The Hunt for killers of Muyuka woman

 By Joe Atumba

When suspected   separatists beheaded 32-year Comfort Sirri Tumasang in Muyuka in August 2020, the terrible act drew wide-spread condemnation from rights groups and the general public.

The deceased was buried on August 15 at her family compound at Makanga quarter, Muyuka but Cameroon security forces are searching for her killers.

 Cameroon government  has vowed not only to fish out perpetrators of the macabre act, but  on August 18 sent  Confiance Ebune, director at the Prime Minister’s office and special envoy of Prime Minister Dion Ngute to Muyuka to condole with deceased’s mother. The PM’s envoy was accompanied to Muyuka by Southwest Governor, Bernard Okalia Bilai.

 After   the delegation extended Government’s sympathies to the bereaved family, the deceased’s deflated mother alerted the PM’s delegation that separatists had also threatened to burn her Makanga –Muyuka residence for allowing the burial of her daughter, Comfort there.

 Comfort was accused by separatists of betraying them by collaborating with government forces who are out to neutralize separatist fighters. She was labeled as backleg by the armed group.

Cameroon labels separatist fighters as terrorists, and the latter could face up to the death sentence in the country.

According to sources,with the search for the killers of Comfort Sirri intensifying, certain Ms. Josephine Djougang a nurse in Yaounde is said to be on the run. Her search is not because she is a separatist fighter, but because reports claimed she had treated an injured and sick separatist fighter named E. Enoh in a private clinic in Yaoundé.

The said Enoh whose whereabouts is unknown is suspected of having links with the killers of comfort Sirri . Said to be a separatist fighter in Muyuka, security operatives believe he could know more about separatist fighters’ locations there.

The search for Josephine is reportedly to find out if she has direct links with separatist fighters because she administered treatment to E. Enoh. She is suspected of having some information about their activities.

According to sources,  Josephine  is running for fear that she could be killed, since some hospitals where separatist fighters were  receiving treatment had reportedly been attacked by the military, searching for them.

 Since the Anglophone crisis started in 2016, thousands of both civilians and security officers/soldiers have lost their lives as government forces clash regularly with separatists, who seeking the independence of minority-English speakers from the majority French speakers. Hundreds of houses and villages   have been burnt to ashes, many in desperation and agony.

Hundreds of thousands are internally displaced (IDPs), while over 40 thousand Cameroonians are seeking asylum in neighboring Nigeria. Many others have fled the country to the USA,Europe,Asia and other  parts of the world for safety purposes.

 About 20% of Cameroon’s population of about 24 million is English speakers and 80% French-speakers. The English-speakers  since their union with French-speakers in 1961 have been complaining of their  gross marginalization .

Suspended Buea EBC Christian: "I am righting the wrongs of the church "

 

Hansel Ekwa Itue, the Baptist Christian who provoked a crisis at Ebenezer Baptist Church (EBC),Buea, leading to his suspension, likens himself  to  Martin Luther, who wrote 95 theses against the Roman Catholic Church, bringing about reforms.

Ekwa Itue spoke to The Horizon’s Contributing Editor, Christopher Ambe on Sunday after the EBC Pastor Rev. Gefon and Nkwan Amos blamed him, in a previous interview, for plunging the church into a crisis. Excerpts:

Do you still consider yourself as a member of EBC after your temporary suspension, which you have been protesting against?

 I remain a member of EBC.   I am not yet liberated by the Church.

After my unjustified suspension, I wrote to the church requesting they should terminate my member but they have not responded.

But if you angry with the church for its decision temporarily suspending you,, can you not  quietly and voluntarily withdraw your membership and worship elsewhere?  

I can do that if need arises, but I remain a Baptist for now. And there are issues in EBC  which must be resolved before I start considering whether to leave or not. The issues are crucial in the unity and growth of the church.

But the issues you raised against the church leadership have been looked into by same and judgment  passed against you, resulting to your temporary suspension .What else?

I must keep pressing because the church of God is not owned by an individual or group of individuals. I pray the church leadership should sooner or later come to reason. Remember when Martin Luther [who was Professor of moral theory at the University of Wittenberg, Germany] protested against the Roman Catholic Church, everybody thought he was  mad until he published the 95 theses about the church, in which he condemned its excesses and corruption.   The EBC or church leadership may consider me a mad man because I am trying to right the wrongs of the church, but   only time alone will tell.

What are the wrongs that you want to correct?

I want to be categorical on my position. The senior pastor of the church Rev.Gefon, in my opinion, is rude and very arrogant, which are not supposed to be traits of a pastor.

Secondly, the pastor “scammed” the church about a project in Munyenge for the building of a house for a desperate pastor .In the Baptist Church, the pastor does not collect, keep or spend money in any congregation. The Church has a financial secretary, treasurer and chair person who takes financial decisions on behalf of the church. Why did the Rev Gentleman involve himself in this financial mess, by raising funds and spending such without records?

Scamming should be a crime. Why did you not lodge a complaint with the Police for investigation if you are sure of your claim?

 I made this known to the church, because when you raise money in the church it is church money. And the pastor cannot raise money and the church does not have the financial records. Church money is supposed to be spent with the approval of the church committee, which is not what he did.

But the Pastor has dismissed your claim as unfounded, insisting the Church knew and approved his expenditure on the Munyenge pastor’s house.Why Insist on this point?

This is not true.  The pastor, as a man of God, should stand by the truth and the truth alone shall set us free. The pastor should be honest at once that the church never approved of the project. The church has no records of the project in question.

If the church did not approve of the project, why did it raise the requested funds?

You see, there should be somebody who sees in the world of the blind. That is why I say he deceived the church. He has no right to raise money and spend it without following church procedures.

During the fund-raiser where were you?

I was there and raised an objection. But fund raising continued in the church and nobody could reason with me.

Didn’t that suggest to you that the majority of the church endorsed the fund-raiser?

They did not approve. They did not know whether the pastor was right or wrong in what he was doing. There is no Baptist church where funds are raised by the pastor and same spends the money without  the vetting by a committee.

It seems you are the only one faulting the pastor, despite the many informed Christians in EBC.Don’t you think so?

There are many who blame the pastor in silence. They lack the courage to speak out. As I told you when Martin Luther raised concerns about the Roman Catholic Church, everybody thought he was mad. He insisted .But when his points were finally appreciated and understood it sparked the great revolution in the Catholic Church.  I think that when the church will understand the truth of what I am saying there will be a revolution.

 You have petitioned church authorities on your claims now for months and even copied the Executive President of CBC.What has been the response of superior authorities?

They have not responded to my complaints. They have not given me their position yet.

Don’t you think that they have not seen any merit in your complaints and have ignored you?

Not at all; I complained to those directly concerned and only copied the executive president. So, I don’t expect a direct response from him.

From your previous interview with the pastor and secretary, the church claimed to have put a reconciliation mechanism where I am not responding. It   is unfortunate all that is falsehood.

 The Pastor told me he has no personal problem with you. Do you have a personal problem with Pastor Gefon, who is from the Northwest region and you are a native of Buea?

I don’t! It is just a matter of church principles and practice. His practice to me looks strange and un-Baptist.

When you were suspended you were given some counselors to work with. Have you been interacting?

The disciplinary sanction against me did not follow church principles; the judgment against was based on falsehood and I reject it.

Do you want the pastor relieved of his functions at EBC?

 I don’t want him sacked! I want the unity of the church to stand. The right things should be done. We should not take advantage of the ignorance of the majority on how the church is supposed to run to do wrong things.

Church internal rules have been violated- by putting me on suspension. So my suspension is null and void.

If  the pastor is sacked, will that make you happy?

Honestly, I won’t be happy. Life is a learning process. If you are at fault, accept your fault, accept your corrections and move ahead.

But the EBC leadership has been making effort to bring about peace and reconciliation?

On the contrary I have made several official attempts to bring about peace and reconciliation to reconcile with the pastor… I went to the pastor personally to reconcile with him in his office.  But he scandalized me by telling people that I attacked him. If I attack his short comings, am I not correct to do so?

Let it be clear: the pastor has neither made any effort to reconcile with me nor sent anybody to facilitate that.

 Would I be right to call you the Martin Luther of the church?

It is such a big title to be thrown on me.But that is exactly what I am doing: correcting the wrongs of the church.

I pray that there will be peace and reconciliation. You don’t expect the things of God to  happen automatically. Time alone will tell.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cameroon-University of Buea: Head of JMC To Move On After Producing Two PhDs.

Stephen Mokondo (holds thesis) ,Dr Kingsley Ngange  & Nseme Ndode after defence

 By Christopher Ambe

The Head of Department of Journalism & Mass Communication (JMC), of University of Buea, has hinted that it  may  now  be time for him to embrace new challenges  after the department, which he has headed only for three years, has produced two PhDs and the third one is underway.

Dr. Kingsley L. Ngange, who was appointed head of Department of JMC on August 17, 2017, said his two students, last week, brilliantly defended their PhDs.

In a telephone chat with this reporter last Saturday, Dr. Kingsley L.Ngange who was the first student to obtain his PhD from same department 10 years ago, said since JMC started in 1993, a total of four students have defended successfully their doctorates. The second to obtain a PhD from JMC/UB was Henry Muluh, who had also headed the department for several years.

Of the four PhD holders from the JMC/UB, two   defended theirs on August 14, 2020 on UB campus before two examination panels separately   chaired by Professor Noel Alembong of University of Buea and Professor Boyomo Assala of University of Yaounde II.

 The two students are Nseme Stephen Ndode, whose thesis was titled “Professionalization of Training Towards a Model of Excellence for Journalism and Mass Communication in Cameroon”, and Moki Stephen Mokondo, whose thesis was “The Content and Nature of Cameroon Newspapers Coverage of the Anglophone Crisis (2016 -2019”.

 Dr.  Ngange, who co-supervised the two candidates, said the jury was very satisfied with the high quality of their research works. “The theses were judged as well-conceived, well-researched and well-presented and both candidates were awarded A-grades, ” he said.

 He said Ndodi ‘s work had to do with journalism training and Mokondo’s   own with journalism practice, adding that both works are interrelated not only  because both candidates share the name Stephen, but that they are young persons who were destined to be together. “They started their undergraduate programed together in same department and they are finishing with the PhD. Both were also instructors in the department,” he pointed out.

“In the weeks or months ahead the department will be producing more PhDs,” he disclosed.

“As Head of Department, I am very satisfied  that in just three years we have produced two PhDs and one will be before September ends”, Dr. Ngange  noted , adding that his leadership of the department faced biting challenges, which   emboldened him.

He said, “I think that I have got to the pinnacle of my career as HOD. It is always good to quit the stage when the applause is loudest. I am now ready to carry on with other challenges.”

Dr. Ngange, has done all the facets of journalism -training, practice (with state-owned broadcaster, CRTV); journalism education for over twelve years and journalism management as head of department for three years.

The HOD  stressed :“Once more, I think it is good to quit the stage when the applause is loudest…

What I mean is that when we prepare young people we should be humble enough to let them take over from us rather than stay there and start fighting against them.

“When you produce PhDs, you don’t produce them  to keep in cupboards; so, the new PhDs should be given the opportunity to shine!”

 

 

 

Buea Baptist Church in Crisis: Christian, Pastor Suspended but Latter is Quickly Reinstated by Hierarchy

*Group calling self “Concerned Christians” slams church leadership 

By Christopher Ambe

The Ebenezer Baptist Church (EBC) ,Great Soppo- Buea, has been fighting tooth and nail for over seven months now to contain a serious crisis, which has shaken its foundation and threatened its unity.

A small group of EBC worshippers, which has named itself as “Concerned Christians”, has been slamming the local church leadership over the alleged poor handling of a crisis situation, provoked by the suspension of a Christian, Hansel Ekwa Itue.

Ekwa Itue was judged and sanctioned by the EBC leadership for challenging the moral authority of Rev. Patrick Munjoh Gefon,one of the three church pastors.

Rev.Gefon (native of Babanki, Northwest Region) has served as senior pastor of EBC, Great Soppo, for three years.

EBC ,on March 25, 2020, suspended Ekwa Itue for three months, during which period he was not supposed to “participate in the Lord’s Supper; not to hold any office in church; not to be called upon to pray, teach or preach; not to tithe;not  to be delegated to represent the church or church group in any gathering.

Ekwa Itue’s suspension letter (signed by  EBC  Chairman, Bro Tabong Augustin; Senior Pastor Rev.Patrick Gefon  and Bro Nkwan Amos, church secretary),however ,permitted him only to attend worship service  and Bible study; he was assigned a host of counselors  to follow him up.

  Following the suspension of the “rebellious” Christian, Rev.Gefon and the EBC leadership on the one hand and Mr. Ekwa Itue and a small   group of “Concerned Christians” on the other hand,have been at daggers drawn, a situation that is jeopardizing the peace and unity that EBC has known for decades.

 It is feared that tribal sentiments over the handling of the church imbroglio,may  leave  the church in pieces rather than  in peace.

 EBC leadership has initiated mediation and reconciliation talks, but the opposing group has rather given preconditions if it must attend any reconciliation meeting.

The small but “rebellious” group is made up of Dr. Filbert Eko, Eyole N.Monono,Yawa Monono,James Handison,Quintin Nartey and Lydia N. Haddison.

Even as of August 11, 2020, the EBC leadership still wrote another letter titled “Invitation To Dialogue/Reconciliation”, which it sent to the group of “Concerned Christians”, who are reportedly members of the same family and natives of Buea.

The crisis developed an ugly twist when Rev.Gefon was later slammed a three-month suspension by his immediate church boss, Rev.Dr. Liombe Timothy.

 Rev.Dr. Liombe, who is Field Pastor/chair of Soppo Field (Buea and Muyuka) Council of Churches, slammed a suspension against Rev. Gefon for allegedly using the pulpit to spread what the latter’s  challengers likened to hate speech.

 But the EBC leadership, banking on the CBC Constitution, swiftly reacted by addressing a letter titled “The Position of EBC Great Soppo Buea In Relation To The Recent Happenings In The Church”, to the Chair of Soppo Field Council of Churches, Buea .

In the letter dated 6^th May 2020, the EBC leadership justified the temporary suspension of Ekwa Itue, and noted that activities of the “Concerned Christians” were irregular and their letters full of misinformation intended to “foment a conflict in the EBC and magnify it, as they threaten to destabilize the church”.

The EBC leadership regretted that the “Concerned Christians” had in one of their letters, among other things, accused the Pastoral desk of “lacking experience and dynamism to handle churches in coastal areas, particularly a church like Ebenezer Baptist Church”, an accusation which it dismissed as unfounded.

 “EBC has grown numerically, spiritually, financially and even in their relations with the community”, the church leadership noted.

EBC decried the manner in which the Soppo Field Ministerial Council handled the former’s internal issues, without respecting church regulations.

Sanctioned Christian,Hansel Ekwa Itue, had accused Rev. Gefon   of arrogance and of managing funds raised for the building of a residence of  a desperate pastor in Munyenge without   consulting other church officials as required by regulation, but the accused  dismissed such  claims, noting that raised funds were used transparently  for the intended purpose with the knowledge of the church congregation.

“It is important to know that the church does not have any record on how much was raised and how it was spent, yet the fund raising was done in this church,”  Ekwal Itue  had alleged in a Feb 10^th 2020 letter  to “The Crisis Management Adhoc Committee” of Ebenezer Baptist Church, Great Soppo.

In his second letter dated March30, 2020 addressed to the Chairman of Soppo Field Ministerial Council, Ekwa Itue narrated how his efforts to cause Rev. Gefon to respect church principles, instead provoked the pastor to attack him whenever the Man of God mounted the pulpit on Sundays.

Ekwa Itue regretted that the crisis escalated because an allegation circulated   that he had stormed Rev.Gefon’s office and   beaten him up, an allegation which the former dismissed as unfounded, noting that he visited Rev.Gefon to discuss privately with him towards reconciliation.

 “I made countless efforts to meet the Pastor for us to get out of the deadlock, and going to his office on that day was proof of my will to seek peace and understanding between us”, argued Itue in his second letter.

 This reporter on August 11^thAugust met Rev. Gefon and Nkwan Amos,EBC secretary  to get their reactions to accusations leveled against them by Ekwa Itue and the group of “Concerned Christians” and they welcomed him .

Nkwan Amos told this reporter,” The genesis of the crisis is that a Christian,Hansel Ekwa Itue was disciplined  by EBC . He refused to accept the sanction and walked out, then a group calling itself “Concerned Christians emerged and started writing letters against the church and its leadership, claiming the disciplinary sanction was unjust”

The secretary said EBC has been making a lot of efforts to bring about reconciliation, with little or no success.

“But first of all before reconciliation comes you must  accept that you are wrong; reconciliation becomes difficult when someone has not accepted that he is wrong,” he added.  “When Mr.Ekwa Itue was disciplined he insisted  he was not wrong and refused to apologize. So reconciliation could not be immediate when he had not accepted wrongdoing”

Nkwan regretted that both Ekwa Itue and the group of “Concerned Christians” (not a recognized group in the church) have been hesitant to come for reconciliation for the unity of the church.

“The conditions they are giving us for reconciliation cannot be accepted, because they are not even a recognized group in the church”, the secretary said, citing Chapter 8,Article 32(4 ) on PROHIBITIONS of the CBC Constitution.

The subsection 4 reads: “Any complaint, petition or memoranda, verbal or written submitted by any person, or group of persons not properly identified  as an authority ,a body or institution operating within the confines of the Convention or not channeled through the competent  authority or body must be considered inadmissible.”

Nkwan admitted that the crisis has negatively affected church attendance and other activities of the House of God

On allegation of Northwest /Southwest divide in EBC,Nkwan said, “This was mentioned  by the letters of the Concerned Christians. They said if we don’t [yield] to their demands it will lead to inter-tribal conflict. So we believe that they are pushing towards that direction.”

Reacting, Rev. Gefon admitted he was placed on suspension for alleged hate speech against Bakweri people, which he added was false accusation; reason why he said when he was absent during a church service, the Bakweri vernacular choir protested, by “refusing to sing because of my suspension. So if I insulted people, how could the same people protest against my suspension? To me, the “Concerned Christians” are the ones propagating hate speech,” he said.

Rev. Gefon rather thought he was suspended because he spoke truth to hierarchy: “that according to the CBC constitution they were not supposed to entertain an unrecognized group as the “Concerned Christians”.

He further noted,”To show that my suspension was not genuine, it has been lifted by the Field Pastor earlier than scheduled.”

 This reporter learned it was the Executive President of CBC,Rev Dr. Ncham Godlove ,who ordered that the suspension on Rev.Gefon be lifted forthwith, but  your reporter  could not independently confirm it.

A letter signed by Rev.Dr. Liombe Timothy, dated August 8, 2020 and titled “Reinstatement of Rev. Gefon Patrick” partly reads: “We write to notify you that you have been uplifted from your suspension dated June 17, 2020.You can begin work from Wednesday August 19, 2020”

Asked about his relationship now with the Field Pastor who suspended him, Rev Gefon quipped: “He remains my Field pastor, I respect him and we are bound to work together. In any aspect of life we all can err. Pastors are not God; they are human beings.”

Rev. Gefon said he had no personal problem with Ekwa Itue,but admitted  the latter had attacked him. “He did not attack me because of any personal problem but because he thought I was not following the procedures of the Church. He was not right.”

Asked whether personally he was working towards bringing back disgruntled Christians, Rev.Gefon said," Definitely! That is the job of a pastor. The pastor is a peace maker. If they want to sit with us and we talk we are ready. When Hansel Itue was disciplined, he wrote a letter saying he wanted to leave the church. We have not responded because we don’t want him to leave. He is part of us.”

In one of the latest statements made public by the group of concerned Christians, it said: “We will repeat, we don’t have any personal issue with Rev. Gefon, we have issues with the way the church is being administered…

“We regret to say that some persons have taken the church hostage with their bad judgments and this has greatly polarized the church within tribal lines.”

.The EBC has scheduled a “Dialogue and Reconciliation” meeting for August 17^th 2020 and it is hoped the Concerned Christians and Hansel Itue would attend.

EBC, established since 1934, now has three pastors to shepherd Christians, viz: Rev. Patrick Gefon, senior pastor; Roland Lyonga, associate pastor and Minister Ntalah Alimah

Buea Council Highly Indebted But Mayor Ready For Breakthrough

Mayor of Buea David Mafani Namange 

By Christopher Ambe

The Mayor of Buea, David Mafani Namange, last week, disclosed that upon assumption of office he met in the Buea Council coffers a ridiculously small sum of 228,000fcfa whereas the Council was highly indebted to the tune of over 1.7 billion Fcfa.

 He regretted that he met an overstaffed council. “We met a work force of 318 satff,of whom the employment situation of some was unclear and some on the wage bill were simply ghost workers.

Mafani Namange said he met council workers who had toiled for months without salaries, even as the immediate past late Mayor Ekema Patrick-led Council management had christened and prided Buea as the “City of Excellence.”

But a determined Mayor Mafani Namange, who has already started  settling the huge  council’s  debts, said  his leadership  is bent on forging ahead with the socio-economic development of Buea, which has been re-christened the “Town of Legendary Hospitality”, a slogan  adopted  and used by former two-term Mayor of Buea,Charles Mbella Moki.

The mayor, who was speaking, July 22, on the occasion of the First Ordinary Session of Buea Council, revealed that, “taking over office the financial situation of the council we met was 228,000 francs CFA;we met a debt of 1.202,071,858 [owed ]the Taxation Department, 120 million owed National Social Insurance Fund,152 million owed  HYSACAM; over 23 million debt as sitting allowance arrears for Buea  Council Tenders Board; about 220 million owed the Council Support Fund(FEICOM).”

He added, “We equally met many third party contracts with little or no financial benefits to the council, especially as concerns advertisement, thorough fare, and the management of the Mile 17 Motor Park.”

The Mayor told the session, which was convened for the examination and adoption of Buea Counci’s Administrative, Management and Stores Management Accounts for 2019 and chaired by the First Assistant SDO for Fako that his leadership had “partially paid 30 million francs to Taxation Department,20 million francs to HYSACAM,seven million francs  to Tenders Board and 22.7 million francs to FEICOM”

 Mafani Namange said  contracts had already been awarded for the execution of some projects,viz:streect-lighting of Mile 14 (Dibanda) to Buea Town through the Regional Hospital Annex to Mountain Hotel ;the establishment of boreholes  in Great Soppo, Molyko  and Boduma;the grading of the Mount Camel Street at Mile 18,Chief Street Bomaka and Sandpit( from Yadikwa Junction to Eta Palace residence);the construction of an agricultural post in Bova and the provision of social assistance to the needy in the community. He said several other projects such as the Mosaka pipe-born water project were underway.

The Buea Council, it emerged, had been at the forefront of the fight against Covid 19- with  the sensitization of denizens and provision of wash hand kits ,10000 face masks, disinfecting schools within the municipality and administrative services.

The council created a food market at Great Soppo in order to reduce congestion in the markets.

The mayor attributed the realization of some projects so far to   the support of the Joseph Dion Ngute-government and the population.

Convinced that more development would come when there is peace, the mayor invited Cameroonians of goodwill to heed President Paul Biya’s call for lasting peace in the Northwest and Southwest Regions

“ It is not at this point when we have the opportunity  to enjoy the benefits  of decentralization and those of special status which are catalysts for local development that we should afford to gamble with our love for peace and our father land”, noted Mafani Namange.

“We shall not relent in our efforts to provide social amenities and to ensure the cleanliness of our municipality while putting up a fierce fight against urban disorder especially in the transportation and building construction sectors”

 Despite the numerous challenges facing the Council, the mayor was very hopeful.

 “We have reasons to be hopeful; hopeful because we have identified our shortcomings, hopeful because we have councilors with a wide range of experiences who are united in purpose, in their vision and mission to leave Buea a better place than we met it; yes, hopeful because we have the local administration and the Government on our side, hopeful because we have a leader full of experience in the person of H.E. President Paul Biya;but above all, hopeful because we enjoy the grace of God Almighty.”

 The 2019 budget under review stood at two billion five hundred million (2.500, 000,000) francs CFA. The revenue realized was 1.5 billion francs while expenditure stood at 1.4billion, giving an excess in revenue over expenditure to 117.4million; the realization rate was 59.7%

The drop in revenue and expenditure in the 2018 from the 2019 administrative account was mostly as a result of the socio-political crisis that ravaged the Northwest and Southwest Regions of Cameroon.