The Constitution of Basse Association (BA), Inc

This Document shall be the Constitution of Basse Association (BA), Inc., and shall serve as the sole authority governing the Members and Officers of Basse Association (BA), Inc.

 ARTICLE I - Mission & Vision:

Section1.

a)    It shall be called Basse Association, Inc (BA), established to unify all descendants, residents, and well-wishers of the Township of Basse, The Gambia, West Africa for the ultimate purpose of its development..

b)    The main objectives of Basse Association (BA) shall include, but not be limited to, the promotion of charity, education, recreation, and/or any other cultural and/or social activities for the advancement of the township of Basse.   

Section 2.

a)    Tentatively, funds collected shall be utilized for charitable purposes to service the activities of the Association’s members and contribute towards the development of Basse Township.

b)    BA shall be non-political and shall not be drawn into any political affiliation. The income and property of the Association whenever and wherever derived, shall be applied solely towards the promotion of its main objectives, and no portion thereof shall be paid or transferred, directly or indirectly, by way of dividend, bonus, or otherwise, to the members of the Association or to its affiliated branches. 

c)     No member shall for any reason of his/her official duties be entitled to receive any salary or compensation for duties executed in the name of Basse Association Inc. (BA). However, nothing shall prevent the payment in good faith of a reasonable compensation to any member of the Association or to any persons thereof for any services actually rendered to the Association. 

ARTICLE II – Membership:

Section 1. Membership shall be open to all people upon fulfilling the requirement of paying the annual membership dues as stated in the Constitution. There shall be two types of memberships, Active and Non Active: 

a)     Active Members are those current in their membership fees payments.

b)     Non Active Members are those members that are not current on their membership due payments but had previously been Active. 

c)     One becomes an Active Member once they've paid their membership dues on or before January 31st of the calendar year.

d)    Only Active member(s) shall be eligible for nomination to run for elections as executive board member(s). 

Section 2. Membership fees, once paid, are non-refundable. Members are encouraged to donate funds beyond their dues. The dues shall be as follows: 

a)      $40 (Forty Dollars) in the Americas 

b)      £20 (Twenty Pounds) in the United Kingdom

c)       €25 (Twenty-five Euros) in the European Union

d)      $40, £20, or €25 (same as above) in Asia or Australia

e)       D100 (One hundred Dalasis) in Africa.

Section 3. Fundraising activities shall be conducted whenever necessary to supplement funds.  Being the life-blood of the Association, funds shall be constantly sought for to enable the Association to effectively execute its projects. The Association shall always be looking for every possible legal ways of increasing its pool of resources.

 ARTICLE III. MEETINGS:

Section 1. Since members shall be located in different parts of the world, mechanisms such as conference calls, the website forum, and any possible physical gathering of a handful of members shall be utilized to conduct meetings and communicate activities. 

Section 2.

a)    The following shall chair meetings, in order, accordingly: President, Vice President, or Secretary-General.

b)    Meetings shall be held as often as needed/required however, Executive Officers must meet at least once each quarter. .

c)     Quorum shall be a simple majority.  

d)     The president or Executive Board may call emergency meetings by giving members 48 hours’ notice when business cannot wait until the next regularly scheduled meeting.

e)     Outcome(s) of emergency meetings prior to execution must still be tabled to the rest of the members who were not able to attend the emergency meeting  

Section 3. Basse Association Inc. (BA)'s website shall be hosted as: https://www.mybasse.org to be managed and maintained by a Webmaster and a group of Editors. 

ARTICLE IV. EXECUTIVE BOARD MEMBERS: shall consist of the following:   

Section 1. PRESIDENT shall be responsible for

a)    The operational excellence of BA and the effective execution of its goals

b)    Presiding over meetings as stated

c)     The day to day activities of BA

d)    Liaising with the Executive in appointing committees.  

Section 3. VICE PRESIDENT shall

a) Assists and oversee operations in the absence of the President as stated above.  

Section 4. SECRETARY-GENERAL & DEPUTY SECRETARY-GENERAL shall

a)    Assist the President and Vice President directly.

b)    Keep meeting minutes

c)     Ensure that notices to the general membership are issued in a timely manner and in accordance with the constitution 

d)    Work closely with all Officers to ensure the proper record keeping for BA, including the membership list and status. 

e)     Organizing BA’s agenda with the help of the executive board and general membership.   

Section 5. CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER & DEPUTY FINANCIAL CHIEF OFFICER shall be responsible for

a)    Collecting member dues, maintaining strong financial management benchmarks including overseeing bank account (s)

b)    Ensuring accountability and transparency of all  financial disbursements pursuant to the Association's undertakings   

c)     Handling financial matters of the Association

d)    Maintaining regulatory supervision of  the day to day financial operations of the Association

e)     Working with the Executive on the selection of  financial officers to be designated in all the geographical locations of the general membership 

Section 6. FUNRAISING OFFICER shall

a)    Plan, execute and oversee fundraising activities as well as liaises with current & prospective donors

b)    Work with Association members to help raise funds

c)     Recommend dates, generate ideas and policy proposals for fund-raising ventures

d)    Confer with the executive committee first before communicating ideas to the general membership

e)     Work with the Executive on the creation of a fundraising committee 

Section 7. AUDITOR shall

a)    Be responsible for auditing the Association's financial records

b)    Conduct a bi-yearly audit to be certified by a trusted member of the Board of Directors not actively holding any executive position before presenting to the general public

c)     At anytime request an audit of the CFO by giving a 48-hour notice when fraud or misappropriation of funds are suspected 

Section 8. PUBLIC RELATIONS OFFICER shall

a)    Record activities, communicates key messages within the Association

b)    Liaise with and answer inquiries from, the media, individuals, and other organizations

c)     Maintain and update information on the organization's website with the help of the Webmaster and a team of editors 

Section 9. PROJECT MANAGER shall be responsible for

a)    The planning and supervision of projects.

b)    Managing projects and budgetary outlays as designed by the Association

c)     Identifying resources needed and assigns individual responsibilities for the successful implementation of project proposals

d)    Ensuring project documents are complete, current, shared with the Association and in safe keeping

e)     Liaising with the Executive for setting up a project management committee 

Section 10. SPORTS & CULTURAL OFFICER shall

a)    Oversee the management of all sporting and cultural activities.

b)    liaise with the Executive for setting up a sporting and cultural committee 

ARTICLE V. PROJECT(S) ACTIVITIES & IMPLEMENTATION:

Section 1.

a)    Projects to be identified at the beginning of each year following appraisals of target areas and in consultations with the natives of Basse on the ground.

b)    Projects to be prioritized based on the availability of financial resources and as studied and determined by the general membership.

c)     Funds and materials to be physically delivered in Basse based on the recommendations of the project committee(s)

d)    Local businesses and workers in Basse shall be given prior consideration by way of tender for any projects, and in the absence any such expertise relevant to the project at hand, outside contractors shall be considered following recommendations by the general membership. 

ARTICLE VI. NOMINATION, ELECTIONS & TERM LIMITS:

Section 1.

a)    The Secretary shall call for nominations from members of the Association for membership of the Executive Board at least three months before a General Elections

b)    Nominations shall be open for two weeks before the General Elections; any nomination received after that shall be deemed invalid

c)     Self nominations must be supported by another member of the Association before eligibility to run for office

d)    All nominees must be 18 years of age or older 

e)      The executive shall be elected by a democratic process of one vote per active member

f)      Elections shall be conducted through the means of Internet (Electronic) balloting/voting

g)     The Auditor, CFO and Secretary-General will be responsible for counting the votes

h)    The Auditor will certify the results to be given to the PRO for announcement to the general membership immediately following the elections 

i)      Executive members shall hold positions for a maximum term of three (3) years 

j)      Thus, elections shall be conducted on the weekend preceding February 18^th, 2010 and then, on the same timeframe, of every third year thereafter.

k)    Executive members shall be subjected to immediate termination upon embezzlement of funds with investigation pending legal actions

l)      Executive members shall be relieved from their duties by a two-third majority if they’re deemed not to be fulfilling their official roles

m)   Any Executive member that misses three (3) consecutive meetings without a reasonable excuse shall be found unfit in the execution of his or her duties and shall be relieved of their positions

n)    The Executive Board shall be responsible for replacing a Board member in the case of resignation, or any other reasons warranting replacements    

ARTICLE VII. CONFLICT OF INTEREST:

Section 1.

a)    Funds of the Association shall not be utilized for individual or business gains

b)    The Association shall belong to no political organization or participate in any activities promoting  political interests in contravention of the broad goals and objectives of the general membership

c)     The Association shall remain independent from political interference or any other interventions representing the interests of a few at the expense of the collective interests of the general membership  

d)    No member shall use the Association or any other member's information for personal or any other business dealings of any kind. Each member must act honestly, in good faith and must exercise the powers reposed in him or her regarding the management and representation of the Association in its interest and for its benefit. A member shall not exceed their powers as enshrined in the constitution and in accordance with the terms of his or her functional area

e)     Members must, furthermore, avoid any conflict between their interests and those of the Association, and in particular shall not derive unwarranted personal economic benefit from the Association, nor compete with it in its normal activities

ARTICLE VIII. DISSOLUTION:

Section 1.

a)    Upon its dissolution, the assets of the Association remaining after the satisfaction of all its liabilities shall be given to the Town Development Committee (TDC) resident in Basse.  In the absence of a TDC, the remaining assets transfer will be determined by the local Alkalo of Basse. 

b)    BA shall be dissolved if 95% of the active members withdraw their membership.  

ARTICLE VIIII. RESIGNATION:

Section1.

a)    A member of the Association may resign at any time by giving a written notice to the Executive Board.

b)    The resignation shall take effect from the date of receipt of the notice or at a later date specified. 

ARTICLE X. AMENDMENTS:

Section 1.

a)    Any member may call for an amendment discussion with a fifty percent majority

b)    Amendments to the by-laws must be approved by a two-thirds majority vote.

c)     In emergency cases, the Executive Board can amend the bye-laws with a two-thirds majority.

ARTICLE XI. RATIFICATION:

The bye-laws and any amendments shall only take effect after it is presented to the members for ratification. 

SIGNER(S):  The final document was accepted and adopted by a simple majority of The Basse Association, Inc. The final document was signed by the Chairperson (of the Constitution Committee)­­ _________________________, on behalf of the Association on _______ of ____________, 2009 as the Official Constitution of the Basse Association, Inc.