BOMU holds AGM tomorrow
LEKOPANYE MOOKETSI
Correspondent
| Wednesday July 30, 2008 00:00
The publicity secretary of the troubled association, Joel Keitumele said they called the meeting since they are expected to hold an AGM on a quarterly basis.
He called on BOMU members to attend the meeting in large numbers so that they could be able to have a say in the affairs of the organisation. He said they decided to call the meeting to evaluate progress, adding that there are a number of issues to be discussed.
He said since they were elected, they have never held an AGM. Keitumele said they would like to hold frank discussions and get an input from the BOMU members on the path the association should take. He emphasised that the voice of the members is critical in the running of the association.
The BOMU official said since they took over, they had faced numerous challenges. He said another item to be discussed at the meeting is the financial statement. BOMU had not been doing well in this department. Due to this shortcoming, the association has been locked out of their Extension 10 offices due to failure to pay rentals.
BOMU has been receiving P50,000 annual subsidy from the Department of Culture and Youth. But this year the subsidy has been withheld, apparently because BOMU books were not in order.
But Keitumele said yesterday that they have rectified their cash records; so they expect the Department of Culture and Youth to bail them out. He said there has been a delay because officials in the department had been preparing for the President's Day activities.
Contrary to some reports, Keitumele said they have been receiving support from members of the old executive committee. All has not been well within the association since the new executive committee was ushered into office this year.
The team has never known peace since it was elected as all sorts of accusations were made against them. It was alleged, for example, that the committee was dominated by promoters who did not have musicians' welfare at heart. There was concern that promoters would not represent the interests of the musicians. Another grievance was that only a small fraction of the association's members participated in the elections.
Some musicians have also protested to the Registrar of Societies that the committee has been elected unconstitutionally. The Registrar of Society is said to have advised the BOMU executive committee to arrange fresh elections. However, during a recent press conference, executive committee members told journalists that they would not hold any elections unless ordered by the membership. The committee insisted that they were elected legally. During the press conference, the executive chiefs made it clear that their committee is not divided.
Some musicians also felt that BOMU was not vocal on the issue of the new liquor regulations. The new liquor regulations stipulate that nightclubs and other liquor establishments should operate at reduced hours. This has angered some musicians who feel that the new regulations are going to kill their business.
However, BOMU officials said they were not concerned by the new regulations since their core business was music - and not liquor. The members of the BOMU executive said nightclub owners should not use musicians as a scapegoat, claiming they were going to suffer because of the new regulations.
Some musicians expressed reservations about the manner in which the BOMU executive has handled the liquor regulations issue. They pointed out that this showed that the executive committee 'is not concerned about the welfare of musicians'.