LASPNET to elect New Board of Directorss

13 November 2014 -

Written by Laspnet

The Legal Aid Service Providers Network, LASPNET, will on 21st November 2014, elect new members to hold positions on the Board of Directors.The Positions up for contestation include Chairperson, Vice Chairperson, General Secretary, Treasurer, Regional Representatives of the North, West, East and Central regions.

Previously LASPNET has had a Board of Directors which was referred to as the Steering Committee, to provide policy oversight to the secretariat on behalf of the General Assembly and also guide the leadership of the Network. The board has the following committees : Human Resource and Administration, Project Planning and Technical Assistance, Financial & IT Systems, as well as Membership and Stakeholder Relations. These have a duty to work very closely with the secretariat in policy and institutional Governance of LASPNET.

Article VII (5) of the Amended LASPNET Constitution, provides for the procedure of election of office bearers as stipulated below:

(a) Any person from the member organization, interested in contesting for an elective position on the Board of Directors shall at least one(1) week prior to the elections send notice of his or her intention to the secretariat accompanied by a letter of support from his/her organization giving the consent that the person may undertake that extra duty.

(b) The secretariat shall compile a list of all names of people who would have expressed interest against the respective positions and send it to all member organizations at least three days before the Annual General Meeting at which elections are to be conducted.

(c) Any person who would not have expressed interest within the stipulated period, will be time barred and will not be eligible to contest for any post at the day of elections; save that should there be a position for which no interest has been expressed, that position will be open for contestation by members present and eligible to be voted for.

(d) At every Annual General Meeting in which elections are to be conducted, members present and eligible to vote shall elect a Returning Officer to preside over the elections.

(e) Nominations shall be made for each post and duly seconded.

(f) Any representative of a member organization eligible to vote shall move a motion to close nominations before voting proceeds.

(g) Each nominee shall be provided an opportunity to address the Annual General Meeting regarding their candidature.

(h) Voting shall be by secret ballot and the candidates with the highest number of votes will be announced as the winners for the respective positions. In case of a tie (equal number of votes), the returning Officer shall have a casting vote.

(i) Honorary members shall not be eligible to vote or be voted for in the leadership of the network.

(j) Only one representative of a fully paid up member organization shall have the right to vote at the Annual General Meeting

The election will take place during the Annual General Meeting for the Network.