Kuwaiti social minister issues resolution for cooperative societies

Minister of Social Affairs and Labour and the Minister of State for Planning and Development Hend Sabeeh Al-Sabeeh issued Wednesday a new resolution regulating work of cooperative societies in Kuwait based on a recently approved law.
The resolution regulates cooperative societies' board of directors and affiliated committees' convention and work. It details the organizational structure of the societies which reduces the supervisory posts to three.
It states that cooperative societies' social aid must be distributed evenhandedly in their areas of work.
The resolution bans any finance to civil society organizations, service centers and give-away coupons.
It also develops an accurate accounting system monitoring all financial aspects of the societies work.
The resolution sets precise regulations for societies' tenders including determining the cost of projects and opening of bidder envelops and bid-waiving procedures. It also identifies activities that the societies are entitled to run and manage directly.
It also organizes calling for and running of the societies' general assembly meetings; nomination for the board of directors; formation of the three main committees, namely the Finance Committee, and Administrative and Procurement Committee and Social Services Committee.
The resolution allows the formation of temporary committees provided that the committee should be chaired by a member of the board of directors who is not a member of the society's administrative board. Nobody is allowed to chair more than one committee, it stressed.
Moreover, it stated that the number of the committee members should not exceed five. For a committee meeting to be legal it should meet the quorum. Nobody is allowed to be a member of more than two committees, it noted.
The resolution bans financing electoral activities or publishing personal commercials at the expense of the society. It also stipulates that board members could not travel at the expense of the society without getting a prior approval from the ministry.
Furthermore, it prohibits societies' officials from enjoying any material benefits exceeding what is stipulated in Article 18 of the law. They also have to address any government agency only through the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor and not participate in any overseas conferences or seminars or pay external visits without getting prior approval from the ministry.
It also banned setting up any cooperative facility or allocating land to it before obtaining the approval of the ministry.
It prohibits receiving any gifts or finance from suppliers to the social activities of the cooperative societies.
The resolution deprives board of directors from announcing any tenders before getting prior written approval from the ministry.
The resolution, which replaces resolution No. 195 of 2000 and comprises seven articles and 63 items, was studied and prepared by a team from cooperative societies and legal affairs departments.
The new cooperative societies law had been presented to the administrative and financial officials of the societies to get their input on it before the ministry's final adoption of it.