Headline News

30, August 2022

Soldiers storm PCC Kumba Church service and arrest worshippers ⁰

Soldiers from the Rapid Intervention Battalion (BIR) were called by Pastor Mary Wose to a PCC Kumba church service to arrest some worshippers as they clamoured for the resignation of Moderator Fonki Samuel.

The incident saw a team of Francophone BIR soldiers storming into the church premises to arrest Christians.

A local police officer attending the service at the church filmed the moment and shared the clip with Cameroon Concord News.

In the video, Protestants were heard shouting that “We are at church right now and Francophone soldiers called by Pastor Mary Wose just showed up and they are now arresting some Christians, so please pray for us right now.” The BIR army soldiers entered PCC Kumba and stopped the service.

The commander of the BIR elements reportedly walked to the altar and informed the congregation that they received a phone call from the Pastor.

Some of the worshippers were arrested and others asked to leave the church, to pray and worship at home and to wait for a decision from the Moderator who is currently in Germany heading a 5-man delegation to Karlsruhe.

Some of the Christians led a protest march to the paramount leader of the Bafaws Chief Ekoko Mukete.

A church member claimed they are not law-breaking people as he complained to the Bafaw monarch.

By Rita Akana

30, August 2022

Southern Cameroons man killed by Francophone soldier gunfire ahead of daughter’s wedding ⁰

A Southern Cameroonian man has succumbed to the gunshot wounds he suffered after Cameroon government army soldiers shot him in Weh, Menchum Division just a week before his daughter’s wedding ceremony.

Cameroon Concord News correspondent in Wum, the chief town in Menchum Division reported that the yet to be identified man was shot by Francophone soldiers in the head as he was walking to the local market near his home in Weh.

The Ambazonia Interim Government confirmed in a communiqué that the 47-year-old suffered a critical injury in the head and succumbed to his wounds as he was being rushed to a hospital in Wum.

The exiled Ambazonian leader Dabney Yerima has been quoted as saying that the 47-year-old was unarmed and was simply heading to the Weh market before being shot.

Cameroon Concord News gathered that the father of three had sent out invitations to his daughter’s wedding, scheduled to be held this coming week.

Vice President Dabney Yerima condemned the killing, saying the Biya French Cameroun regime would persist with its acts of terrorism as long as the international community allows Yaoundé to continue to act with impunity.

Professor Carlson Anyangwe also condemned the killing and said, “La Republique du Cameroun seeks to continue with its policy of marginalization and occupation through repeated attacks on Southern Cameroonians and the daily killings of Ambazonia citizens, without being held accountable by the international community.”

According to the Ambazonian Interim Government, the French Cameroun regime has claimed the lives of some 45, 000 Southern Cameroonians since the start of the war in 2016.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

29, August 2022

Angola president secures second term in tense election ⁰

Angola’s MPLA party was on Monday declared the winner of a closely fought election, extending its decades long rule in the oil-rich country and handing President Joao Lourenco a second term.

He promised to be the “president of all Angolans” and to open dialogue after the electoral commission announced the results, which saw the opposition make large gains.

“This is a victory for Angola and Angolans in general,” Lourenco, 68, said in his inaugural address shortly after the unveiling of the result of the August 24 ballot.

“This vote was a vote of confidence, which gives us the immense responsibility of promoting dialogue and social consultation”.

The National Electoral Commission (CNE) reported the People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola won 51.17 percent of the ballots against 43.95 percent for the main challenger, the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA).

Despite the victory, the outcome — the tightest in Angola’s history — marked a record low for the MPLA and might yet end up in court after UNITA had earlier rejected provisional results.

Several members of the electoral commission did not sign off on the final tally, poll officials said on Monday.

The MPLA has traditionally wielded control over the electoral process as well as state media, and opposition and civic groups had raised fears of voter tampering.

UNITA leader Adalberto Costa Junior, 60, last week called for an international panel to review the count.

International observers have raised some concerns including questions over the electoral roll and biased reporting by state-owned television, but most said voting was peaceful and well organised.

Lowered majority

The MPLA, a former Marxist liberation movement, has ruled Angola for nearly half a century since independence from Portugal in 1975.

But it has seen a steady decline in support over recent elections.

While it romped to victory with 71.84 percent of the vote in 2012, it only garnered 61 percent five years later.

UNITA scored 26.67 percent in 2017 elections and contested the official count.

Alex Vines, of the UK-based think tank Chatham House, said that while UNITA was likely to challenge the count also this time, the former rebel movement had reasons to be happy.

“It’s an amazing result for UNITA when you think that 20 years ago, they were defeated on the battlefield,” he said.

“Politics will have to change in Angola now. There’s going to have to be the politics of compromise,” he said.

The results gave the MPLA 124 of the 220 parliamentary seats up for grabs while UNITA won 90.

Turnout was low, with only about 45 percent of those registered casting their ballots, which pointed to a growing disillusionment with politics, said Vines.

The United States on Monday called on all parties “to express themselves peacefully and to resolve any grievances in accordance with applicable legal processes”.

“We will continue to closely follow the electoral process,” the State Department said in a statement before the final results were announced.

Second term

The latest election has been overshadowed by a struggling economy, inflation, poverty, drought and the death of Lourenco’s predecessor Jose Eduardo dos Santos.

Dos Santos was buried in Luanda at a solemn funeral on Sunday.

The opposition has proved popular in urban areas, winning in the capital Luanda and among youth disaffected with the ruling party.

Angola is Africa’s second largest crude producer, but the oil bonanza has been accompanied by corruption and nepotism.

Lourenco, a former general educated in the Soviet Union, was first elected in 2017.

He is credited with far-reaching reforms since taking power, including boosting financial transparency, tackling graft, and promoting business-friendly policies to lure foreign investors.

But critics say his anti-graft crusade has been one-sided and aimed at settling political scores, targeting children and cronies of dos Santos.

His economic reforms have also so far failed to translate into better living conditions for most Angolans, critics say.

“With this vote of confidence, it is time to continue the reforms necessary to make Angola a more prosperous and more developed country,” Lourenco said, promising to pay particular attention “to the expectations of young people”.

Source: AFP

29, August 2022

The Paul Pogba Affair: A family conflict, extortion claims and a witch doctor ⁰

A police investigation has been opened after claims by French football star Paul Pogba that he is the victim of a multi-million euro blackmail plot that includes his brother Mathias.

AFP looks into an affair involving a family conflict and a witch doctor, and which comes less than three months before the Juventus star is expected to help France defend their World Cup crown.

Who is Mathias Pogba?

Mathias, 32, is the elder brother of Paul (29) and the twin brother of Florentin. All three are professional footballers. Mathias, who was born in Conakry, the capital of Guinea, has had a journeyman career which has taken him to Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Slovenia. Much of his career has been spent in the United Kingdom, including spells at Wrexham, Crewe Alexandra and Partick Thistle. Last year he played 12 matches for Belfort in the French fourth tier. Mathias Pogba has also appeared on television in France as a pundit.

Until recently, the Pogba brothers appeared close-knit. Mathias, Florentin and their mother, Yeo Moriba, have regularly been seen attending France matches in which Paul has played. Paul Pogba is also one of the main donors to 48 H POUR, a charity established by Mathias to help provide drinking water and education for children in Guinea.

What has Mathias Pogba said?

On Saturday, Mathias Pogba published a video on Instagram in which he promised “great revelations” about Paul and the Juventus player’s agent, Rafaela Pimenta. In the video, Mathias Pogba says the “whole world, as well as my brother’s fans, and even more so the French team and Juventus, my brother’s team-mates and his sponsors deserve to know certain things”.

“All this is likely to be explosive,” he concluded without adding any substance to his “revelations”.

How has Paul Pogba responded?

A statement released on Sunday, and signed by Paul Pogba’s lawyers, his mother Yeo Moriba and agent Pimenta, said that the videos published on Saturday night “are unfortunately no surprise”.

“They are in addition to threats and extortion attempts by an organised gang against Paul Pogba,” read the statement. They added that “competent bodies in Italy and France were informed a month ago”.

France Info radio reported that Paul Pogba told investigators he had been threatened by “childhood friends and two hooded men armed with assault rifles”. They are demanding 13 million euros ($13m) from him for “services provided”, he said, adding that one person close to him had withdrawn 200,000 euros using his credit card.

How far along is the investigation?

Paris prosecutors confirmed to AFP that an investigation was opened on August 3 into allegations of extortion and attempted extortion by an organised gang. According to France Info reports confirmed to AFP by a source with knowledge of the case, Paul Pogba told investigators that he had been threatened by “childhood friends and two hooded men armed with assault rifles” who blamed him for not having helped them financially.

Paul Pogba also told investigators that he had been threatened on several occasions in Manchester, during his time playing for Manchester United, and in Turin, where he currently plays for Juventus. He said he recognised his brother Mathias from among the suspects.

What does Kylian Mbappe have to do with this?

The Paris Saint-Germain striker, and France teammate of Paul Pogba, appears reluctantly in the affair. Paul Pogba told investigators that his blackmailers wanted to discredit him by claiming he asked a witch doctor to cast a spell on Mbappe, which Pogba denies.

In a series of tweets published on Sunday, Mathias Pogba appeals directly to Mbappe, saying: “Kylian, do you understand now? I have nothing against you, what I am saying is for your good, everything is true and known, the witch doctor is known! Sorry for this brother, a so-called Muslim up to his neck in witchcraft.”

How could this affect the France team?

The revelation of the affair is badly-timed for the French national team, coming less than three months before they defend their World Cup crown in Qatar. Paul Pogba is currently sidelined with a knee injury and faces a battle to be fully fit, but he remains a key player in the France team, for whom he has won 91 caps and was influential in the run to glory at the 2018 World Cup.

Like the 2016 blackmail affair involving Karim Benzema, Mathieu Valbuena and a sextape, there is a danger that this affair could negatively impact morale within the squad. It could also impact Paul Pogba’s relationship with Mbappe. Speaking to RMC Sport, French Football Federation president Noel Le Graet said he hoped the affair “does not call into question” Pogba’s place in the team. “At this stage these are just rumours,” he added.

Source: AFP

29, August 2022

Moderator Fonki Samuel is sleeping with so many women in the PCC ⁰

While her husband (the Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon) never takes her for his trips abroad or away from Buea, there are now allegations that Pastor Fonki Samuel continues to have sexual encounters with several ladies in the church.

Cameroon Intelligence Report has gathered from very reliable sources deep within the PCC hierarchy that Rev Dr Perpetual Fonki is aware of the social crimes of her moderator husband and how the Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon uses the Church house as a sexual cave and painting his behaviour as a divine command.

Moderator Samuel Fonki is a known pastor who is not really a believer in Jesus Christ. He reportedly bribed to be elected to the position of Moderator and many Protestants were deceived into believing in him and believing in his work.

His counseling sessions mostly in expensive hotels in Douala are administered in privacy with women and in the absence of Dr Perpetual Fonki, the so-called Communications Secretary of the PCC in Cameroon.

“Apparently, there are many women who have complete access to the Moderator’s libido with the most prominent being Rev Mary Wose of the PCC Kumba” a member of the Presbyterian Church who asked not to be named told Cameroon Intelligence Report.

“The Moderator has been having sexual intercourse with many women in the PCC! Having sex in his office and the women are more than we can count. He has slept with almost all the women in the PCC” a retired Pastor tearfully hinted Cameroon Intelligence Report.

Our London Bureau Chief Isong Asu is currently investigating claims that Moderator Fonki Samuel may have slept with even minors.

A chartered member of PCC Mulheim in Germany was heard murmuring privately that “Moderator Fonki makes these desperate women think it’s all a spiritual direction from God. He appoints them to top positions in the PCC and employs some of them to teach in Presbyterian primary and secondary schools. He never attends any official function with his wife and even travels abroad with his mistresses and in some cases he has women kept for him by his acolytes upon arrival.”

His corrupt Synod feels boldly strong about his atrocious activities. No one in the current PCC hierarchy sees anything wrong with Moderator Fonki. It is like Presbyterians are giving what belongs to Caesar to Caesar.

Moderator Samuel Forba Fonki is having his fair share of free sex and there is never a day without a mention about the PCC Moderator’s keeping of multiple sexual partners and using his corrupt influence to elevate them into influential positions such as female Pastors, Chairperson of congregations, CWF leaders, Accountants or members of the Synod.

Today, women constitute 90% of the members of the Synod of the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon- majority of who are likely his sex slaves.

Cameroon Intelligence Report understands, Moderator Fonki uses church money for the upkeep of his ladies. Mr. Fonki has friends in Europe and USA who make sure that during his fake Pastoral visits the PCC Moderator has multiple women during his stay in expensive hotels paid with funds from the congregations. During his foreign trips, these women take turns in cooking and serving him at his hotel.

We of the Cameroon Concord News Group have never ever seen the Moderator and with his wife in public. There is no photo in our archives where you will see the Moderator in any public event with his wife and children.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

29, August 2022

French police to investigate Paul Pogba’s claims of extortion ⁰

French police have opened an investigation into World Cup winner Paul Pogba’s claims he is being threatened and targeted for extortion by gangsters, a source close to the case told AFP on Sunday.

Pogba’s allegations came after his brother Mathias published a bizarre video online — in four languages (French, Italian, English and Spanish) — promising “great revelations” about the Juventus star.

A statement signed by his lawyers, his mother Yeo Moriba and current agent Rafaela Pimenta said that the videos published on Saturday night “are unfortunately no surprise”. “They are in addition to threats and extortion attempts by an organised gang against Paul Pogba,” read the statement.

“The competent bodies in Italy and France were informed a month ago and there will be no further comments in relation to the ongoing investigation.” Mathias Pogba, 32, promised “great revelations about (his) brother Paul Pogba and his agent Rafaela Pimenta”, who took over as head of the company of former agent Mino Raiola who died in April.

He said the “whole world, as well as my brother’s fans, and even more so the French team and Juventus, my brother’s team-mates and his sponsors deserve to know certain things”. Also a professional footballer, Mathias Pogba said people needed to know what he knew in order to judge whether his brother “deserves his place in the French team and the honour of playing in the World Cup. If he deserves to be a starter at Juventus.”

“All this is likely to be explosive,” he concluded without adding any substance to his “revelations”. According to two sources close to the Pogba family contacted by AFP, large sums of money are being demanded from Paul Pogba if he wants to avoid the dissemination of the allegedly compromising videos.

Paul Pogba, who won the World Cup with France in 2018, returned to Juventus on a free transfer this summer after six years at Manchester United, and is currently sidelined with a knee injury. The 29-year-old is expected to return to action next month.

Source: AFP

29, August 2022

Southern Cameroons Crisis: 2 Cameroon gov’t soldiers killed in Mbot ambush ⁰

At least two Cameroon government soldiers were killed early Saturday by Ambazonia fighters in the Northwest region, army sources said.

Separatist fighters ambushed and attacked the soldiers in Mbot village of the region, according to a local army official who declined to be named.

“The soldiers were riding on a motorcycle when they were waylaid and shot at by the separatist terrorists. The motorcyclist who was transporting them was also killed in the attack,” the official said and added that army reinforcement was in pursuit of the fighters.

Since 2017, separatist fighters seeking to establish an independent state in these regions have been clashing with government forces in Cameroon’s two English-speaking regions, Northwest and Southwest.

Source: Xinhuanet

27, August 2022

Pope Francis expands ranks of cardinals in charge of electing new church leader ⁰

Pope Francis elevated 20 more churchmen to the rank of cardinal on Saturday, formally expanding those now eligible to vote for his successor in case he dies or resigns — the latter a step he has said he’d consider if the need arises.

Of the churchmen being named new cardinals in the consistory ceremony in St. Peter’s Basilica, 16 are younger than 80 and thus eligible to participate in a conclave — the ritual-shrouded, locked-door assembly of cardinals who cast paper ballots to elect a new pontiff.

The 85-year-old Francis has now named 83 of the 132 cardinals currently young enough to join a conclave. The others were appointed by the previous two popes, St. John Paul II and Benedict XVI, whose unexpected retirement in 2013 paved the way for Francis to be elected.

With the eight batches of cardinals Francis has named, prospects are boosted that whoever becomes the next pontiff will share his vision for the future of the church.

Francis reminded the cardinals of their mission, which he said includes “an openness to all peoples, to the horizons of the world, to the peripheries as yet unknown.”

Underlining Francis’ attention to those on society’s margins, among the new cardinals is Archbishop Anthony Poola of Hyderabad, India. The prelate, 60, is the first member of the Dalit community, considered the lowest rung of India’s caste system, to become a cardinal.

One by one, the newest cardinals, whose red cassocks and headgear symbolizes the blood they must be prepared to shed if necessary in their mission, knelt before Francis, who placed on their head the prestigious biretta, as the three-peaked hat is known.

That intimate moment was a chance to exchange a few words with Francis, who smiled to put them at ease. At times, the seated Francis, himself hobbled by mobility problems, lent his own arms to help kneeling cardinals stand up.

In choosing San Diego Bishop Robert Walter McElroy, Francis passed over U.S. churchmen leading traditionally more prestigious dioceses, including San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone.

McElroy has been among a minority of American bishops who opposed to a campaign to deny Communion to Catholic politicians who support abortion rights. Cordileone has said he’d no long allow U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to receive Communion for her defense of abortion rights.

While staunchly against abortion as a grave sin, Francis has also decried what he calls the weaponization of Communion.

McElroy last year was also among a small group of U.S. bishops signing a statement denouncing the bullying that is often directed at LGBTQ youth.

Francis has tried to make gay Catholics feel welcome in the church, whose teaching holds that same-sex intercourse is a sin.

Among the newest cardinals is Bishop Richard Kuuia Baawobr from Wa, Ghana, who has spoken out against LGBTQ rights. The African prelate felt ill when he arrived in Rome on Friday and was hospitalized for a heart problem, the pope told the other cardinals, asking them to pray “for this brother who should have been here.”

Asked by The Associated Press about such contrasting views among church leaders, McElroy replied that “there are always cultural differences within the life of the church as there is within in the human family. And different cultures approach these questions in different ways.”

McElroy added: “My own view is that we have an obligation in the church to make the LGBT persons feel equally welcome in the life of the church, as everyone else.”

With electing future pontiffs a key role for cardinals, McElroy, 68, was asked what he thought of Francis’ saying that resignation for popes is a valid option.

“In principle, I think it is a good idea at a particular moment when they feel they can no longer carry the burdens of that office, but I think this pope is far from that moment,” the U.S. prelate said. “I believe he sees himself as far from that moment. What he has is a mobility issue, but it has not affected his mind. I can tell you he is still on top of things.”

Archbishop Ulrich Steiner of Manaus, Brazil, became the first cardinal from the Amazon, the vast, environmentally-vulnerable region in South America on the Argentine-born pontiff’s home continent. In remarks to The AP, Steiner expressed concern about increasing violence in the Amazon.

“But this violence was not born there, it came from outside,” Steiner, 71, said. ”It is always violence related to money. Concessions, deforestation, also with the mines, also with the fishing.”

At 48, the youngest member among the cardinals’ ranks is an Italian missionary in Mongolia, where Catholics number some 1,300. Francis “knows how important it is supporting these little communities,” said the new cardinal, Giorgio Marengo.

Originally, the pope had picked 21 new cardinals. But retired Belgian Bishop Luc Van Looy declined the honor, citing his own inadequate handling of cases of sexually abusive priests while he led the Ghent diocese from 2004-2020.

Source: AP

27, August 2022

UNICEF slams Ethiopia air strike that ‘hit kindergarten’ ⁰

The UN children’s agency UNICEF on Saturday condemned an Ethiopian air strike that “hit a kindergarten” in the rebel-held Tigray region, killing at least four people including two children.

The government denied targeting civilian areas in Friday’s air raid and accused the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) of staging deaths.

“UNICEF strongly condemns the air strike … (that) hit a kindergarten, killing several children, and injuring others,” the agency’s executive director Catherine Russell said on Twitter.

“Yet again, an escalation of violence in northern Ethiopia has caused children to pay the heaviest price. For almost two years, children and their families in the region have endured the agony of this conflict. It must end.”

The bombardment came just days after fighting erupted on Tigray’s southern border between government forces and TPLF rebels, ending a five-month truce and dashing hopes of peace talks.

The TPLF said the air strike, the first in many months on Tigray, demolished a kindergarten and hit a civilian residential area.

The government said only military sites were targeted and accused the TPLF of “dumping fake body bags in civilian areas” to maximise outrage.

Kibrom Gebreselassie, chief clinical director at Mekele’s Ayder Referral Hospital, told AFP four people died in the strike, including two children.

Nine others were receiving treatment for injuries, he said.

Tigrai TV, a local network, said the death toll had reached seven and broadcast footage of mangled playground equipment and a brightly painted compound in ruins at the apparent scene of the strike.

The claims could not be independently verified as access to northern Ethiopia is severely restricted.

‘Respect international law’

The EU condemned the strike and called for a peaceful settlement to the 21-month war.

“I urge again for the respect of International Humanitarian Law. Civilians are #NotATarget,” the EU commissioner for crisis management, Janez Lenarcic, said on Twitter.

In March, the UN said at least 304 civilians had been killed in airstrikes in the three months prior in northern Ethiopia.

The UN human rights office has warned that disproportionate attacks against non-military targets could amount to war crimes.

Ethiopia’s air force operates the only known military aircraft over the country’s skies.

A truce in March paused the worst of the bloodshed and allowed aid convoys to return slowly to Tigray, where the UN says millions are severely hungry, and fuel and medicine are in short supply.

But on Wednesday, the warring sides each accused the other of firing first as fresh offensives erupted along Tigray’s southern border.

The flare-up alarmed the international community, which has been pushing both sides to peacefully resolve the war in Africa’s second most populous nation.

The conflict has killed untold numbers, with widespread reports of atrocities including mass killings and sexual violence.

Abiy sent troops into Tigray in November 2020 to topple the TPLF, accusing the region’s former ruling party of orchestrating attacks on federal army camps.

Source: AFP

26, August 2022

Of Moderator Fonki Samuel and the numerous PCC scandals: The 19 Questions to the Synod ⁰

Cameroon Concord News and Cameroon Intelligence Report investigation into Moderator Samuel Fonki is an ongoing investigation by the editorial board of the Concord Group into Mr. Fonki’s handling of the financial and moral scandals that have rocked the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon.

Cameroon Concord News Group now understand from Moderator Fonki’s reactions through Ndi Richard that it is exactly 22 years today since PCC Synod Executives and Synod vowed to fight against the reformation of the PCC which was embraced by thousands of Christians. After 22 years, we of the Concord Group can testify, that these conmen have waged a war for 22 years against God.

Our cream of investigative journalists have framed 19 questions on behalf of Presbyterians and the general public for Mr. Moderator to answer them accordingly. The office of the Moderator is sacred and public. So, based on your actions since you became Moderator, this research questionnaire will help us understand the way the PCC operates.

If Moderator Fonki Samuel fails to answer these questions within the next two weeks, Cameroon Concord News and Cameroon Intelligence Report shall be compelled to put up an obituary announcement on him!

Question One

How much money has the Cameroon Government given to the PCC as subsidies to the PCC schools since you became Moderator in 2015? Can you account for how you , the Education Secretary and Education committee used it because teachers are angry about being mistreated , poor pay ,poor working conditions and going for months without pay . Where did the Education Secretary of the PCC get the money to build such a big mansion, which is not even finished? Where is he going to take money to complete and maintain such a big mansion?

Question Two

How much money do you folks collect from all Presbyterian Schools as school fees from students? How much money does the Health Department of the PCC generate from Health /hospital bills? These include Pressbook, Prescraft, Printing Press and RTC Nfonta and RTC Kumba? PCC is a non -profit organization registered under the Ministry of Territorial Administration. This denomination is not a political party, a social club nor a cultural Association! Under the non-profit status, the church does not pay taxes to the government. However, the workers are expected to pay their taxes to the government as employees (workers) of the PCC.

Question three

How much money have you collected from overseas and what have you done with the money? Which are the PCC overseas partners that donated money to the PCC? Please, kindly provide the names of the overseas friends and partners as well as how much money they have donated till date. Also, provide a statement of expenditure of these finances. You claim that you are building infrastructures but were those infrastructures a priority and how did you raise money for those projects and did not use the same method to raise money to solve the problems of teachers? Please, we need to see the letters of correspondences in order to evaluate the content of your requests because from what we in Cameroon Concord News know, you folks use women, children, teachers, the poor and youths to raise money from foreign partners but once the money is sent, you never use it for the purpose for ,which you requested the funds. So, Presbyterians are entitled to know everything about the PCC finances from all angles with respect to what comes as income (budget) and what goes out in terms of expenditure and what is leftover as balance. This is more than auditing. It is about transparency and accountability because PCC is a non-profit organization whereby Presbyterians are stakeholders.

Question Four

Why do you tax the PCC Congregations? Who are you to tax Christians and congregations? Are you the government? How many types of taxes do you collect from these congregations, Christians and workers? Quite apart from tithing, do you have any scriptures or law that backs your illegal actions? Are you the one who built these congregations? Do you own these congregations and Christians? The PCC was not your vision. It was not your idea and it was not founded by you or your parents. You are controlling Pastors and collecting illegal dues and levies from congregations under what biblical justification?

Commentary

We need to know about the cash flow, budget, expenditures and balances of every department including the various Ministries like CMF, CWF and CYF. You are running the PCC like an animal farm and at the same time you claim the CPDM government is corrupt. If every department of the PCC reports to you, then the question is, what is the function of the Synod as the highest ruling body of the church?

Question Five

You arbitrarily decided to buy a car for about 60 million FCFA because you are the Moderator! Who gave you such powers to abuse church finances? Please, provide the receipts of the price you paid for the Cars you drive, taxes, insurance, maintenances like fuel etc. Please, also provide the receipts of all the cars driven by the Secretaries of various Departments of the PCC like Education, Health Care, Communication Secretary, Committee of the Ministry , Synod Clerk , Presbook, Prescraft etc How did you come up with the budget to buy such expensive cars for yourself and who approved the budget? Did the General Assembly (Synod of the PCC) approve the budget for your cars? Do you have the minutes? Is there a written policy on operating motor vehicles in the PCC?

The Moderator is “First among Equals” and not a King. So, how come you look down on other Pastors and living above your means while your colleagues are barely surviving? Your greed is alarming because people who live above their means are thieves. They have to steal and maintain the statusquo in order to keep up, which is exactly what you have been doing with your club of illegal shareholders. Do you understand the meaning of “first among equals”?

Question Six

You do not own the PCC. You never founded the PCC.

Who are you to claim that you are the Proprietor of Schools and CEO of the PCC? You are a Pastor and was offered the position of Moderator and how come you now claim CEO, which is the basis on which you are paying yourself 1.5 million francs Cfa? In what committee was this decision reached? Do you have the minutes so we can review? Who are the various committee members of the all the businesses of PCC. Please, provide all the names of those who make up the Education Committee, Health Committee, Pressbook Committee, Presscraft and their salaries and benefits.

Question Seven

You are just a Pastor called to special function to lead the rest of the Pastors. Who are you to be appointing Pastors and Presbyterial Secretaries to Congregations? Are you the one who pay these Pastors?

Question Eight

Who are you to close down Presbyterian Primary Schools and dismiss teachers? Who are you to go to such length inside a non- profit organization? Are you the one who created the schools? Did the General Assembly of the PCC (SYNOD) discuss and voted to close down schools?

Question Nine

Why are you sowing seeds of confusion in the PCC congregations by imposing Pastors of your special club on Christians when they do not want them? Who are you to decide for the congregations? Do you have the right under the Presbyterian system to decide for the congregations?

Commentary

The congregations are the ones who select their Pastors in consultation and collaboration with the Committee of the Ministry where you are a member and perhaps chair. That does not mean you own these pastors and Christians. The church and Christians are owned by Jesus Christ who is the head of the church. You do not pay the Pastors. The congregations pay their Pastors. These Pastors are accountable to the congregations and not to you and your selfish Synod Office. In the event of a crisis, there is due process in conflict resolution that ensures accountability and transparency in leadership and management.

The congregations have the right to keep their Pastor as long as they want if they love him or her. They have the right to expand their congregations, plant and develop more congregations and hire more Pastors. The congregations have the right to terminate the services of a Pastor if they no longer want his or her services and to look for a replacement. The pastors report to the congregations and not to the Moderator or Synod Clerk. The Moderator and Synod Clerk do not pay the Pastors.

Question Ten

Why are you tossing Pastors left and right in the name of transfers? You use transfer as a punitive weapon to retaliate against your critics including Pastors who do not collect enough taxes as well as give you special envelops. Do you transfer every Pastor? How much money do you request from Pastors as a special envelop? How much have you collected since you became Moderator? You want every congregation to give a special envelop whereas you already have a salary. You are dictating on these congregations through the clique you set up in every session of the congregation how much they should pay to you. In the PCC USA is the same thing you are doing and everywhere you stress up the people while you and your crime syndicate embezzle money in the name of Moderator’s visit. Your pastoral visits end up with more problems.

Commentary

Pastors are frustrated about how you treat most of them with unnecessary stressful transfers and financial demands. Yet you have your club of friends whom are untouchable and planted in wealthy oriented congregations forever because of favoritism and tribalism. Presbyterianism is based on self – governance starting at the level of congregations to the Presbyteries and Synod. Do you really understand the pastoral functions of a Moderator because you never cite scriptures in any of your letters to Pastors? Presbyterians train their Pastors. They donate money to train their Pastors including you and if any funds are donated from overseas it must be reported and accounted for. The schools are managed and run by Presbyterian congregations, Presbyteries and Synod as part of the social justice ministry. So too are other departments like Health, Agriculture Pressbook , Prescraft, Printing Press etc

Question 11

Teachers have been calling out on you about their pay and working conditions! There are documents, which show that these problems where created by you. Did you ask the synod when you were closing down PCC schools? Do you think the parents and children of those schools you closed are happy? If Basel Missionaries did not come to Cameroon, would you be driving in an expensive car and living in big mansions? Where have you kept your sense of empathy and gratitude as a Pastor? Why is it that you don’t pay the salaries of teachers and yet you have money all over the PCC? The way you mistreat your colleagues in the ministry is horrifying. You have forgotten that some of these Pastors, teachers and Christians nurtured and fed you in your village in Akwaya. You close down schools for children in a period in history when education is seen as the cornerstone of self-development and pursuit of “life, liberty and happiness”?

Question Twelve

Rev Fonki Samuel what effort have you ever made as a Pastor to solve any of the problems plaguing the PCC? Instead you hypocritically created your deceitful “Peace & Justice Center” when you are one of the most unjust and corrupt men now living! Do you think the Cameroon government can even listen to you about dialogue and peace when they know you are a corrupt dictator within the PCC?

Commentary

Your case is sad because you are the Moderator. You glitter in your own lies because you have your propaganda machine to help spread your lies about who you are not. You have transformed the PCC into a dungeon of despair when it was really supposed to be a community loving people flourishing. When people are very serious about finding solutions to real life threatening problems you quickly resort to elections and dismissal. Instead of stepping forward to address these problems responsibly you throw mud at those you accuse of throwing mud at you.

Question Thirteen

Have you ever reflected over the fact that your colleagues in the PCC ministry are scared of you? Has anyone ever told you that you are seen as a monster tyrant who is out to axe anyone who challenges you? As a Pastor do you really go to bed each time and feel good about yourself? Do you really have a conversation with your wife and can boast that you are a servant of God when people are afraid of you especially your “colleagues” in ministry?

Question fourteen

You Rev Samuel Fonki is the man with the fattest and largest cross ✝️ across your neck and chest when you have no mercy, grace, empathy, compassion and love for God’s people? Why could you not copy the examples of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the Dietrich Bonheoffer, Cardinal Tumi and Martin Luther King Jr who stood on the side of the oppressed, downtrodden, poor and the afflicted? They could never allow the regime to invade and destroy our communities, displaced thousands of women and children under their watch. What happened to you that you presided over the regime cracking down on innocent civilians?

Question Fifteen

Do you really understand the context in which Presbyterianism was founded? Did you study the church history of the Presbyterian Church with respect to theology; doctrine and polity (Presbyterian belief system) while a student at PTS?

Question Sixteen

Do you have any charitable and humanitarian programs in the PCC that provide charitable and humanitarian services to Presbyterians, Cameroonian citizens, strangers, foreigners afflicted and living in poverty? What programs in the PCC provide assistance to Presbyterians, who are sick and cannot afford medical care, medical bills, cannot send their children to PCC schools etc? Do the Pastors of the PCC have the same benefits you have and if not, why? What about widows, how do you treat widows in the PCC? What did you do when Rev Akih Mathias whom you appointed as the Coordinator of the CARE TAKER COMMITTEE OF PCC USA suspended one Elder of the PC Beltsville, Maryland in the USA for raising $4000.00 with the CWF EXCO for humanitarian assistance to women and children suffering in Cameroon? This is the case where Pastoral care was required. Instead you suspended her and then dissolved the EXCO. The elder you suspended is a widow and in spite of that she comes up with an initiative to help others. Now you suspend her and the Exco in order to steal the $ 4000.00. Did you look after the widow and her humanitarian project to help orphans?

Question Seventeen

Rev Fonki Samuel you asserted through your spokesperson Ndi Richard that Rev Jonathan Awasom was dismissed from the PCC as a foster son of his uncle late Moderator Rev H.A Awasom. Do you folks have any birth document that proves that he is a foster child of Moderator Rev H A Awasom? We will appreciate if such a document or detail information about this be made public to all Presbyterians because it sounds like blackmail and defamation.

You also asserted that he was dismissed. Please, do you have any document that shows that the Synod of the PCC which is the highest ruling body of the PCC voted in majority to dismiss him for publishing 100 theses to reform the PCC? Do you have any evidence that shows the Synod Executive Committee of the PCC in 1999 invited him to defend his actions before them? Do you have any evidence that he was summoned by the Synod Body to defend himself?

Question eighteen

How will you feel if the President of Cameroon or any other country appoints his unqualified and inexperienced wife the Minister of Communication? What criteria did you use to appoint your wife, PCC Communication Secretary? So what happened to the family that you sacked as Communication Secretary and replaced them with your family? You have a budget and your wife has a budget. Is this based on qualification and competence?

Question Nineteen

In terms of conflicts at the level of the congregations, you instructed the Secretary of the Committee of the Ministry of the PCC not to intervene in the conflict in the PCC USA! Why did you prohibit another Pastor from performing his pastoral duties? So, what happens if there is no Fonki? How is it possible that one man could be all over the place? How is it possible that you could solve all the problems of the PCC without collaboration and support from your colleagues?

Over to you Moderator Fonki Samuel

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai, Isong Asu and Rita Akana