CBC Executive President excommunicates Christians for dragging him to court!.

This time around, the Executive President, Rev Dr Nditemeh Charlemagne, has excommunicated some Christians, who had dragged him to court. 

The Christians who have been expelled from the Church are Taku Jacob, Luma Albert and Emi Emmanuel.

The edict by Rev Dr Nditemeh, is contained in Decision N° CBC/EP/NCM-LCMI028/2024, dated June 15, 2024, a copy of which The Guardian Post has seen. 

In the decision titled: “Concerning the membership of Taku Jacob, Luma Albert and Emi Emmanuel; throughout the Cameroon Baptist Convention”, Rev Dr Nditemeh, after quoting several instruments of the Church constitution and by-laws, ordered that: “With effect from the date of signature of this decision, Taku Jacob, Luma Albert and Emi Emmanuel's church membership is respectively forfeited, throughout the Cameroon Baptist Convention. No local church of the CBC shall admit any of them for whatsoever reason or purpose”.

“All CBC local churches, Men's Fellowship and Field Pastors are charged (each within their respective jurisdiction) with the immediate implementation of this decision,” he further stated.

Premise for expelling Christians 

As premise for his decision to excommunicate the Christians, Rev Dr Nditemeh recalled the “CBC Extraordinary General Session of June 10, 2023, that approved and adopted the revision of the CBC 2014 Constitution and By-Laws, by a vote of 809 for and 139 against”.

He went ahead to say that the decision was: “Considering the non-negotiable stand of global Baptists in general and the CBC in particular, to uphold the Holy Bible as the highest authority in all matters of faith and practice; mindful of the fact that the Cameroon Baptist Convention has competent and indisputable internal organs, through which Christians of the Cameroon Baptist Convention can register or express their grievances for resolution without recourse to the courts and/or to civil authorities and taking into account the fact that Bethany Baptist Church Buea, through her pastor, Deacons Board, and Christians all entreated Luma Albert to withdraw the case against two CBC elected officers and the CBC and rather follow the Biblical procedure, to express his grievances but Luma Albert remained adamant”.

He also added that his decision to expel the three Christians from the Church was: “Considering the fact that the pastors of Hope Baptist Church Ndamukong, Deacons, and Christians met severally with Emi Emmanucl and beseeched him to consider the Biblical way of handling issues in church but Emi Emmanuel snubbed all supplications; considering the fact that in the peace and reconciliation meeting of June 9, 2024, attended by the two CBC officers sued to court, the Nkwen Baptist Church senior pastor and Appointed Deacon, Bamenda Field Pastor, a Baptist peace mediator, and Taku Jacob, wherein the latter remained unbending that the only condition for peace and reconciliation is that the two CBC leaders use their position to discard and dump the June 10, 2023 CBC Constitution and By-Laws and unconditionally and immediately restitute the 2014 CBC Constitution and By-Laws; taking cognizance of the letter of Bethany Baptist St church Buea to CBC Executive sanctioning Albert Luma because of his unchristian and unbiblical action of taking the CBC and two of her leaders to court”. 

Meanwhile, he also appreciated “the letter of Hope Baptist Church Ndamukong, to the CBC Executive President, declaring that Emi Emmanuel has forfeited his membership in that church by resisting and rejecting all entreaties to withdraw as plaintiff in the court case against the CBC and two of her leaders; and took cognizant of “the letter of Nkwen Baptist Church, stating that the church dissociates herself from the court action by Taku Jacob against the CBC; and conscious of the fact that none of the three plaintiffs in the court case against the CBC and two of her leaders have never sought audience, or called, or written either jointly or severally to the CBC Executive President and/or CBC Chairman to express any concern about CBC Constitution and By-Laws adopted 10 June 2023”.

Origin of court case 

It should be recalled that some four Christians of the CBC had dragged Rev Dr Nditemeh Charlemagne to court.

We had gathered from very credible sources within the CBC that Rev Dr Nditemeh Charlemagne, was Friday April 12, served a summons by a bailiff for a court case at the High Court of Mezam Division, North West Region.

According to a Motion on Notice, signed by Barrister Changbuin Sanda Wilfred, Counsel for the applicants, dated April 5, 2024, a copy of which The Guardian Post stumbled on, applicants or plaintiffs were Tansah Jones Ndzi, Samuel Bongajum (both of First Baptist church, Ndu), Luma Albert (Bethany Baptist church, Buea) and Emmanuel Tantoh (of SCBC Ndu). 

Meanwhile, the defendants in the court summons were Rev. Dr. Nditemeh Charlemagne (CBC Executive President), Mkong Yosimbom John (Chairman of CBC), and the Cameroon Baptist Convention. 

The case, we learned, was principally about the amendment of the CBC constitution, on June 10, 2023. 

The applicants, we also gathered, had sued because of what they termed illegality, unconstitutionality, procedure, illegal acts, etc, with eight counts. 

The applicants, according to the Motion on Notice, prayed the court for “An order for accelerated hearing in Suit No. HCMB/04/2024, between the plaintiffs and respondents; an order restraining the respondents from applying the supposed revised constitution and for such further order or orders as the honourable court shall deem fit and proper to make in the circumstances”. 

It should also be noted that there have been tussles within the CBC, since the amendment of the said constitution. 

Reports say a majority of CBC pastors are against the constitutional amendment and are strongly against its implementation. 

The issue is said to have been taken to the Senior Divisional Officer of Mezam, in the North West Region. It however ended in a deadlock as both parties failed to agree. 

After having done all to resolve the matter within the Church, the former Prime Minister, Philemon Yang, himself a senior faithful of the CBC, was brought in to broker peace. 

Yang is said to have invited the belligerents for a meeting in Yaounde. The meeting is said to have been attended by Rev Ambola David, Lead Pastor of the Menda Baptist Church in Nkwen; Rev Ncham Godwill, former Executive President of the CBC; Rev Dr Nditemeh Charlemagne, among others.

It would appear there was no compromise arrived at during the meeting in Yaounde. Philemon Yang is said to have sent the belligerents back to Bamenda, telling them to resolve the matter within the Church and make sure it did not go to the courts.

However, the CBC Executive President was still dragged to court.

A source within the CBC, who did not want to be named, said the persons who took the matter to court “are floor members of the Church, but they may be powered and tele-guided by some big people within the CBC”.

Nonetheless, two of the applicants in the case, Samuel Bongajum and Emmanuel Tantoh, were later reported to have backed out of the court case, saying they were “lured and tricked” into suing the Executive President, Chairman and the Church.

The recent decision by Dr Rev Dr Nditemeh comes after another he had issued April 17, 2024, in which he had prohibited Tansah Jones Ndzi and Luma Albert; respectively of First Baptist Church Ndu and Bethany Baptist Church Buea, from taking part in any leadership positions throughout the CBC.

This story was first published in The Guardian Post issue No: 3147 of Sunday June 23, 2024