The man who made headlines recently when he tried to exercise authority otherwise not provided for in his chapter’s constitution, when he announced the firing of his colleague and issued warning to another, has himself fallen from grace to grass.
In his Sunday, August 14 letter of resignation to Mr. Alfred Zelee, President of the Iowa Chapter of the Grand Gedeh Association in the Americas (GGAA), Mr. Wilhelm W. Cooper, Sr. offered his resignation.
In his three sentence letter, copy of which is in the possession of the Independent Eye News (IEN), Mr. Cooper wrote; “Mr. President, due to family engagement, I regret to resign the position of Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Iowa (IA) Chapter of the GGAA, Inc. effective mid-day August 15, 2011. I regret any inconveniency this may cause you and your administration.”
“Please extend my appreciations,” the letter went on, “to the Grand Gedeh people of Iowa for giving me the opportunity to serve them in this position.” Mr. Cooper concluded his three-sentence letter of resignation to President Zelee.
When contacted, Mr. Cooper confirmed submitting his letter of resignation to President Zelee, but clarified that he meant to have resigned from the Board all together, rather than just as chairman as his letter indicated.
On reports of an attempt by Cooper to reconsider his decision to resign and reclaim his position as chairman of the Board, less than twenty-four hours after he submitted his resignation, Mr. Cooper maintained, “no comments.”
In an exclusive interview with the Independent Eye News, Iowa Chapter President, Alfred Zelee acknowledged receipt of Mr. Cooper’s letter of resignation.
Political Observers say it is now up to President Zelee to appoint an Independent Elections Commission (IEC), to hold by elections to fill Mr. Cooper’s vacant seat on the five-Member Board of Directors of the Iowa Chapter.
In a related development, Cooper has also reportedly resigned his position as one of the Co-Chairs for Logistics of the Collins Presidential Inaugural Committee (CPIC). When quizzed, Mr. Cooper said, “I have already communicated with the appropriate authority, so I have no further comments.”
A senior Administration official who preferred anonymity, confirmed Mr. Cooper’s resignation as one of the Co-Chairmen of the Collins Presidential Inaugural Committee (CPIC).
“Cooper’s resignation will have no significant negative impact on the inauguration, because he was only one of the many Co-Chairmen. There are others equally prepared and willing individuals who will ensure a successful inauguration.”
It may be recalled that on Saturday, June 18, the MN Web reported a story captioned, “COOPER RUNS AMOK! FIRES & WARNS COLLEAGUES,” of the Iowa Chapter’s Board of Directors of the GGAA.
Cooper, who is widely known within the Gedeh Community as a dictator, because of his autocratic tendencies, wrote letters to his colleagues on the Board firing and warning others for criticizing him. “He treated us like we were his subjects.” Commented his chief rival and Co-Chairman, Henry Kyne.
In the story, we reported that Cooper announced he has fired Mr. Henry Kyne, as Co-Chairman of the Iowa Chapter’s Board of Directors and issued a warning to Mrs. Felicia Reeves-Soe, Secretary of the Chapter’s Board.
In a Saturday, June 11 letter to Co-Chairman Kyne, then Chairman Cooper wrote, “I regret to inform you that a majority Members of the Board reiterates its earlier decision that relieves you of your position as Co-Chairman of this Board with immediate effect.”
Chairman Cooper then appointed Mrs. Felicia Reeves-Seo, as the new Co-Chair of the Iowa Chapter’s Board. Cooper wrote her a warning letter earlier, for reportedly “embarrassing him,” by criticizing him, but Mrs. Reeves-Seo dismissed his warning and appointment.
She expressed shock asking, “I wonder whether Wilhelm knows that he does not have the power to remove and replace any of us from our elected positions, on the Board of Directors of the Iowa Chapter?”
She went on, “how can he even say he is elevating me when he also charged me for embarrassing him. Is he then elevating me because I embarrassed him as he claimed in his letter to me? I find that to be very strange.” She questioned conclusively.
In an exclusive interviews with all four Members of the Board including its Co-Chair, Kyne, Secretary, Felicia Reeves-Seo, Members, Zian Yahkuenneh and Comfort Barley, Chairman Cooper’s claim about Kyne’s alleged removal, was proven to be untrue.
Ms. Barley was the only Board Member, who refused to either confirm or deny Mr. Cooper’s claims saying, “I don’t have any information to give you. If the other people want to put our information out there, they can go ahead, but you cannot get it from me.”
Kyne informed the Independent Eye News saying, “at no time did the Iowa Chapter Board ever discuss my removal, either as Co-Chairman or a Member of the Board.”
Mrs. Felicia Reeves-Seo, Secretary of the Board also said, “since our elections on Sunday, February 27, we have had only four meetings and at no time did we ever discuss the removal of Mr. Kyne either a Co-Chairman or a Member of the Board.”
Mr. Zain Yahkuenneh, a Member of the Board also corroborated his colleagues’ assertions that at no time did they discuss the removal of Mr. Kyne or any Member of the Board, let alone a Member of its leadership.
On Mr. Cooper’s “family engagement” claim as the reason for his resignation, Secretary Reeves-Seo said, “although we didn’t know the intensity of Cooper’s reported family engagement, we however wish him well.”
“We regret to see him go especially at this critical time, but we pledge to do all within our powers, to move this organization forward, by making it second to non, in the Gedeh Community.”
Political Analysts say the unceremonious departure from the political scenes of another GGAA tyrant, Wilhelm W. Cooper, Sr. is a big relief for Diaspora Grand Gedeans, most especially of the Iowa Gedeh Community.
Cooper’s departure is also being seen as a glorious opportunity for Iowa Grand Gedeans to redeem themselves, as President Collins recent urged them to do, when he addressed them.
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