3.5.1.3 Community participation in the governance of the CIC and accountability

Subject to the asset-lock restriction and the CIC test, a CIC is obliged to serve the interests of its community beneficiaries, i.e. the community constituencies addressed in its constitutional objectives. As such, the CIC directors and members are encouraged to consider and consult by any means possible the community stakeholders-beneficiaries served by the community objectives and the persons affected by the CIC’s activities.1 CICs are also obliged to report and describe their consultation activities in an annual CIC report. This is a statutory requirement expressed in Article 26(1)(b). This article stipulates in an encouraging rather than obligatory way that a CIC shall report annually on: (i) ‘the company’s activities during the financial year (that) have benefited the community’; (ii) ‘the steps, if any, which the company has taken during the financial year to consult persons affected by the company’s activities; and (iii) the ‘outcome of any such consultation’.2 Accordingly, a pre-arranged CIC report template is provided by the Regulator to the CICs. The CIC report requires the CIC to describe the steps that it has taken to involve and consult stakeholders and the persons who are affected by the company’s activities.3