Sierra Schools of Technology/SiSTec Constitution

Name, Registration/Legal Status, Headquarter and Sub-offices
The Schools shall be known as Sierra Sustainable Technology herein referred to as SiSTec

The Organization shall be registered as a National Nongovernmental Organisation with the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development, Ministry of Social Welfare Gender Children's Affairs, Ministry of Education and the relevant district councils.

The Headquarter of SiSTec is situated in Freetown, Sierra Leone, West Africa and the Sub-offices is situated in Moyamba,Kailahun, Bombali and Portloko Districts. SiSTec motto is ‘‘Making A Difference’’ and the slogan as ICT 4 All.

Article 2
General Background

The idea of SiSTec came about due to the large dropout of school children and huge scale unemployment of youths especially girls in Sierra Leone. Sierra Leone found in West Africa is one of the poorest countries in the world that have suffered eleven years of rebel war. Majority of the population in Sierra Leone cannot afford a minimal diet; they lack access to safer water, shelter, good health and education (ICT). Basic services such as health care, education, and food security are in serious crisis despite the food security drive in the country. Children, youth and girls particularly are the most affected in the communities in these district. There is decline in governance practices, respect for human rights, political openness- participation and tolerance seem to be on low ebb. Government initiatives do not reach many people in the rural communities because of many constraints on Government side. Since the end of the war, families and communities are struggling to rebuild their lives, human right violations are on the increase despite the strides made by the other organizations in the country. Against this back drop SiSTec was established April 2, 2008 by Elongima Bundu and patriotic Sierra Leonean who had studied at the University wanted to see youth especially, school children participate in rural development using their Information & Communication Technology skills. It is registered with the Ministry of Social Welfare Gender and Children’s Affairs and the Local District Councils and It is expected to be also registered at the national level with Ministry of Economic Planning and Development. SiSTec is a social enterprise and human rights organization focusing on youths and school children in particular, promoting democracy, good governance and Information & Communication Technology for all. It is an indigenous community based organization that is non- profit making, non political and non-tribalistic but an independent, impartial and in-biased.

Article 3
Overall Powers and functions of the Management Team SiSTec have its powers from this constitution and the team shall collectively have and/or perform the following powers and functions:

•	Provide direction in the planning of development projects.

•	Supervise the implementation of empowerment initiatives.

•	Mobilize material and financial resources from external sources of support.

•	Provide accurate and objective report on all self supported and donor funded projects.

•	Account to members on the utilization of organizational resources.

•	It promote the peace and development of Sierra Leone

•	It have the power to receive and or borrow money, goods, and services on behalf of SiSTec

Article 4
Vision Statement Making rural communities a better place to live and to improve the quality of life for deprived and underprivileged children/youth in communities, and a country in which children realize their full potential through the support of ICT as the driver to development.

Mission Statement
•	Facilitating programs and activities geared towards development of school children and youths in Sierra Leone.

•	Enhancing youth involvement in community development programs such as Computer Hardware, Networking, Social Media, Basic Software (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, Publisher), and decision making processes etc.

•	works toward a sustainable improvement in the quality of life of deprived and underprivileged children/youth in Sierra Leone

•	Using Participatory Rural Appraisal tools to identify the causes of poverty and finding solutions to address these problems

•	Work with girls, children and youth through service delivery; make them economically productive and self reliant

Article 5
Aims of the Association SiSTec unity and co-operation among the people in Sierra Leone and collaborate with the Government of Sierra Leone and other interested bodies in addressing the multifarious problems hindering development

Article 6
Objectives

The objectives of SiSTec shall include but not limited to:

•	Promoting school children, youth and girls to gain self employment •	Help promote girls, youth and children aware of their rights and responsibilities

•	Empower children and youth in order to be economically productive thereby promoting their earning capabilities through education and life skills training.

•	Promote conflict resolution and peace building amongst all members of the communities

•	Support gender equality in communities amongst girls, children and youths in Sierra Leone.

•	Ensure School children are self employed through Business with their savings & loan scheme.

•	Promote education through academic excellence awards, leadership training for students in primary and secondary schools

•	Create awareness among sexually active youth on issues of sexual reproductive health and HIV/AIDS

Types of membership
Foundation members, Board of Directors and Tenure

Foundation members
•	They shall be the other foundation members of the organization and their memberships are permanent, unless they prove to be incompetent in the performance of their duties. shall be open to all well meaning persons with a passion to empower children, and marginalised communities in Sierra Leone. They shall Review the constitution and shall be responsible to Appoint/Replace Board members in consultation with the National Founder and Chief Executive Office. . Founder & Chief Executive Officer (Elongima Bundu) Program Manager- (Muckaru Kamara) Finance Manager-(Ahmed L. Bundu) Administrative Manager (Duada Bindi)

Board of Directors
They shall be the guarantee/ Trustees of the organization and the secretariat shall appoint Board of Directors responsible for maintaining a register of the asset of SiStec and they shall comprise the following:

Chairman- Musa Ansumana SOKO Vice Chairman- Sylvanus Murry Secretary- Elongima Bundu Legal Advisor- Lawyer Junisa Bangali and Lawyer Mohamed Bawoh Community Member

•	The Board of Directors (BOD) shall be responsible for setting policy for SiSTec. They shall act as overseers and shall have power to sanction staff for violating code of ethics and byelaws and shall meet on a yearly basis or as necessary: All members of board shall serve for a two year term of office except the National Founder & Chief Executive Officer.

•	The quorum for a meeting of the board shall be two third of its members

•	Board meetings shall be held in the last week of every Six months, with two meetings conducted each year, except where emergencies demand otherwise

•	All cases of financial misappropriations and misuse of organizational resources shall be delegated to the Board for appropriate action.

Other members
They shall be employed by SiSTec, National Founder & CEO in consultation with the Board of Directors to carry out different tasks to achieve the aims and objectives of the organization and shall be open to all well meaning persons with a passion to empower children, and marginalised communities in Sierra Leone..

Article 8
SiSTec Secretariat The Secretariat will be made up of Branch Manager, Field Accountant, and Admin Officer, Project Officer, Messenger / Cleaner all at the districts level preferable at Kailahun and Moyamba Districts. The Headquarter will be made up of the National Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Program Manager, Administrative Manager, Finance Manager and as  we consolidate we expand to the other part of the Country(North).

Article 9
Special Powers & Function of Founder Members The Specific responsibilities and scope of authority of the respective members of the coordination team shall be regularly laid out in the job description manual of the organization, which shall have the following powers and functions and shall be supplied to each official upon appointment.

National Founder & Chief Executive Officer
•	Owner, National Founder and Executive Head of the organization •	Advocate for funds abroad and partners •	Reply to all international email. •	Discuss/Assess experience sharing reports and processes.

•	Head of the Organization and Chairman of all executive meetings

•	Assess/Approve partnership opportunities.

•	Review/Approve applications for membership and shall be vested with the power to employ and dismiss in consultation with the Board of Directors.

•	Discuss/Assess membership contributions.

•	Represent the programme at Board meetings and acts as secretary to the board

•	Liaise with other governmental and non- governmental organizations both at National level and International levels

•	Monitoring SiSTec activities and shall Signatory to the organization account (Principal signatory)

•	Represent the organization's annual reports to the Board of Directors before submission to donors

Program Manager
•	Guide and coordinate activities of other Officers and the general administrative running of the organization

•	Coordinate jointly with the National Founder & CEO to source income for the organization

•	Signatory to the organization account

•	Coordinate all program activities of the organization to ensure that they are in line with its goals

•	Undertake feasibility studies on needs assessment and make appropriate recommendations to the donors through the CEO and Board of Directors approval

•	Attend all interagency meetings for funding in conjunction with National Founder & CEO

Branch Manager
•	Liaise with Program Manager and Finance Manager to ensure that budget and outputs are delivered on the right quarter efficiently

•	Signatory to organization’s account

•	Develop projects for the organization in consultation with community members

•	Make follow up visits to donors project sites for impact assessment in the team of other

•	Prepare and update annual reports on each implemented projects and submit to the secretariat

Finance Manager
•	Keeping financial documents

•	Coordinate jointly with the CD to source income for the organization

•	Cross check all financial transaction before disbursement

•	Adequate provision shall be made for regular audits on the accounts

Administrative Manager (Preferably a female)
•	The secretary to the organization and responsible for the daily administrative running of the organization

•	Update and safe keep the organization’s non financial documents

•	Prepare agenda and take minutes of all meetings of the organization

•	Coordinate all correspondences of the organization’s document

•	Edit type and document all reports from other offices/ Supervisors of the organization

Article 10
ARTICLE EIGHT: FINANNCIAL MANAGEMENT

BANK ACCOUNT

SiSTec shall operate bank accounts, which shall be established with any recognized commercial bank in Sierra Leone. SIGNATORIES TO THE ORGANIZATIONAL ACCOUNT

Three signatories shall operate the accounts. These shall include: The National Founder & CEO The Program Coordinators The Branch Managers Any two of these three shall withdraw money from the accounts. However, the National Founder & Chief Executive Officer shall serve as the principal signatory to the account.


 * /Moyamba School of Technology and Computer Studies/
 * /Kailahun School of Technology and Computer Studies/