Bongob,
As the board Chairman, I am humbly pleased to inform The MECUDA USA community that the Board of Directors (BOD) met on November 2, 2014. But first I would like to express my gratitude to all of you for giving me the singular privilege to serve you, a job I promise to do with all my heart and might. In the same light, I want to commend the devotion of all the board members in attending to the problems and concerns of our great organization. There is no denying of the fact that we (board members) have to be not only the flag bearers of our organization, but also the defenders of the execution of its rules and regulations.

On the other hand, the board notes with great satisfaction the wonderful job that is being done by the president, executive and chapter presidents. You have all shown great leadership and the board urges you to continue doing so, to elevate MECUDA to a higher level that everyone would envy.
This was the first official board  meeting for this MECUDA year that started in July. The items discussed on the agenda included among others:

•        A presentation to the board from the Project and Development Committee
•        A presentation of the current financial state of MECUDA
•        The filling of the vacancy of one board member position
•        The introduction of the establishment of a running budget by the President of MECUDA henceforth.

On the point of presentation made by the Projects and Development Committee chairperson, the board was impressed by the excellent presentation and offered advice and caution on the approach to follow as we develop the idea of this great project. The board thinks like the project committee that this would be a uniting event, but there is a lot of research to be done before rolling it out to others out of the USA. The committee was advised to continue using the project nomination procedure currently in place as per our bye-laws.

A financial statement was presented and raised certain questions that needed clarifications. The board treasurer was asked to look into them and inform the board later. It is important to note that these were very minor issues with no great cause for concern. The board greatly appreciates the treasurer’s services to MECUDA.
On the issue of the vacant board member position to be filled. The board directed the president of MECUDA to proceed with urgency in the filling of this position as stipulated by the current by-laws. This board member will serve for the remaining term of this present board.

Regarding the introduction of an operational budget for the president, the objective is to reduce the frequency with which the president would have to request for expenditure of MECUDA funds from the board. The idea is to give the president more flexibility in the execution and usage of MECUDA funds. The president would be required to submit to the board a working budget for the current year within the first three months in office so as to permit spending flexibility. The budget would include both expenses and proposed income for the year and would be made public for everyone to see. Quarterly reports will be presented to all chapters as a form of transparency. We have been functioning blindly and have to wait for the end of the year to know where we stand financially. Like any other organization, we need to have financial goals to ensure not only the execution of our projects, but also what we intend to bring in.

The board also is pleased to announce that it already carried out the tax filings for last year, and we are in good financial standing with our 501C status. The board encourages all chapter presidents to follow the instructions stipulated by the documents sent to them in the organization of their fund raising activities for projects. MECUDA has only one 501C that extends to all the states and no other chapter should use or request any other 501C in the name of MECUDA. The IRS would see this as a duplication and may subject us to strict auditing. If any chapter now has another 501C that they are using, they need to stop doing so and should contact the board. That 501C should be discontinued to avoid any form of duplication that could jeopardize our organizational status.
There were other matters discussed that will be brought to the attention of the MECUDA community at appropriate times. The meeting was well attended by a 100% of the board members, the president of MECUDA, project committee chairman and some of sub-committee chairpersons.

To conclude, I would like to thank all of you for your unwavering support and contributions to MECUDA. Let us make it an organization to envy and that everybody’s contribution counts. As the Chairman of the board and on behalf of all board members, I want to promise you that the board would never let you down and will continue to protect and maintain the image of our great organization.
Thank you all very much for your attention.

Chairman BOD
Andrew Menyonga