PRESS STATEMENT
FROM: CCCUL MEMBER PETITIONERS
RE: REQUEST FOR GENERAL MEETING OF CCCUL TO REPLACE BOARD MEMBERS
On November 2, 2022, over 100 members, WHICH IS MORE THAN THE MINIMUM LEGAL REQUIREMENT OF 75 FOR SUCH MATTERS, petitioned the Board of Directors of the Central Cooperative Credit Union Limited(CCCUL), to convene a special general meeting to inquire into the management activities of some board-members with a view to having them replaced if necessary. The by-laws of the Cooperative Credit Union state that the general meeting is the supreme body of the CCCUL.
The Board is required by law to hold such a meeting no more than 20 days after receiving the petition. It is now 28 days and counting and it has become clear to the petitioners that the board is refusing to do so in violation of the provisions of the Cooperative Societies Act. When such a violation of the law occurs the assigned regulator from the FSU is required to step in and call the meeting. The regulator has given in writing direct instructions to the board to call the meeting. The directors seeming refusal to do so till now is in violation of the law and may be considered by members as defiant and mischievous behaviour. The Board of Directors is a voluntary group elected by the members to work on their behalf and as such the members have a right to inquire and if necessary for the purpose of preserving intelligent management to change the members AT ANY TIME if they so desire.
They should not be hampered by any in the pursuit of their right. Matters of finance and records warrant intervention by the members. Such behaviour by the nine-member board signals a dangerous and unwanted precedent and cannot under the Cooperative Act be allowed to go on unchecked. The petitioners condemn this blatant act of the takeover of the CCCUL board and call on those members of the board who reject this behavior to resign forthwith and further call on the Head of the Financial Services Unit(FSU) to intervene and dissolve the current board and hold fresh elections. The credit union is owned by the many and not by nine board volunteers who are required to work for the cooperative and not against it with an ‘us versus them attitude.’
Dennis Joseph
PRO for CCCUL Petitioners