Every Chama must have an AGM Meeting(Annual General Meeting )at least once a year. Some will even have EGM(Extra Ordinary Meetings) to make some decisions that cannot await a formal AGM. There are some preparations that you can undertake to make your AGM a rousing success

Here are a few tips

Formal Notice: Inform the Chama about your AGM in good time

For the Chama AGM to be successful, it is important to inform the membership about it at least 21 days before the due date. This should be a formal notice to all members and this will give them enough time to also prepare.  The notice should have the agenda for the AGM.

Get a great venue

The AGMs Venue should be booked early enough and all arrangements made with the venue owners if you are traveling far from where your chama is ‘domesticated’, remember to ensure that you have made all the necessary travel arrangements for the members. Its also important to ensure that you keep time for the AGM

Reminder, Reminder, Reminder

It’s great to remind members about the AGM day by sms, phone calls, and/or emails to ensure that the majority of the members will attend. Its also important to make the same reminder to third parties like your auditor so that they also remember to attend

Audit Report 

As an investment and/or savings group, it is important for members to know how they have done during the year. This means that the report on annual performance must be backed by an audit report from your auditor. The auditor should therefore read his report to members and provide them with clarifications during the AGM. The Auditor should ideally take the investment club through the  Audited financial statement and then answer member concerns and also provide insights into some recommendations to take the group to the next milestone.

Chairpersons Report 

The Chairlady or Chairman of the groups should of course have his own speech to give to the members. This should be an inspiring and challenging speech, well crafted in advance taking cognizance of group’s achievement for the last 1 year.

The Leader of the groups should also set the tone for the group’s goals and milestones for the coming year. It’s also important to give due recognition to the members or/and committees who have done well the previous year to advance the goals and inspirations of your group.

Elections

Whether or not you will have elections of new members into the groups will entirely depend on your constitution. Some groups have tenures for 1 year, others for 2 years, and even 3 years for elected officials. It’s also wise to consider some ‘hard rules’ eg only 50% of officials will be replaced in order to ensure continuity in existing projects. Make sure you have a clear voting process with clear rules for members on what position they are voting for to avoid confusion.  The results should be announced immediately and new officials installed.

Dividends Payout

If your group gives dividends to the members at the end of the financial year, it would be a fitting occasion to distribute the awards at that particular time. The welfare committee can also gift the members who have extremely well during the year for the chama. The gifts should not necessarily be expensive but as a token of appreciation to the members and to encourage all members to work a lot harder for the group in the coming year

Anything else we may have left out? Would love to hear from  you about your AGMs

Categorised in: General

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