The Rwandese Association for the Promotion of Family Welfare, (ARBEF) elected a new board of directors on Saturday.This was after a meeting held last week to elect the officials was stopped by police at the request of the old board which claimed that it had been convened by an executive director it already fired.At the time, members of the assembly had claimed that they had the required quorum to hold the general assembly. They, however, agreed to meet after a week to elect a new board.Saturday’s assembly was attended by 52 members out of 60, implying that they had quorum, since their constitution stipulates that the assembly can meet at any time as long as half of the members are present. Emmanuel Shamakokera, the newly elected board chairman, said that their first assignment is to bring about unity and foster reconciliation between the board and the executive, the two organs that had locked horns.“We have elected a committee of five persons from the general assembly to investigate causes of the recent conflict in the organisation and advise us on how we can proceed,” he said.Shamakokera said that the new board will work closely with the committee to put an end to the conflict between the former board chair, Dr Osee Sebatunzi, and the Executive Director, Dr. Laurien Nyabienda. He said the findings of the committee will be presented to the general assembly by end of June this year.Flavia Gakwaya, from the Eastern Province, accused the former board of seeking to derail the association’s programmes, which resulted in the conflict. “We have understood what happened and where the problem was and, with this new board, we hope things will change,” he said.But a group under deposed chair Sebatunzi, held a parallel general assembly at St Paul Hall and declared the newly elected board null and void and the general assembly illegal.“I am not aware of elections of the new board because the general assembly that elected it is illegal. We informed Kicukiro District and all other authorities and they are aware that the meeting was illegal,” said Sebatunzi. Sebatunzi, who is also the Director of Kabgayi Hospital in Muhanga District, saw his mandate of three years end just after two years on Saturday as members replaced him. “We have agreed in our meeting that we plan to advertise the position of the Executive Director,” he said.Meanwhile, Nyabienda refers to Sebatunzi’s statements as baseless noting that he still holds the office of the Executive Director and the meeting was called by the general assembly.“Sebatunzi tried to foil the meeting on Saturday as he did the other time, but now I thank Police for provided enough security and the elections went on successfully,” he said. But Shamakokera says Sebatunzi and his group are still members of the association and will be listened to during the committee’s inquiries.“I believe the conflict has ended and now we are going to see how all organs of the organisation can work hand in hand without interfering in each other’s work which has been a problem,” he said, adding that what is needed is reconciliation among members.
