15, October 2018

SOBA UK appoints new Patrons, Dismisses SOBA National lifetime bans on Exco 0

On 22nd September 2018, the General Assembly of SOBA UK met at St George’s Park, Burton Upon Trent, the Home of England National Teams under the theme of “Together we Succeed”.  The General Assembly was well attended and members sat through a six-hour meeting to deliberate on all issues on the published agenda.

The following key resolutions are officially published;

1) The Appointment of New Patrons

The SOBA UK General Assembly appointed new Patrons in line with Article 15 (1, 3, and 5) of the SOBA UK Constitution;

  1. Patron membership shall be awarded to persons who have been outstanding in their efforts and contributions to the business of SOBA UK.
  2. Persons who qualify for patron membership shall be elected as such by the Convention Assembly on the proposal of the Chapter Executive. Persons so promoted, shall be notified in writing by the Secretary.
  3. Patron membership shall be conferred for two years after which, membership is reviewed by the Convention assembly.

The General Assembly took two decisions, namely;

  1. Ended the patronages of all existing patrons previously appointed in line with Article 15.5 2. Appointed the following new patrons in line with Article 15.1 and 15.3 effective immediately; Patron Joseph Foncha (Class of 1962) Patron Cyril Alima (Class 1973) Patron Ashu Akoachere (Class 1978) Patron Maximus Ewane (Class 1979) Patron Francis Shupo (Class 1980) Patron Thompson Egbe (Class 1982) We wish all our new patrons every success in their roles as patrons of SOBA UK.

2) The Dismissal of the lifetime bans of SOBA UK Executives Referral of ‘Misconduct outcomes’ and pronouncements by SOBA National Council in Cameroon to SOBA UK members.

Article 18: SOBA UK Constitution

  1. The Convention Assembly shall be the supreme and final authority of the Association.
  2. It shall comprise all the registered members of SOBA UK. However, it shall be constituted, and thus shall be entitled to proceed with its business, if at least four members of the Executive and a minimum of sixteen other members of the Association are present.

The General Assembly of registered members in SOBA is superior to the SOBA National Council (Article 22, SOBA Constitution 1991). The SOBA UK General Assembly has been used as the reference General Assembly due to its jurisdiction, and the members concerned are registered to the United Kingdom SOBA General Assembly.

Matter for General Assembly Consideration

On 3 September 2018, the SOBA National Council in Cameroon made the following pronouncements:

  1. That Mr. Ayuk Akoh-Arrey, Mr. Francis Shupo and Mr. John Bawak were expelled from the Sasse Old boys Association (SOBA) for life with no recourse to re-admission in any SOBA chapter in the world.
  2. Mr. Denis Angafor was suspended for a period of 5 years and without leave for registration in any chapter in the world.
  3. Mr. Bime Lafon, Mr. Babangida Usamatu, Mr. Batey Tako and Mr. Frankline Egbe were seriously warned and advised to deceit (SGC representation) from unethical activities that will attract further sanctions from the SGC.

On the charge of a) Contempt of the Proprietor of St Joseph’s College Sasse, the SOBA General Council, SOBA General, SOBA President General and SOBA General Executives; b) Usage of the SOBA name, and logo for disruptive purposes; c) Slanderous and libellous statements made against the SOBA General Council, SOBA General, SOBA President General and SOBA General Executive; d) Advocating severance or complete separation from SOBA General (national chapter); e) Misrepresenting, fabricating and altering the contents of the SOBA Constitution to advance own agenda.

Decision of the General Assembly

The SOBA UK GA unanimously voted to DISMISS the SOBA National Council decisions in Cameroon put before it by its Executive and declared the decisions as INVALID. The General Assembly of SOBA UK confirms this matter as closed and members concerned should continue as members of the association in the United Kingdom.

The General Assembly cited the following reasons:

  1. The General Assembly resolves that there are no bases for these draconian sanctions, and that the SOBA UK General Assembly was never consulted on this matter.
  2. The General Assembly is the supreme and final authority of the Association in the United Kingdom as per Article 18.1 and 18.2 of the SOBA UK Constitution. The members concerned are registered members of SOBA UK and therefore cannot refer this matter to the General Assembly in Cameroon. The reference General Assembly is that of the United Kingdom which sat on 22nd September, 2018 and deliberated on the matter.

Background:

On 24 July 2018, members of SOBA UK received communication from Mr. Ebot Mfoataw announcing ‘Notice of Investigation for Gross Misconduct’. On 26 July 2018, a response proposing an Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) was sent by these “Individuals”, individually and together to Mr. Ebot Mfoataw and to the competent authority as prescribed by the 1991 SOBA Constitution.

On 3 September 2018, Mr. Ebot Mfoataw sent another communication to the same individuals making the above pronouncements, that have been circulated throughout the social media and a clear attempt to discredit and humiliate the SOBA UK executive.

The SOBA National branch has failed to hold General Assembly meetings and has allowed the SOBA National Council led by a handful of individuals to become the de facto Supreme Authority of SOBA which is against the constitution.