OROKO-CULTURAL-ASSOCIATION-USA 08/31/2019
2505 Greenes Lane
Powder Springs
GA 30127
Atlanta Convention 2019
General Assembly Meeting Minutes
The general assembly meeting for the Atlanta 2019 convention began at 1.00 p.m E T with opening prayers by Tata Rev. Dr. Samuel Esale. This was followed by opening remarks by the National President Iya Dr. Clementine Ebenye Nanje. She began by drawing our attention to the theme of this year's national convention which is aimed at raising funds for humanitarian assistance of internally displaced persons in Oroko land. She mentioned that, she has worked in collaboration with the LM Nanje foundation to help internally displaced persons in Oroko land, by sending a container of goods worth about $25,000. She continued by saying tbat OCA-USA has also carried out voluntary fund-drives to help Oroko people in the U.S.A and beyond. She proceeded by saying that our 501(C) (3) status has not yet being put to use since it was re-instated. To this point, Tata Jackson Nanje, drew the National President's attention to the fact that, she can as well create a committee in charge of our 501(C) to help facilitate its usuage.
Still on issues of concern within the confines of OCA-USA, the national president drew the attention of the audience on the issue of division within the various clans that make up OCA-USA. She stressed the need for our various clans working together under the umbrella of OCA-USA so as to facilitate the mission, vision and objectives of OCA-USA without which it will be difficult for us to move forward in unison if we do not work like one people. Still in her address, she drew the attention to the fact that the future of Oroko is in the younger generation and that we as Oroko people should start looking on how we can invest in our youths for the posterity of our Oroko heritage.
After the address by the National President, Tata Blessed Efilo Ngoe who is also a National Executive Adviser took the floor to talk about Oroko Investment Fund ( ORIF) which he said, he was part of its creation in collaboration with other young Oroko people who want to start up investments that will benefit Oroko as a whole. He talk of investing money into ORIF by buying shares worth about $20 which will help to sustain the Oroko Investment Fund and at the same time yielding dividends for the investor as a means of creating wealth. It should be noted that the full program for ORIF will be uploaded to our OCA-USA website so that members can go and get the details of how this investment fund works.
After the presentation of the program, the Secretary General of OCA-USA Tata Emmanuel Ikoe, read the minutes for the Chicago 2018 convention which was later adopted by the house.
The meeting proceeded with the various chapters presenting their reports beginning with the mother chapter of Atlanta Georgia. The president of the Georgia chapter Tata Evaristus Nanje took the floor to talk about their achievements and also seize the opportunity to thank members present at the convention for coming to Atlanta to witness tbe event. He mentioned that this will be the last time he will address the people as president of Georgia chapter and that he is grateful for the support he received from his members who are about 27 in number, as the president of Georgia.
This was followed by the Tata Paddy Ndole who represented the Houston chapter president Tata Burnet Doiny. He mentioned that their chapter has about 21 registered members, with a Njangi and trouble bank to support their members and the Oroko course. He said one of their members was married and they had a baby shower.
This was followed by Washington DC chapter president Tata Mosongo Nanje, who mentioned that their attendance have continued to fluctuate from 10 to 15 members in their regular monthly meetings with 22 registered members which is slightly higher than last year. He said they also have an emergency fund to help their members in times of need. He said they also have a voluntary service fund which is a form of investment for their members and as of now that fund has rose to about $50,000. He said his term as president has long expired but they are still looking for someone to carry the mantle for the DC chapter and he encourage other people to grow in that endeavor. He said they are also planning to organize an end of year party this year.
Iya Florence Misodi of the New york/ New Jersey chapter took the floor to represent their president Iya Olive Beseka. She mentioned that their chapter has enrolled about 15 members and that as of now they have about $6000 in their coffers. She said one of their members Ms. Mediko got married.
The next was the Dallas president Tata Winston Okole. He mentioned that his chapter had an election last year and some members of his executive were re-elected and some new members were elected. He mentioned that Oroko Dallas bought a bag of rice for each of its members to grace the year last Christmas period. He said his chapter has about 29 registered members, and they decided to hire a bus to transport their members to Atlanta for the 2019 convention. He said their finances were of good standing and they have about $8000 in their coffers.
The president of Colorado chapter Iya Gwendoline Forseh took the floor to brief the audience on their newly created chapter. She mentioned that they have about 27 members, of which 8 of them were present at the Atlanta 2019 convention. She said their chapter is still to get their finances together since they still need to open an account which will help them to keep their financial records straight.
This was followed by the Boston chapter president Tata Janarius Nanje who mentioned that their chapter was doing great and that this will be his last convention as president of the Boston chapter. He said he will handover his position to the Secretary General of Boston chapter Tata Bertrand Etukeni Agbaw-Ebai while himself will become the president or CEO of the LM Nanje foundation.
The president of the Chicago chapter Tata Ebenezer Ekoi, took the floor to brief the delegates of their achievements thus far. He mentioned that their chapter was created in February of 2018 and as of now they have about 8 registered members. He mentioned that their finances were on a positive note and they are also trying to create a Njangi for their members. He said his chapter has received a check from the national but they have not yet cash the check because they want to discuss certain issues with the national before the check can be cashed. He also mentioned that they have not yet received theirs $250 for winning the dance competition in Chicago 2018 convention.
The first lady of the Minnesota chapter Iya Lydia Elangwe took the floor to represent the president of Minnesota Tata Thomas Elangwe. She mentioned that their chapter has 20 registered members. She said their chapter encourages members to save in their account but they do not yet have a fixed monthly amount yet and, as of now she don't know how much is in their coffers. She said they are planning to organize a fundraising gala by April of 2020 and she also wishes to seize this opportunity to thank the Public Relations Officer Tata Victor Nanje for coming to Minnesota to launch their new chapter on behalf of the National President.
Iya Theresia Esebato also took the floor to represent Florida. She said although they don't have a chapter yet, she wishes to seek for advice on how she can create a new chapter in Florida.
On his part, Tata Dr. Charles Misori also mentioned that, they too in Alabama are also trying to see how they can create a chapter since as of now they are about 6 active Oroko people in Alabama who are vibrant and can take it as a challenge to create a chapter in Alabama.
Still on chapter creation, Tata Goddy Namaya also mentioned that he too is planning to create a new branch in Seattle Washington. He continued by saying that, after 10 years of existence of OCA-USA, its time for us to buckle up and help our Oroko people.
The meeting proceeded with the introduction of the Oroko bible by Tata Rev. Dr. Sam Esale, who began by speaking in our dialect and stressing the need for us to be time conscious for our meetings by mentioning the fact that the person who is in charge of translating the Oroko bible Mr. Dan Frieden has been in the hall and waited long enough before we as members could even arrive. He continued by saying that we should abandone the issue of clan divide and work for a common good of OCA-USA. To this point, Tata Louis Etongwe weighed in to suggest that the issue of clan divide is also affecting the mother organization because some clans have chosen to organize their own convention before the main Oroko convention and that is not helping the situation. However, this point was debunked by Tata Rev. Dr. Esale who mentioned that the issue of clans having separate meetings can only help to strengthen the main organization since it will help individual clans to address certain issues before it can be brought to the main organization.
The meeting continued with Mr. Dan Frieden taken the floor to talk about our Oroko bible. He mentioned that he has been in Cameroon since 1997 and also a member of the Oroko Language Development Association(OLDA) and encourages members to support the association. He mentioned that Oroko consist of many different dialect which has been harmonized in order to come up with a language that can easily be understood by the various clans and they develop an orthograph used in the translation of the Oroko bible.
The meeting continued with the introduction of the keynote speaker His Royal Highness Tata Chief Raphael Esemoto by the co-moderator Tata Rev. Dr. Sam Esale. The keynote speaker began his speech by introducing himself as an engineer by profession in aureunatics and electrical engineering. He continued by saying that due to the current crisis, our people have suffered from burnt houses, hospitals, schools of which under the Geneva convention these places should never be affected. He continued by saying that our people are in the bushes suffering from mosquito bites and our children have engaged in prostitution and many have been denied the right to education. He says the issue now is how are we going to amend the situation back home and what is the way forward. He said we need to come up with a solution to resolve the suffering after this war is over. He said our people need basic assistance and our schools and houses needs to be rebuild. He said, there are three common words in our dialect that we as a people always used when faced with situation. These words he said are " Njaru", Njechio" and " Njesoforeh" which means I don't have, I don't know and I won't be able. He said we need to be positive and be transparent in our finances in our cultural certains. He said we as a people don't have anywhere to fall back in terms of finances since we don't have any credit union or cooperative and all previous attempts to establish these institutions have failed. He said our problem is that we are broke and that is why we don't get any respect. He said money is power and if you ask him he will say he loves money. He said because we don't have money we have allowed strangers to take over our lands. He rounded up his speech by proposing that we as a people can come up with a scheme whereby 1000 Oroko people can put together $2000 each before the end of 2020. The full speech will be available at our OCA-USA website. On his part, Tata Rev. Dr. Esale weighed in by saying that Oroko had great men in the past, the Mbiles, the Nwalipenjas, the Monyongos, just to name a few and where is the younger generation going to stand? So, we have to seek ways of preparing the younger generation for the future. He said Oroko today has a lot of intellectuals from Doctors to Lawyers to Engineers but we have to come up with ways of empowering our younger generation for a better tomorrow.
The meeting proceeded with the Financial Secretary and the Treasurer Iya Caroline Pufong and Iya Naomi Ebile respectively taken the floor to talk about our finances. The Financial Secretary Iya Caroline Pufong mentioned that we have $ 19, 766.92 in our coffers. $32,705 was raised at the Chicago 2018 convention and $ 6700 was given to the Chicago chapter. We had $5200 from registration and 60 people registered in 2018.
Iya Marie Esemoto also asked if the Financial Secretary could give more details to the finances because finances are of paramount importance to the organization and that they should be a way to present how money was spent to the view of the audience in order to increase the level of transparency. The Financial Secretary responded by saying that the detail of the finances will be made available at the OCA-USA website.
On his part, Tata Edmund Bakoma Nanje, asked what bank is OCA-USA dealing with? And does this bank pay OCA-USA a reasonable amount of interest for keeping huge amount of money with them? If the answer is No, he said then OCA-USA has to take that into consideration so that we can save our money where it can grow. To this point, the Financial Secretary and Treasurer mentioned that they will look into the issue to see that we are benefitting from the bank by saving huge amount of money with them.
On matters arising, Tata Adolf Ebile asked how can be put the suggestions and presentations of the Keynote speaker HRH Tata Chief Raphael Esemoto and Tata Blessed Efilo Ngoi into practice? He said most often we come up with suggestions but after a year nothing is been implemented and another convention comes and go. Tata Emmanuel Musongo Nanje also weighed in to asked if the Oroko Investment Fund ( ORIF) presented by Tata Efilo Ngoi was based in Cameroon or the U.S and how much to they have in their coffers and how can they manage funds from abroad if they are based in Cameroon and also how legimate is this organization? Tata Blessed Efilo Ngoi responded by saying that they are a small and medium size enterprise registered with the ministry of Finance in Cameroon and with respect to their funds he can only discuss it privately with Tata Musongo Nanje if he needs more details. Tata Emmanuel Nanje also asked the keynote speaker how does he want to manage 1000 Oroko people who are located in different areas on the globe in order for us to raised $2000 each as he suggest and where does he plan to keep such amount of money? The keynote speaker HRH Tata Chief Raphael Esemoto responded that, if you are a member of such an endeavor then you will know how it will work. He said there will be by-laws , with a committee on how it will work.
The meeting proceeded with elections of a new executive which was called to order by the co-moderator Tata James Namata Ngoe. The previous executive was dissolved and five delegates were appointed to the electoral committee. They include, Tata Rev. Dr. Esale, Tata Adolphus Ati, Tata Prince Fred Mediko, Tata Ebenezer Ekoi and Iya Mercy Ndole.
Before the election could commence, Tata Dr. Charles Misori suggested that, by next election we should come up with some sort of a ballot paper to avoid any means of duplicating the ballot paper in order to make the process more transparent and of standard. During the election, the incumbent president Iya Dr. Clementine Ebenye Nanje was the only contender and was unanimously voted an declared the winner by the elections committee for a second term. The meeting was adjourned at 6:15 p.m ET.
Done by:
Emmanuel Ikoe
Secretary General
OCA-USA
