NAME, SEAT
Article 1
a) The name of the Association shall be the:
Union of Ghanaian Associations in Germany (UGAG)b) It shall be the umbrella grouping of all Ghanaian Unions and Associations founded in Germany and shall be a non-political, non-religious, and non-ethnic Association
c) It shall be registered in the Associations Register.
d) The seat of the Association shall be in the City of Cologne.
e) The common language shall be English.
AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
Article 2
The intended purpose of the Association is to promote international understanding and development aid. The objects of the Association for realizing the above mentioned purpose are:
a) To support and co-ordinate the activities of all affiliated Ghana Unions and associations at local and state levels
b) To represent and provide a mouthpiece for Ghanaians at the state, federal and international levels
c) To serve as a medium and link between the Ghanaian Community and the Ghana Embassy in Germany
d) To promote integration and harmonious intercultural relations between Ghanaians and Germans, and between Ghanaians and members of other communities living in Germany
e) To initiate and sponsor benevolent and development projects in Ghana
f) To make contributions to the decision making process in Ghana and articulate the views of the Ghanaian community in Germany
g) To foster unity and amity amongst Ghanaians
h) To promote trade, investment and tourism in Ghana
i) To endeavour to engage Ghanaian churches, clubs, other groups and ethnic-based associations to ultimately bring the entire Ghanaian community in Germany under its Umbrella
j) To disseminate positive information about Ghana to raise awareness of Ghana and its potentials in Germany
Charitable nature
The Association shall pursue exclusively and directly charitable purposes as defined by the chapter „Tax-privileged Purposes“ of the Tax Code. The Association shall be acting selflessly; it shall not primarily pursue purposes of viability of a public enterprise. Resources of the
Association may only be used for the purposes stipulated in the Constitution. The members shall not obtain any contributions from the Association’s resources. No person shall be benefitted by expenses foreign to the purpose of the Association, nor by disproportionately high remuneration.
MEMBERSHIP
Article 3
a) Membership of the Union shall be open to all Ghanaian organizations in the towns and cities in Germany, henceforth referred to as the local branches
b) Individual members of local branches shall become automatic members of the Association
c) Membership shall be open to all Ghanaians by birth, by origin, and to all Ghanaians naturalized in Germany and their relatives living in Germany, as well as to interested German citizens.
d) To acquire membership, each local branch shall apply in writing, enclosing a copy of its constitution and registration certificate.
e) Membership can be terminated through writing to the National Executive Committee, observing a term of notice of 3 months to the end of the current calendar year.
f) Two-thirds of the membership of the local branch must append their signature to the request to withdraw membership.
ORGANS OF THE ASSOCIATION
Article 4
The organs of the Association shall be
a) The National Representative Council
b) The National Executive Committee
c) The Advisory Board
d) The Audit Committee
It shall be the supreme decision-making organ of the Association
a) It shall be composed of three representatives of each local branch.
b) A regular meeting of the National Representative Council shall be called by the National Executive Committee on demand, at least twice a year. The invitation shall be issued 1 month in advance by the National Executive Committee, announcing the
preliminary schedule, to the member address last known to the Association.
c) The venue for meetings shall rotate between host cities of local branches in a manner to be decided by the Council.
d) The quorum for meetings shall be half of all accredited members and all decisions shall be valid and binding if approved by simple majority of members present and voting at a properly constituted meeting.
e) The agenda for each meeting of the Council shall be determined by the National Executive Committee acting in consultation with the Advisory Board, provided that the agenda for the last Council meeting for the year shall include the following
items:
• Report of the National Executive Committee including the annual financial report
• The annual report of the auditing committee
• Discussion of the reports
• The budget for the coming calendar year
• Motions for amendments of the Constitution, if any
• Election of members of the National Executive Committee
• Election of members of the Auditing Committee
• Election of members of the Advisory Board.
• Other matters
f) An Emergency National Representative Council Meeting may be summoned by the National Executive Committee when the situation demands, or at the request of at least one quarter of the local branches.
Article 5
The National Executive Committee shall be elected by the Representative Council for a
two-year term of office at a time, provided that any member of the Executive Committee
may be re-elected for a second, two-year term only.
1. The Executive shall comprise the following officers:
a) The National President
b) The National Vice-President
c) The General Secretary
d) The Secretary for Finance and Economic Matters
e) The Secretary for Social and Cultural Matters
2. The Executive shall be the collective representation of the Association. It shall call and make all necessary preparations for national conferences
3. It shall help organize and establish new local associations. It shall assist and advise local associations when necessary
4. It shall support local associations in resolving issues affecting members at state and federal levels.
5. It shall take over matters referred to it by local associations and seek solutions for them from any quarters.
6. Every member of the Executive shall be responsible to the President, who in turn shall be responsible to the National Representative Council
7. a) The National Executive Committee as defined by Article 26 BGB [German Civil Code] shall be the National President, the National Vice President, the General Secretary, the Secretary for Finance and Economic Matters, and the Secretary for
Social and Cultural Matters.
b) Two members of the National Executive Committee, namely the National President and the National Vice President shall represent the Association at court and out of court. Each of them shall have sole representative authority. Internally it is
agreed upon that the Vice President only make use his representative authority in case the President is prevented or not available.
8. The President may temporarily appoint a member to fill vacancy created by the resignation, or long absence from the country of any member of the Executive, pending confirmation from the National Representative Council.
Article 6
A) The National President
i)The National President shall be the head of the Association and the spokesman of the Executive Committee.
ii)He/She shall be responsible to the National Representative Council, and responsible for the National Executive.
iii)He shall present annual report of the Association at the last NRC meeting for the year.
iv)He shall present a report on the state of the Association at meetings of the Advisory Board.
v)He shall represent the Association internally and externally be one of the signatories of the Bank Account of the Association.
B) The Vice-President
i) He shall assist the president in the performance of his duties, and act as the head of the Association in the absence of the President
ii) He shall be an alternate to the President in the signing of cheques of the Association.
iii) He shall perform any other duties as entrusted to him by the President, the National Executive Committee or the National Representative Council
C) The General Secretary
He/She shall be the scribe of the Association. In particular, he/she shall:
i) be responsible for the general correspondence, mails and mailing of the Association. All outgoing correspondence shall be done in consultation with or on the instruction of the National President.
ii) take minutes at National Executive Committee and National Representative Council meetings, and keep records and documents of the Association.
iii) prepare, in consultation with the President and other members of the Executive, the Annual Report of the Association.
iv) Prepare Reports on the state of the Association for the Advisory Board meetings.
v) be one of the signatories of the Bank account of the Association.
vi) draw up the agenda for the meeting and consider same with the National President and the National Vice President.
vii) support the National President and the National Vice President in their official functions.
viii) represent the National President and the National Vice President in case both are absent.
D) The Secretary for Finance and Economic Matters
He/She shall:
i) keep and account for the financial records of the Association.
ii) be responsible for the execution of the economic programmes drawn by the Executive.
iii) submit financial reports of the Association at Executive meetings when requested by the Executive and for the last National Representative Council meeting
iv) keep a “petit cash” not exceeding 150,- Euros.
v) Any cash exceeding 150,- Euros must be paid into the Associations account.
vi) be one of the signatories of the Bank Account of the Association.
E) The Secretary for Social and Cultural Matters
He/She shall:
i )be responsible for the execution of programmes of activities drawn by the Executive.
ii) liaise between the general membership and the Executive.
iii) keep the Executive informed about developments, trends and activities from any quarters of the Association (from local to national level).
iv) be responsible for all social and cultural matters brought before or conceived by the Executive.
Article 7
THE AUDIT COMMITTEE
a) An Audit Committee of three members shall be elected by the National
Representative Council for a two year term, provided that any member of the
Committee may be re-elected to serve on the Committee for a second two-year term only.
c) The Committee shall audit the accounts of the Association as frequently as
necessary, at least twice a year, and submit its report to the next National
Representative Council meeting.
d) Where there are serious discrepancies in the accounts of the Association, it shall request the National Executive to give a plausible explanation or account.
e) If the National Executive Committee is unable to give a plausible explanation for any discrepancy, the Audit Committee will refer the matter to the Advisory Board for its mediation.
f) If, despite the intervention of the Advisory Board, the matter is still not resolved to the satisfaction of the Audit Committee, it shall request the Executive to call a National Representative Council meeting to discuss the matter.
g) Should the executive fail to call such a meeting within thirty days of the request, the Audit Committee shall submit a report thereon to the local branches and request the branches to call an emergency meeting of the National Representative
Council under Article 4H of this Constitution to discuss the matter.
h) Members of the Audit Committee shall elect their own Chairman who shall be the spokesperson of the Committee.
i) Every report of the Audit committee shall be signed by all members of the Committee. A member who disagrees with anything in any report may present a minority report attached to the main report setting out his views on the subject of
disagreement.
j) No serving member of the National Executive Committee shall be eligible to serve on the Audit Committee.
Article 8
THE ADVISORY BOARD
a) The Board shall be composed of five individuals elected at a National Representative Council Conference and a representative each from Ghana Embassy and Ghana Airways
b) Members of the Board shall have no executive power or function but act as advisers to the National Executive Committee and the National Representative Council, assist in the settlement of disputes, and use their individual positions of influence
in society to assist the Association to meet its aims and objectives.
c) The Board shall meet with the National Executive at its own request, or at the request of the Audit Committee, at least two times a year.
d) It shall elect its own spokesman
f) Individuals elected under paragraph A of this Article shall serve on the Board for two years, provided that they may be re-elected for a further term of two years only.
MODALITIES OF ELECTIONS
Article 9
Supervision of Electoral:
a) Elections at the NRC shall be conducted by independent body (Ghana Embassy)
b) All position in the NEC shall be contested for in a democratic free and fair election at
the NRC meeting (National Delegations Conference)
c) Eligible local unions:
i) Only local unions or associations (legally registered and non-registered) who are registered members of UGAG can send candidates to elections at the NRC level.
ii) Local union or associations of the UGAG might officially have submitted the names of three (3) representatives of their union or association to the appropriate body (National Executive Committee) before the NEC election. The representatives
shall be their permanent delegates to the NRC (National Representative Council) and can at the same time be elected to the NEC (National Executive Committee).
iii)Legally non-registered associations shall be encouraged and helped to become registered association within the shortest possible period of time, if they become registered members of UGAG.
d) Eligibility of Candidates:
In order to be eligible for any position at the NEC election, a candidate:
i) must be a member of local union or association of UGAG
ii) must officially be elected by an eligible local union or association as delegate to NRC.
iii) must have submitted oneself or have been suggested by a delegate or delegates to NRC for any of the executive position.
iv) must have no objection, if nominated by a delegate or delegates for a position.
e) Eligibility of voters:
i) All NRC delegates officially submitted by local unions of UGAG before the election shall be eligible to vote. They can also nominate delegates for election
.
ii) There shall be ‘one-man one-vote’ system at NEC election and all decisions at NRC meetings, if NRC fails to reach decision by consensus building.
iii) There shall be secret balloting.
f) A contestant of any position shall be declared winner by simple majority, if the delegates meet the required quorum (Ref.: Chapter IV: Article 4 (d)) to carry out the election.
F I N A N C E; ASSETS AND BANK ACCOUNT
Article 10
The finances and assets of the Association shall come from following sources:
a) Every affiliated local branch shall pay a one-time amount of 50.00 Euros as registration fee.
b) Every local branch shall contribute an amount as monthly dues for the running of the Association. The amount of monthly dues to be paid shall be fixed by the National Representative Council.
c) The Association shall accept donations from individuals, organizations, associations, Ghanaian official and business circles in Germany and abroad, any public or private institutions in Germany, and from regional and international bodies.
d) Proceeds from any social and cultural activities or functions organized by the
National Executive Committee or UGAG.
e) Other sources, without any form of strings attached that may compromise the independence and objectives of the national association.
Article 11
a) The National Association shall have its own bank account at the seat of the Association with any bank of its own choice, into which all monies coming to and/or realized by the National Association shall be paid or credited, and from which all
financial obligations of the Association shall be debited.
b) To withdraw any money from this Bank Account two of the three signatories of whom one must be the President (or in his absence, the Vice-President) should always sign the cheques of the Association.
c) The Association shall not possess, and therefore will not use, any credit or debit card for withdrawal of money.
d) The withdrawal of any amount above 500.00 Euros at a single instance shall first have to be sanctioned by the National Representative Council or by letters from the Executive Committee to all Chairmen/Presidents of local Branches where the
holding of an emergency National Representative Council meeting will be cumbersome.
e) The National Representative Council shall fix an upper ceiling for total expenditures including bank withdrawals in one year.
f) No Executive member is allowed under this Constitution to take any bank loan or make purchases on credit in the name of the Association. Any such transaction will not be legally binding on the Association or any of its organs.
g) The Secretary for Financial and Economic Matters shall be the sole authority for cashing cheques on behalf of the Association.
Article 12
The National Executive, shall through the Secretary for Economic and Financial Matters, present a detailed statement of the Association’s financial standing, showing the sources of all income and expenditure, as well as the entire assets and liabilities, at each National Representative
Council Meeting, and at any special or emergency meeting of the Advisory Board summoned purposely for that issue.
M I S C E L L A N E O U S
Article 13
a) Members of the Association shall be provided with ID cards bearing the Logo of the Association. A fee may be charged for the card.
i) The ID card shall, on its handing out, remain the property of the Association
ii) The validity and utility shall be restricted to the Association’s activities
iii) The ID card shall not have any other legally valid or diplomatic value
iv) Any utilization or attempted utilization of the ID card for private interests and intentions outside the Association shall constitute an abuse of this card
v) The Association shall not assume any liability nor legal responsibility for the case of abuse of the ID card by any person.
b) A member of a local branch who moves residence to another location shall automatically become a member of the local branch of the new place of residence.
c) Any local branch, which fails or refuses to pay its monthly dues for three cumulative months shall be reminded by the Executive in writing and be given an ultimatum to settle its arrears in full, failing which that local branch shall be
suspended from the Association until it meets its financial obligations.
d) Rules, regulations, further provisions
Every member of the Association is subject to the rules, regulations and provisions of the Association and is obliged to observe same. A member may be excluded by majority vote of the Association committee:
i) If he or she acts contrary to the Association’s endeavours
ii) If he or she damages the Association’s reputation by dishonourable behaviour
iii) In the case of unsporting behaviour and when trying to sow discord or corruption in the Association
iv) Every behaviour detrimental to the Association by a member or by members which becomes known to the Association shall first of all be introduced to an Association committee which will, after a hearing, report thereon to the National Executive.
The National Executive in turn shall report the results of the Association committee to the Council meeting. The Council meeting shall pass a final decision concerning this matter.
v) A member may only be excluded orderly in case this decision was passed with absolute majority, a two-third majority of all members of a Council meeting
.
vi) Any functionary who is found guilty of inaction, or of abuse of official functions, or of behaviour gravely detrimental to the Association, shall be subject to a motion of non-confidence, and he or she shall be removed from his or her office by
a two-third majority decision of a Council meeting or extraordinary Council meeting. In the case of removal from office, a new election shall take place at the same meeting so as to replace the corresponding officer.
A M E N D M E N T
Article 14
An amendment or a repeal of a part or the whole of this Constitution shall be valid if approved by two-thirds of delegates present at a National Representative Council meeting called for that purpose.
DISSOLUTION OF THE ASSOCIATION
Article 15
In case the Association is dissolved or the tax-privileged purpose lapses, the assets of the Association shall devolve upon a legal person of public law or some other tax-privileged incorporated body, which shall make direct and exclusive use thereof for charitable purposes.
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