ZES Constitution - Zimbabwe Economics Society

ARTICLE 1: NAME
The name of the Society shall be the Zimbabwe Economics Society (hereafter referred to as “the Society”)

ARTICLE 2: HEADQAURTERS
The headquarters of the Society shall be at Harare, Zimbabwe.

ARTICLE 3: LEGAL STATUS
The Society shall be a non-profit making body corporate or universities enjoying perpetual succession and capable in law of acquiring property and rights, assuming and incurring obligations and suing and being sued in its own name, apart and distinct from its members. No member by reason of membership of the Society shall have any rights to the property of the Society or have any obligations for the debts of the Society.

ARTICLE 4: OBJECTS OF THE SOCIETY
1. The Zimbabwe Economics Society is established for the purposes of promoting the study and advancement of all branches of Economics, and for the purpose of facilitating the acquisition and dissemination of knowledge on Economic matters.
2. The Society will publish a Journal to be known as the Zimbabwe Journal of Economics (herein called “the Journal”). The aim of the Journal will be to promote the discussion of economic issues relevant to the development problems of Zimbabwe and Southern Africa in particular, and the developing countries in general.

ARTICLE 5: MEMBERS
The Society shall consist of persons desirous of promoting the objects of the Society who are elected to membership in accordance with the provisions of article 6.

ARTICLE 6: ELECTION OF MEMBERS
1. All persons desirous of being admitted into the Society must apply in form approved
by the Council, which will consider and decide on such applications. Every candidate
shall tender his first subscription with his application.
2. Whenever a person is selected a member he shall immediately be informed by a
letter and given by a copy of the Constitution.

ARTICLE 7: SUBSCRIPTIONS
1. For the purposes of annual subscription rates, there shall be the following classes of
member;
Corporate Members
Individual Members
Post High School Students
High School Students
2. There shall be a subscription of certain monies and the rate shall be determined
from time to time, subject to the approval of the Annual General Meeting.
3. The subscription shall be payable in advance on the first day in January in each year
in respect of the twelve months ending 31st December of that year. All new members
shall be liable for a first subscription equal to the annual subscription unless joining
after the 30th June in which event the subscription shall be half the annual rate.
4. The annual subscription may be changed by the Council, subject to the approval of
the Annual General Meeting.

ARTICLE 8: COUNCIL AND OFFICERS
1. There shall be a Council of the Society (herein called “the Council”) whose
membership shall consist of:
i. Ten elected members
ii. The Editor-in-Chief of the journal, ex officio;
iii. Any number of honorary Vice-Presidents, ex officio.
2. The elected members of the Council for the succeeding year shall be elected from the
members of the Society at the Annual General Meeting and shall hold office from the
conclusion of that Meeting until the conclusion of the next Annual General Meeting,
but shall be eligible for re-election.
3. The council shall at its first meeting, after the Annual General Meeting, elect from its own members a President, and any other officers as are deemed necessary by the Council.
4. The Council shall appoint from within or outside the Council of the Society, an Auditor who shall be a Chartered Accountant or other suitably qualified people, and any other offices as are deemed necessary by the Council.
5. The Council shall, at its first meeting after the Annual General Meeting, appoint from among the members of the Society six members of the Editorial Board of the Journal to be responsible for the running of the Journal. The Editorial Board will have full powers of co-option.
6. In the first instance two persons shall be appointed to the Editorial Board for a period of one year, two shall be appointed for a period of two years, and two shall be appointed for a period of three years, as members’ periods of office terminate. Appointments shall thereafter be for a period of three years.
7. In case any office becomes vacant the Council shall, and in the case of any officer or member of the Council becoming unable may, elect another member of the Society to the office and/ or Council as the case may be.
8. The Editorial Board shall elect from among its members an Editor-in-Chief and such other office bearers as it deems necessary.
9. Proposals for the election of any person as Honorary Vice-President shall require the prior approval of the Council and thereafter shall be decided in the manner provided in Article 10 of this Constitution.

ARTICLE 9: POWERS AND DUTIES OF THE COUNCIL
1. The Council shall have the general direction and management of the Society, provided that the direction and management of the Journal shall be as provided in paragraphs 12 and 13 of this Article.
2. All property, movable or immovable, of every description, belonging to the Society or to which the Society shall become in any manner entitled, shall vest in the Council who shall hold such property and/or funds in trust on behalf of the Society.
3. The Council shall have the power to institute or defend any action at law in the name of the Society provided always that the persons authorized to act on behalf of the Council shall, in the execution of their trust, conform at all times and in all respects to the resolutions of the Council of the Society.
4. The Council shall meet as often as necessary to conduct the general routine business of the Society, and may four members thereof may, by requisition to the Secretary, require a special meeting to be called, four days’ notice of which must be given to each member of the Council.
5. At any meeting of the Council FOUR members thereof shall constitute a quorum. In case of equality of votes, the Chairman shall have a casting vote.
6. The Council shall have the power:
(a) To co-opt, for a period or for the remainder of a year, members of the Society to temporary or permanent vacancies on the Council.
(b) To appoint Committees of its members for special purposes.
7. The Council shall have the power to frame, enquire into and decide on complaints against members and to reprimand, suspend and expel members who have been found guilty of conduct prejudicial to the interest or reputation of the Society.
8. The Council shall draw up yearly reports upon the state of the society in which an abstract of all the proceedings and duly audited statement of the income and expenditure of the society including the Journal for each year shall appear. It shall be circulated to all members at least two weekends before the Annual General Meeting at which it shall be read.
9. The Council shall have the power to pass such bye-laws as may be necessary for the conduct of the business of the Society.
10. The President shall exercise general supervision over the affairs of the Society. The Vice-Presidents shall deputize for the President whenever so required. The President shall take the Chair at all meetings of the council or of the Society at which he is present. In the absence of the President, a Vice-President shall preside, and if the President and both Vice-Presidents be absent, the members present shall elect one of their numbers as chairman of the occasion.
11. The Secretary shall undertake such duties as are prescribed in this Constitution and as may be defined for the Office by the Council.
12. The Editorial Board shall retain full responsibility for the editorial policy of the Journal within the broad aims expressed in paragraph 2 of Article 4 of this Constitution.
13. The Editorial Board will be responsible for the financing of the Journal, which financing will, within the Society, be kept entirely separate from that of the general finance of the Society. The Editorial Board shall be empowered to take whatever steps it deems necessary to ensure the validity of the Journal.
14. The Editorial Board shall have charge of the amounts of money of the Journal and shall deposit the same in a bank and/or receiving institution approved by Council but separate from other Society monies. It shall keep a regular account of the income and expenditure of the Journal and shall present the same to the Council when called upon to do so.
15. The Editorial Board shall draw up an annual report upon the state of the Journal and present it to the Council in order to enable the Council to comply with its duty set out in Paragraph 8 of this Article.
16. The treasurer shall have charge of the moneys of or belonging to the Society, except for those referred to in paragraph 8 of this Article, and shall deposit the same in a bank and/or other deposit receiving institution approved by the Council. He shall keep a regular account of the income and expenditure of the society and shall present the same to the council when called upon to do so. He shall pay on account of the Society such, and only such sums of money as may be generally or specially approved by the Council. He, or in his absence and on his behalf, the Secretary or such other officer as may be authorized thereto by the Council, shall sign all cheques drawn on behalf of the Society, which cheques shall be countersigned by one other officer authorized by the Council as a cheque signatory.
17. He shall undertake such other duties as may be defined for the office by the Council.
18. The Auditor shall undertake an annual audit of the accounts of the Society including the accounts of the Journal, and such other duties as may be defined for the office by the Council.

ARTICLE 10: ORDINARY, SPECIAL, AND ANNUAL GENERAL MEETINGS
1. The Ordinary Meetings shall be held at places and on dates to be fixed by the Council for the purpose of hearing addresses on economic subjects, and for the discussion of any questions arising therefrom.
2. The Annual General Meeting of the Society shall be held on a date to be decided by the Council as soon after the close of the financial year, which shall run from 1 January to 31 December, as may be convenient, to receive and deliberate on the report of the Council regarding the state of the Society and the accounts and balance sheet, and to transact general business.
3. All notices of Meetings shall include an Agenda of Business to be transacted at the meeting.
4. At any meeting, ten members shall form a quorum. Subject to the provisions of Article 12, a majority of votes will carry any business before the meeting.
5. Each member of the Society, including each corporate manner, shall be entitled to exercise a single vote at General and Special Meetings of the Society.

ARTICLE 11: DONATIONS
The names of all persons who have made donations to the funds or property of the Society during the past year shall be read at the Annual General Meeting, and such persons shall be recorded as benefactors in the Minutes and in the Annual General Report.

ARTICLE 12: AMENDMENT TO CONSTITUTION
1. No alteration, amendment, or addition to the Constitution shall be made except with prior notice to Council and approved by the General Meeting at its Annual or Extra-ordinary meeting.
2. No such alterations, amendment, or addition shall be adopted or addition shall be adopted except by a vote of at least two-thirds of the members voting.

ARTICLE 13: DISSOLUTION
1. The Society may be dissolved at any time by a resolution passed by a three-month majority of the votes cast by those members voting at any Annual or Special General Meeting.
2. Upon dissolution of the Society, The assets of the Society shall be realized, the proceeds applied in satisfaction of the debts and liabilities of the Society, and the balance transferred on the instructions of the meeting at which the decision to dissolve is taken, to any other body, or association concerned with the study of economics, or to the University of Zimbabwe.