Inhlava Constitution

INHLAVA POLITICAL PARTY CONSTITUTION.

ADOPTED ON 24 FEBRUARY 2007

PREAMBLE

.Whereas we have realised the need to groom and produce good leaders of integrity;

.Whereas we are in pursuit of a lifestyle of choices in which every Swazi shall realise his/her utmost potential;

.Whereas we believe in a sustainable economy in which every citizen participates and has a stake and

.Whereas we believe that good governance involves the participation of every citizen in leadership, decision making structures and processes and economy building.

Now therefore, we have come together in pursuit of our goals and objectives, to form the INHLAVA POLITICAL PARTY and uphold the following constitution.

1.VALUES

1.1 HONESTY - Members as well as the party should be honest in all their dealings as well as with other citizens.

1.2 TRANSPARENCY - Members and the party shall avail information in respect of all their dealings and transactions.

1.3 ACCOUNTABILITY - Members and the party shall be accountable for all their transactions to the membership and other concerned parties.

1.4 FAIR REPRESANTATION AND PARTICIPATION - In all respects.

1.5 PACIFISM - Dialogue is the only means of settling disputes. Violence is not an option.

1.6 ALLEGIANCE - Members and party shall pay allegiance to the sovereign HEAD OF STATE.

1.7 VULNERABLE AND SPECIAL NEEDS - The party and members are to be driven by a sense of caring for those that are vulnerable and or in need of special attention.

1.8 EQUALITY BEFORE THE LAW - All persons to be equal before the law (except the Sovereign Head of State).The dignity of a person to be respected and or protected by law.

1.9 NO DISCRIMNATION - No discrimination in terms of age, gender, social standing, race, religion, disability, sexual orientation or any other means by which a person may be singled out as ‘different’.

2. OBJECTIVES

2.1 To preserve and uphold the institution of the Monarch as a unifying symbol of our nation.

2.2 To advocate for the efficient utilization of the country's resources for the benefit of all

2.3 To promote good governance and advocate for the strict adherence to the rule of law.

2.4 Whilst encouraging foreign investment, to advocate for the economic empowerment of the Swazi people and the centralization of the country's economy in the hands of the Swazi people and to advocate for the participation of small and medium enterprises in the mainstream economy.

2.5 To advocate for an all-inclusive participation and fair representation in all decision - making

structures and processes.

2.6 To promote and encourage the resolution of disputes and the harmonization of divergence of opinion in the decision making - structures through joint consensus reaching processes characterised by meaningful and genuine dialogue.

2.7 To promote and advocate for the intellectual empowerment of the Swazi nation.

3. THE NAME OF THE ORGANIZATION

The organization shall be known as " Inhlava Forum"

4. MEMBERSHIP

4.1 Every Swazi citizen, irrespective of age, gender, race, sexuality, disability and social standing, shall be eligible to be a member of the party.

4.2 Every person desiring to be a member shall be required to pay the requisite joining fee and periodical subscriptions.

4.3 CESSATION OF MEMBERSHIP

4.3.1 A person shall cease to be a member if, after having been called upon to pay subscription, he/she fails to do so within the time given to him/her to so pay the subscription.

4.3.2 A person shall also cease to be a member upon the decision of the Disciplinary Committee to terminate that member's membership pursuant to a just and fair disciplinary hearing convened in accordance with this constitution.

4.3.3 Membership shall cease upon the death of the member.

4.3.4 Membership shall cease upon resignation of the member which shall be dully communicated in writing to the secretariat.

4.4 SUBSCRIPTION

4.4.1 There shall be levied on each person desirous of joining the forum a joining fee to be determined by the executive council.

4.4.2 There shall be an annual subscription payable by each member to be determined by the executive council from time to time subject to the approval of membership in an annual general meeting.

5. OFFICE BEARERS

5.1 There shall be an executive council which shall be elected into office by the membership in an annual general meeting by secret ballot and which shall hold office for three years.

5.2 The executive council shall be composed of the following offices:

5.2.1 The chairperson: He/She shall be the chairman of all meetings of the party and duties shall include:

(a) Convening meetings in consultation with the Secretary General.

(b) Representing the party in engagements or may delegate to the vice chairman.

(c) Being co-signatory to the party’s bank account together with the Treasurer and the Secretary General, provided that the signatures of any two of the officers named herein shall be competent for any bank transaction.

5.2.2 The Vice-chairperson: He/She shall be responsible for:

(a) Assisting the chairperson in the performance of his/her duties

(b) Performing the duties of the chairperson in his/her absence.

5.2.3 The Secretariat: This shall be headed by the Secretary General whose duties shall include:

(a) Coordinating all events of the party.

(b) Heading the Secretariat.

(d) Taking the minutes in all the meetings of the party.

(e) Handling all issues concerning the media.

(f) Being a co-signatory to the party’s bank account together with the Chairperson and Treasurer.

(g) Delegating some of his duties to the assistant secretaries.

5.2.3.1 First Assistant Secretary General shall

(a) Perform the duties of the Secretary General in his/her absence.

(b) Perform duties assigned to him/her by the executive council.

5.2.3.2 Second Assistant Secretary General Shall

(a) Perform duties delegated to him/her by the Secretary General.

(b) Perform duties assigned to him by the executive council.

5.2.4 The Treasurer shall

(a) Keep accurate books of accounts of the party in accordance with acceptable principles of accounting.

(b) Be co-signatory to the party’s bank account together with the Chairperson and the Secretary General.

(d) Head a finance committee set up by the executive council on any monetary issues.

5.2.5 The Trustee shall

(a) Keep the inventory of all the party’s assets and properties.

(b) Oversees and implement the party’s social responsibility programmes and policies.

5.2.6 Additional Members (2) Preferably members of Parliament. They shall be responsible for parliamentary affairs (conveying the party’s views on issues deliberated on in Parliament).

6. Roles Of The Executive Council

6.1 To promote the growth of the party throughout the country in terms of the membership and constituencies/branches( minimum of 5 members in an approved area to be made up of chairman, vice chairman ,secretary and 2 other members).

6.2 Reviewing of party’s objectives/strategies/policies in order to respond to the ever changing needs of membership/society.

6.3 Protect, uphold and improve image and reputation of the party through noble endeavours and through other actions that the council (or any member) may involve itself in.

6.4 Shall be responsible for any speech delivered on behalf of the party or remarks made by an individual member.

6.5 Set up committee(s) for a specific task to enhance or compliment the performance of the executive.

6.6 (l) May assign an individual with a certain task that it feels needs an individual with skills or expertise including local authorities.

(ll) The committee(s) in 6.5 and individual in 6 (l) will be reimbursed by the executive council. Any member of the party who is assigned to perform a certain task in terms of 6 (l) shall be reimbursed for any personal funds he/she has expended and professionals instructed shall be financed by the party.

6.7 Shall be responsible for campaigning strategies for national elections as well as financing of national elections for members contesting in different constituencies.

6.8 Shall see to it that the party’s executive elections do not coincide with national elections or are not held the same year as national elections. Such information shall be conveyed to the membership in the annual general meeting preceding the year of the executive election.

6.9 Shall facilitate the election of a committee that will be an independent Committee on standards and principles of democracy. This committee shall:

(l) deal with complaints in general(within 30 days of resolution)from members who may be aggrieved by amongst others ,conduct of executive council(or individual member of the party) and/or the manner in which certain resolutions were adopted by the membership.

(ll) make rulings on council/membership(AGM) decisions in as far as validity is concerned.

6.10 On coming into office shall elect an election committee to oversee primary, regional and national elections for executive positions.

6.11 Shall be responsible for forging alliance with strategic partners.

7. RELIEVING A MEMBER OF THE EXECUTIVE COUNCIL OF HIS/HER DUTIES.

A member shall be relieved of his/her duties when:

7.1 Convicted of an offence and sentenced to imprisonment without an option of a fine especially if the member is found guilty of dis-honesty or fraud.

7.2 Fails to attend 3 consecutive meetings without consent of the executive. The failure to attend 3 consecutive meetings shall result in instituting of a disciplinary hearing.

7.3 He/She conducts himself/herself in a manner contrary to section 6 (3) roles and duties of executive council subject to a fair hearing.

7.4 Executive accepts letter of resignation from concerned member.

7.5 Executive council passes a vote of no confidence on the member for having failed to carry out his/her duties (after a fair hearing) and with the approval of the membership.

8. ELECTIONS FOR EXECUTIVE COUNCIL.

Elections to be based on the following principles:

8.1 Every member has an equal chance of being nominated at branch level for a National position/vacancy.

8.2 Every nominated candidate should have a minimum number of members (20) supporting his/her nomination at the branch level.

Election rules and regulations shall be drawn by the Election committee in line with the above principles.

9. MEETINGS.

9.1 Executive Council Meetings

9.1.1 The executive council shall meet at least once in three months or at such times to be determined by the executive council.

9.1.2 A quorum for the purpose of the Executive council’s meetings shall be formed by at least five members of the executive.

9.1.3 Each member of the executive council other than the chairperson shall have one vote at meetings of the council. In the event of equality of the votes the chairperson shall have a casting vote.

9.2 Annual General Meetings

9.2.1 There shall be an annual general meeting held once every calendar year.

9.2.2 A quorum for the purpose of an annual general meeting shall be formed by two thirds of registered and fully subscribed members.

9.2.3 Voting in annual general meetings shall be by secret ballot and every member shall have one vote.

9.2.4 The executive council shall be elected in the annual general meeting.

9.3 Special/Extraordinary General Meetings

A special/extraordinary meeting shall be convened at the instance of any member of the party in accordance with the provisions of the constitution in respect of notice of meetings.

9.4 General Meetings

There shall be general meetings of the membership convened by the executive council in accordance with the provisions of the constitution in respect of notice of meeting.

9.5 Resolutions at Meetings

Resolutions shall be passed and motions adopted at meetings in accordance with a simple majority of votes of members present and voting in the meeting.

9.6 Notice of Meetings

9.6.1 The notice of an executive council meeting shall be sent to the members not later than seven days before the proposed date of the meeting.

9.6.2 A notice for an annual general meeting shall be sent together with the proposed agenda to the entire membership at least two months before the propose date of the annual general meeting.

9.6.3 A member who desires of having a special/extraordinary general meeting convened shall notify of his intention to do so in writing

to the secretary general which notice shall be accompanied by the proposed motion. The secretary general shall thereafter, in consultation with the chairperson convene a meeting of the executive council to determine the date of the special/extraordinary meeting, which date shall be communicated to the entire membership together with the proposed motion not less than fourteen days before the proposed date of the meeting.

9.6.4 Notice of general meetings shall be communicated to the entire membership not less than fourteen days prior to the proposed date of the meeting.

10. DISCIPLINE

10.1 Members of the party aspire to the strict adherence to its values and are committed to the fulfilment of the party’s objectives and attainment of its goals and as such the party shall enforce proper discipline among its members through just, fair and equitable procedures which are in line with the principles of natural justice and the constitution of the Kingdom of Swaziland as provided for herein.

10.2 There shall be a disciplinary committee which shall be elected by secret ballot in an annual general meeting and shall hold office for the same duration as the executive council.

10.3 (l) The committee shall have five members inclusive of a secretary

10.3 (ll) The chairman shall be a member of the party preferably with experience in law.

10.3 (lll) Where possible the members shall come from the four regions of Swaziland.

10.3 (lV) A quorum shall consists of three members.

10.3 (v) In the absence of the chairman, members present shall elect a chairman for the day.

11. REPEAL AND AMENDMENT

Any provisions of this constitution may be repealed, amended or added to in any manner by resolution at a meeting called for the purpose of which not less than fourteen days notice had been given which notice shall set out the proposed resolution and the reasons thereof which resolution shall be passed by three quarters of the members present and voting by secret ballot at the meeting.

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