Incorporation of EADBC-Kenya Chapter

[Laetitia Mulamula]

Dear EADBC folks,

It has come to my attention that the Kenyan representatives in the EADBC organization have been methodically eliminated from communications and ongoing planning events on Trade Missions to East Africa.

It reflects poorly on the maturity of the EADBC leadersship with the US-Embassy in Kenya sends me a flyer on the planned trade mission to East Africa, signed by EADBC, and in which participation is absent. 

I have take it that this is Ben Kazora's immature doing, following a personal disagreement that culminated in my dismissing him from a company that  we registered together last year. I see now that it was the right decision to have made given the lacking wisdom of cause.

Given the circumstances, I am proceeding to formulate a Kenyan Chapter of the EADBC organization. I will further communicate with the Kenya Embassy and relevant stakeholders that there are, in fact, at least two leagues within EADBC.

Given the ongoing factions and selective communications in the organization, I will further pursue the legality of EADBC financial transactions being so personally attached to the Tanzanian faction of the EADBC representatives.

I am available to offer any specific information required.

Best Regards,

Laetitia

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Laetitia Mulamula, MS. P.E. PMP

Vice President, Eastern Africa Diaspora Business Council (EADBC)

Email:        laetitia...@gmail.com

Email:        laet...@umd.edu

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EasternAfricaDiasporaBusinessCouncil
Website:   www.eadiaspora.org

Tel:           +1 (240) 429 2700

Twitter:      @MulamulaL

Skype:      laetitia.mulamula

[David Mureeba]

Dear Laetitia

 

Good morning.

 

The points you raise in your email are noted.   I think you, Ben and I have heard this discussion before and I have never subscribed to the idea that just because the EADBC President and  Vice President have differences of opinions on any policy , any one should be left out of communication. And definitely not  on-going EADBC programs such as the upcoming EAC Trade Mission from April 20 to April 29, 2015 to Kampala, Kigali & Arusha.

 

For your information, for  this event,  EADBC solicited the collaboration of ATBC, who you apparently know about, and the African Chamber of Commerce to increase participation as we need at 10 entities to be successful. This  being the case, there has been two levels of communications, namely the inner coordinating committee consisting of Ben for Arusha, Manu for Kigali, myself for Kampala plus our two teaming partners Samni of ACC and Tee of ATBC. This makes coordination easy. Then, there is the greater communication to EADBC in general to  up to date everyone and to solicit input especially where we run into undue challenges.

 

You must have not been copied on those communications the group that Ben initiated recently to keep the Group updated. I have only responded to such communication as needed and did not really take the time to see who was and who was not copied.  I hope whoever was left out, it was not by deliberate design and but rather an unfortunate oversight. We shall find out and correct the same.

 

My main concern right now is that EADBC does not operate in a manner that encourages, or even fosters  success. Case in point is that after 3 years since formation EADBC still did not have a website that lends itself to be used to advertise its  programs or even be used to collect funds from any would be participants.  When we launched this EAC Trade Mission,  I asked Ben to launch the event campaign on the EADBC site.  I was shocked to learn  we did not have capacity to do so.  Apparently, when you and Ben did the website, you solicited the help of two outsiders, Brandon and Ssennoga, but never go the Administrators copy of the code and procedures to be able to use the site. I now learn that is why during the August 5 event in DC, collecting attendance fees using  PayPal was a disaster  and we ended up letting everyone go in free and hence ended up losing about USD$14,000.    This is what sparked the beef between the President and Vice President and apparently it has become endemic.

 

A year later, that same issue had not been resolved, meaning that for the on-going EAC Trade Mission, an outside body ATBC is the one who posted the promotion materials on their site and is the one collecting registration fees  from prospective participants. So basically, we have outsourced the critical management of the Trade Mission and I leave the possible consequences to any one’s imagination.

 

I am not passing the buck  when I say that the day-to-day operations of EADBC is the main responsibility of the President and Vice President.  So, if we are having such operational challenges, what does that say?  The fact that the President and Vice President are in total miscommunication makes this even more alarming.  As the Chairman of EADBC, I should concentrate on top-level coordination of our overall strategic policy and  participate extensively in promoting our agenda as well as conducting  periodic  management Group Meetings. But, if you recollect I was taken aback by the number of people on our website listed as members of EADBC management  that have never showed up for even a single meeting or contributed any idea to what EADBC does. Subsequently,  I sent out a memo last December and requested everyone to recommit themselves to EADBC, and that those who have no time at this time to voluntarily drop off. EADBC would then  work as a much leaner organization and grow at a normal pace.   But guess what, I received no more than 5 responses. What does that say?

 

I am glad we were able to talk yesterday and I hope the emails I forwarded you will bring you up to date.  I suggest you do not take the course of action you suggest. It will only add to the so called  “immaturity of EADBC management” you are referring to. The fact that the US Embassy Nairobi is aware of our upcoming EAC Trade Mission later this month is a good thing. It proves that our current event promotion is reaching the right stakeholders.  And remember, we will  need these people when we start working on our next Trade Mission to Nairobi and other EAC destinations for later this year.  Giving them a negative feed can only work to our detriment.

 

Suffice to conclude by saying that our current effort has, in a way ,shown that EADBC does not seem to have the capacity to do a multi-city Trade Missions yet. We may be better served to do one city at a time until further notice. Ben claims that last year’s Trade Mission to TZ  was a great success. Maybe that is why weed to emulate the key points that made that so and stop looking for ways to postpone the current Trade Mission.

 

I hope that both you Laetitia, and everyone else copied,  will  find this communique positive such that we can all accept what we need to be doing instead of the current in-fighting.  Most of our EADBC colleagues don’t want  hear this, but there are things in life that cannot be postponed.  We need to real time action.

 

Cheers

 

Hon. Eng. David Mureeba, P.E

EADBC Chairperson

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US Eastern Africa Diaspora Business Council
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[Laetitia Mulamula]

Honorable et al,

Thanks for your response. 

I should first make the following clarifications of fact and opinion: 

a) I have not received a single - not one - email in reference to the upcoming EA event. I would assume that being an EA endeavor, and considering the fact that I (indisputably) have been in EA for the past two month - over which the planning has been underway - one would anticipate a Kenyan component to this worthy EA affair.

b) I have known of ATBC because they were invited to speak at the August event...I have mentioned this to you before. 

c) Ssenoga is not an outsider to EADBC. He is a BOD member and provided the necessary platform for a much-needed web presence for EADBC. It is proper to recognize him for contributing his resources to EADBC, if nothing else...something most so-called high-level executives in the organization have not done...even on operational transactions.

d) The two guys who worked on the website were paid by me, so we could EADBC up on the web. Let's give them due credit as well... I particularly hate to think that a group of immigrants into the US, who most likely have had to work while going to school could not bring themselves to encourage these young kids by some form of organizational stipend.

e) The issues surrounding non-payment of event subscriptions last august were due to the fact that Ben Kazora took it upon himself to open a new account, to which he was the only signatory...the Paypal account issues simply revolved around that...you know the facts honorable and I would like to think that you simply have forgotten the details ...you and I battled for with PayPal on this last August. It is not a trivial matter when one has to use their personal funds to fund an organizational function to the extent that they must get in the red for the negligence of an officer that has no business handling financial transactions in the first place. 

On the communications surrounding the Trade Mission and EADBC's general issues; it is a simple exercise to simply copy those who are not closely involved in the day to day planning of the EA Trade Mission, with covert indications that they are simply copied to keep them looped in. There is a perceived element of stealth in the way the Trade Mission Correspondence and Planning has been carried out. There is an even greater issue, when communications in which I am obviously accused to have incorporated a company that competes EADBC, are shared without my being included to clarify the facts of the issues being discussed... It is almost like we are in 3rd grade all over again with this virtual back-biting. Laughable,actually, but not surprising considering the petty nature of the key perpetrator and related chums.

One cannot even begin to defend the ongoing communications as being an oversight...accidental. We have all related with each other enough to determine why EADBC is trending as it is. There is one common denominator to this utter lack of mature, cognitive leadership. Unfortunately, the EADBC leadership is full of cronies, dead-weight that slug the system or simply seek to profile their profiles without real effect. The EADBC leadership ought to be revamped-overhauled. No doubt. 

But, as the cogs within EADBC take eons to do so, those of us who have work to do in our countries before we hit 95 and die must still continue to without hesitation. We have legacies to build, businesses to truly uplift, lives to change...truly. Not by façade.

Given the divisions in the organization, and the extent to which mindless crony-ism is permeating, and of course, the recognition that what needs to be done in Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi also needs to be done in Kenya, I remain steadfast in harnessing my resources and capabilities in ensuring that we are not by-standers.

That is why it finally made logical sense to have a Kenyan Chapter ongoing - of committed entrepreneurs and business developers...people who not only promote diasporans with businesses but who also are motivated get their own businesses going so they too can reap the benefits of their blood and sweat.

That said, for a business council, operating at perpetual negative balance sheets, in knee-jack, exploitative fashions (the guys who worked on the website have yet to be paid) portrays us as 3rd rate diasporans for sure. Some of our profiles on the website, including that of the President...are a sore to the intent of the business council and cast some serious doubts on our capabilities.

So I must, with all respect due to you honorable, disagree with the suggestion that the omission of Kenyan participation in the upcoming Trade Mission, including communications of notice, occurred simply because one didn't think to include Kenya. It is unacceptable. It also impedes the kind of progress that I am fostering on this side of the continent. But it doesn't prevent me, or kindred folk to pursue the charge at hand. 

When the EADBC organization gets organized enough to deal with the cancerous issues of crony-ism, dead-weight from inactive title-bearers, disrepute of financial management, and quite simply - organizational maturity, we can proceed as a single diaspora entity. For the moment, the plan has been conceived and a Kenyan Chapter to the organization conceived. And one can determine for themselves if that (as opposed to EADC) constitutes collaboration or competition.  

Cure gets impossible when the cancer finds a comfortable haven in any body...institutional or human.  There is only one common denominator in all these malfunctioning EA Diaspora organizations- That is Ben Kazora. He presents a serious blight to the EA diaspora's capability to lead itself.

Best Regards,

Laetitia

-- 

Laetitia Mulamula, MS. P.E. PMP

Vice President, Eastern Africa Diaspora Business Council (EADBC)

Email:        laetitia...@gmail.com

Email:        laet...@umd.edu

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EasternAfricaDiasporaBusinessCouncil
Website:   www.eadiaspora.org

Tel:           +1 (240) 429 2700

Twitter:      @MulamulaL

Skype:      laetitia.mulamula

[Ben Kazora]

Dear Laetitia, Greetings from Texas. I hope you have been well in Kenya. I thank you for your email and since some comments were directed towards me, I think it's best I not comment and let the EADBC Executive deliberate and weigh the merits and demerits of the comments. I trust the Executive along with the EADBC Chairman and whoever they deem necessary to involve have the capacity to solve this and offer their recommendations.  I also believe the opening of Chapters in various countries is something that EADBC has to decide not an individual so I also won't comment on that as an individual and will let the Executive decide. However, I am deeply saddened by your reference to the leadership of EADBC as cronies. This statement does speak volumes. However,please note that the leadership of EADBC is comprised of East Africa Diaspora leaders across the US. This is well in line with our mission of engaging the Diaspora to make our region globally competitive. I think this is a timely cause, I think this is a noble cause and many have sacrificed their resources, time, skills and money just to mention a few. Just to let you know that leading African Diaspora organizations is quite a task and I remain humbled and grateful to have all the leaders join to form this body. This body was formed in a response to the US Government interest to work with the EAC through an organized representative body of the Diaspora hence the evident support of the EAC and USG alike. Good news: A couple of weeks ago EADBC was asked to represent the Diaspora at the US-EAC Commercial Dialogue. This participation started and involved Mr. Gaetan Gatete (EADBC BoD), Mr. Emmanuel Sebagabo (EADBC,SG) and Ben Kazora (EADBC President) several years ago . Subsequently, the deliberations concluded with an announcement by the EAC Secretary General, Dr. Sezibera that the EAC is working on making EADBC their official representatives in the US. Since then I have had communication with the current chairman of the council of governors as well as the chairwoman of the council of EAC Ambassadors in the US to this effect. More information to follow. The US Private Sector, US Government as well as the White House received this message well and we have been talking about the way forward since then. As the other members of Executive team deliberate the email(s) below, I just want to take a moment to thank all leaders copied on this email for your collaboration, sacrifice and efforts to get this East Africa Diaspora body where it is today. More Good News: One of the companies (Quaint Solutions) that joined EADBC and the Congressman on the last trade mission have officially opened a company in Tanzania. As much as I think this is proof of concept, I think we need to come up with a system that will allow EADBC to benefit. I think these could prove to be revenue seeking opportunities. We should have had this company team up with a Diaspora member with the desired skill set, my thoughts. I think EADBC is now at a position where we can start creating real.opportunities for it's members and Diaspora at large. Ideas please..., I think quite a bit has been mentioned in the emails below. I think we need to give time to the Executive team to do it's job and give feedback to the rest. I wish to suggest that if anyone has ideas on how we can take this body to the next level please feel free to email or call me or anyone else. I wish you all a blessed rest of the week and for your sacrifices for the various East African Diaspora organizations and EADBC at large. I wanna say asante sana and looking forward to an exciting 2015. Kind Regards, Benedict Kazora, MSEE, MBA

President,  Eastern Africa Diaspora Business Council (EADBC)

Email:         pres...@eadiaspora.org Email:         bka...@alumni.purdue.edu

Facebook:   https://www.facebook.com/EasternAfricaDiasporaBusinessCouncil Website:     www.eadiaspora.org

"Engaging the Diaspora for Eastern Africa Global Competitiveness" From:"Laetitia Mulamula" <engr...@gmail.com> Date:Wed, Apr 1, 2015 at 6:17 Subject:Re: [US EADB Council] Incorporation of EADBC-Kenya Chapter

[David Mureeba]

Dear Laetitia

I just saw your email. It is disturbing to say the least. I am in meetings and cannot respond to you properly tonight. However, I must say your language is disturbing.  It is OK to disagree professionally but abusing people and calling them names will not serve any purpose.

 

I think you, Ben and I need to talk privately.   According to our constitution,  an individual cannot open an EADBC chapter unless if the  EADBC management thinks it is necessary. .  I can assure you I understand the misunderstanding between you and Ben.  But we need to hold our horses and not do anything stupid, We are professionals and leaders trying to make a difference

 

I  sincerely propose  that both you and Ben should stop communicating with the entire EADBC management group immediately since they don’t have the entire history and we first talk the three of us..  EADBC is invaluable. We can really can make a difference in EAC.  When I communicated with you yesterday I thought you understood the logic behind the current plans for the on-going EAC Trade Mission . We need to be East Africans if we are going to make a difference.  This is not good at all. Please call me.

 

Hon Eng. David Mureeba, P.E