebini team and other chapters voted against that decision because it was illegitimate and sets bad precedence for MECA USA.

The agbor/ebini team thanks all the manyu people for their enormous support and will continue to stand for initiatives to bring justice and efforts toward reconciliation and unity back into our MECA USA.

May God Bless Us All. Patience Ebini, MSW, LL.M
Candidate for Vice Chairperson
Agbor/Ebini Team 2009

Welcome Address by Major Fidelis Agbor, Chief, MECA-GA

My dear brothers and sisters, I want to take this time to welcome you to Georgia, the Peach State. You will find several attractions in Georgia that will keep you busy and entertained. You will find several attractions like the Georgia zoo with lots of exotic animals, the Georgia Aquarium, the largest in the world and lots more. A few weeks ago, we were plagued with flooding, one of the worst natural disasters in the Georgia. A lot of Manyu residents were affected by the flood. Some lost their houses and one with a small business had more than 40 cars immersed under water. My brothers and sisters, I want to say that we are now recovering from the flood. We have to. With your support today, we should be able to start the process of forgetting the past.

My brothers and sisters we all know why we are here today. The events in 2009 DC Convention spilled over to Georgia. MECA-GA voted not to recognize the NEC that was put in place by the Council of Chief. Currently, MECA-Georgia is operating independent of any illegitimate administration until this Assembly today decides the way forward. We trust in you to deliberate and come up with something that will guide this Association for the next two years or create a workable model for this Association.

Before I conclude, I would like to bring you the good news of the Georgia Elections that took place in September. I have been the chief of MECA-GA for the last four years, and my term has now come to an end. The head of the new executive that will lead MECA-GA into the future is none other than Sessekou Philip Tabi. Please join me in congratulating our new Chief, Sessekou Philip Tabi. On behalf of MECA-GA, I want to say, Welcome and wish you a constructive deliberation.

Major Fidelis Agbor
Chief, MECA-GA