This is a report on the mediation efforts between Debre Selam Kideste Mariam Edir and the Washington DC Kidest Maraim Church officials.
A Mediating Committee of Elders that assigned by the Debre Selam Kideste Mariam Edir members presented its 2-month investigation report and decision to the Edir members in Washington DC, on October 28 2007.
During the past 2 months, the elders committee, which is formed of highly respected individuals from Debre Selam Kideste Mariam Edir of Washington DC has engaged the Edir executives, the church board members, and the church religious leaders and elders in continuous discussions and counseling to resolve the conflict between the church board members (led by Dr. Amare Kassaye and Ato Frew Bulbula and advised by Ato Bililing Mandefro) and the Edir executive committee.
The Edir members meeting led by the Elders committee has listened to the report presented by the Elders last Sunday, October 28 2007. The Elders committee has reported about the mistreatments they faced during their efforts and expressed their frustration at the lack of decency and maturity of the church officials. The very important points the committee stressed during the meeting were presented as follows (for more details see the Amharic version of the recommendation – click here):
Important findings:
1. Lack of clarity in the bylaws of the Edir and supporting evidences from the church for its claim of responsibilities on the Edir.
The by law of the Edir has ambiguity in delineating the relationship between the Debre Selam Kideste Mariam Church and the Edir. According to article 4 of the bylaws, “the Edir is accountable to the church’s board of trustees for all policy matters.” However, in Article 3, it is stated that “the Edir, by its own full rights, is a legally constituted entity; hence has full rights to conduct any legal matters, it will perform any pertinent legal business; by its own rights file charges in court; and is also liable to legal charges; and the Edir will independently performs its functions through the executive members it would have elected.”
Eventhogh the Elders committee found ambiguity in the bylaws, it has appreciated the farsighted efforts of the Edir’s executives who had taken measures to avoid the inevitable conflicts with the church officials in this matter. According to the Elders committee, the Edir executives produced the following documents that show its efforts in this regard:
a) a letter addressed to the church officials, written a year before the conflict, indicating its plan of registering the Edir with the local and federal government bodies;
b) videos showing meetings where by the Edir members discussing on legalization of the Edir with their members in the presence of the church officials;
c) Bank statements showing the vulnerability of the Edir fund to embezzlements if it stays longer under the previous transaction system. And verbally discussed their concern and their responsibilities on the Edir money, to the Elders members.
In contrast, despite the claim of responsibilities upon the Edir’s fund, the church’s board could not produce any document showing the activities they have conducted to meet their claimed responsibilities.
2. Lack of moral authority within the Church’s board of trustees and leaders.
During several meetings conducted between the church officials and the Elder’s executve committee, the church officials have been blaming the Edir officials for unauthorized transfer of the Edir’s fund from a bank account registered under the church’s tax ID number to the newly formed Edir’s tax ID number and bank account. But the Elder’s investigation has found a bank statement showing that the church officials, namely Ato Frew Bulbula and Ato Abebe Aboye, using their power in the board of trustees, have requested the bank to transfer the Edir’s fund to their name. This was done a few days before the Edir officials took action in securing the fund under the name of Debre Selam Kidest Mariam Edir. Additionally, in July 2007, after the church sued the Edir officials in court, Dr. Amare Kassaye, the director of the Debreselam Kideste Mariam church, has created a new bank account in the name of the Debre Selam Kideste Mariam Edir under the church tax ID and appointed two individuals, Ato Ayele Aboye and Ato Anteneh Workneh (a son of one of the church’s priests) to control it. The Elders have found in the two bank statements bearing two different tax ID numbers used by the church and could not still get an answer as to how the church’s officials could use two different kinds of federal tax ID number. In both cases, the church officials conducted this unlawful acts without the consulting the Edir members. The Elders committee investigated both of the Edir and church’s bylaws and could not find any article authorizing the church’s board of trustee members and officials to handle and manage any fund inside the church under their name. Based on these facts, the Elder’s committee has concluded that the church administrators do not have a valid complian against the Edir officials who have performed activities allowed by the Edir bylaws.
3. Insensitivity and lack of responsibility to people’s trust and abusing public offices.
The elders committee has repeatedly reminded the church officials that it has concern on the unnecessary expenses incurring by filing a lawsuit against the Edir. In order to challenge the Edir officials in court, the church’s board has hired expensive lawyers residing in one of the most expensive rows of law firms in the U.S., Bethesda MD, where lawyers charge a minimum of $1,000 for an hour consultation. Accordingly, the Elders committee emphasized that since no penny comes out of the pockets of the church’s officials and as long as these officials trusted their case to a lawyer, it is very unlikely the church officials will come to a round table to resolve the problem. Therefore, the Elders committee calls upon the Debre Sealm Kideste Mariam community to act to stop the unnecessary and expensive lawsuit. Besides, the church officials use the money collected from the people to rent radio air-time to disseminate hate and division within the church community. Last weekend, Ato Frew Bulbula and Dr. Amare Kassaye used the church stationary to discredit the mediation efforts of the Elders and plead to the church members not join the Elders meeting to be conducted right after the church serivce. The Elders committee is deeply saddened by these irresponsible acts and emphasized it during the Edir meeting.
4. The Elders committee has underlined that it is up to the majority of the Edir member to decide on the fate of the Edir’s fund. After 2 months of mediation efforts, the Elders committee has reached at a conclusion and reminded the plaintiff (the church’s board) and the defendants (the Edir executives) to call a general meeting of the Edir members and to present their cases publicly and let the people decide on this matter. The Edir executives have agreed to the recommendation of the Elders, whereas the church officials refused to accept the recommendation of calling a members meetings before the Edir money returned to the church’s bank account. Sebsequently, the church officials prevented the Elders from conducting a meeting of the Edir members in the church. The Elders committee was forced to rent a hall for $500.
After the Elders committee presented its case, the Edir members expressed their support to the Elders recommendation and requested a petition to be signed by the Edir members and filed to the court. The Edir members urged that no meeting should be conducted out of the church from this day onward, and called on everybody to exercise his/her rights to use the church for public use. Otherwise the members resort to taking actions, such as withholding donations that go to the salaries of the church officials.