Skip to main content
Governance is how decisions are made on Shirikia. Whether it is the main Shirikia DAO or an individual Wechezaji Sacco, the governance process works the same way — proposals are created, members vote, and the outcome is executed on-chain. Every vote is transparent and recorded on the blockchain.
Governance requires a connected wallet with the relevant governance tokens on the Base network.

​
Where governance applies

The process is identical at both levels. The only difference is the scope — Shirikia governance affects the whole platform, while Sacco governance affects just that group.

​
How governance works

1

A proposal is created

A token holder with enough voting power submits a proposal describing a decision or change.
2

Voting delay

A waiting period begins so members can read and discuss the proposal before voting opens.
3

Voting opens

All token holders who have delegated their voting power can cast their vote — For, Against, or Abstain.
4

The outcome is decided

When the voting period ends, the result is determined. If enough people voted (quorum) and the majority voted For, the proposal passes.
5

Queue and execute

Passed proposals are queued for a short safety period and then executed automatically on-chain.

​
Delegate your voting power

Before you can vote, you need to delegate your voting power. This is a one-time setup step. What is delegation? Delegation is how you activate your voting power. Even though you hold tokens, the system does not count them until you tell it who should vote with them. You can either:
  • Delegate to yourself — you vote directly using your own tokens
  • Delegate to someone else — you trust another person to vote on your behalf
How to delegate:
  1. Go to the Governance page (for Shirikia DAO) or your Sacco’s Governance section (for Wechezaji).
  2. Click Delegate.
  3. Choose yourself or enter another person’s wallet address.
  4. Confirm the transaction in your wallet.
Why does my voting power show 0? If you check your voting power before delegating, it will return 0 — even if you hold tokens. This is by design. The system only recognizes voting power that has been explicitly delegated. Once you delegate (even to yourself), your full token balance is reflected as voting power. You only need to do this once.

​
Create a proposal

Any token holder who meets the proposal threshold (the minimum amount of delegated tokens required) can create a proposal. Here is what you need to fill in:

​
Proposal fields

In simple terms: the description is what you want to do and why. The target, value, and calldata together define how it gets done on-chain. The app guides you through building these fields — you do not need to write technical code yourself.

​
How to create a proposal

  1. Go to the Governance page and click Create Proposal.
  2. Write a clear description of your proposal.
  3. Set the target contract, value, and action (the app helps you build this).
  4. Submit the proposal and confirm the transaction in your wallet.
After submission, the proposal enters the Pending stage and waits for the voting delay to pass before voting opens.
When you open the Create Proposal form for the first time, the targets, values, and calldata sections are empty. This is normal — you add actions step by step, and the app shows you exactly what will be executed when the proposal passes.

​
Vote on a proposal

  1. Go to the Governance page and browse active proposals.
  2. Read the proposal description to understand what is being proposed.
  3. Click Vote and choose your position:
    • For — you support the proposal
    • Against — you oppose the proposal
    • Abstain — you want to be counted for quorum but take no side
  4. Optionally, add a reason explaining your vote.
  5. Confirm the transaction in your wallet.

​
Proposal lifecycle

Every proposal goes through the same stages:

​
Check your voting power

On the Governance page you can see:
  • Your token balance — how many governance tokens you hold
  • Your voting power — your current delegated voting power (the amount of tokens you or someone else has delegated to your address)
  • Active proposals — what is currently up for a vote
  • Past proposals — the history of all proposals and their outcomes
  • Treasury balance — the funds held by the DAO’s treasury (for Wechezaji Saccos)
Your voting power is also visible on your Shirikia dashboard, so you can always see how many tokens are currently counting toward your votes.
Governance tokens in Shirikia and its sub-DAOs exist solely for governance. They are meant for voting and decision-making, not as a currency. By default they do not have real-world purchasing power because they are not given liquidity. If you are interested in setting up liquidity for a token, email admin@shirikia.com to discuss possible arrangements.