PCC boils ahead of Synod elections!.

Christians of the PCC, including pastors, have accused the outgoing Moderator, Rt. Rev Dr Fonki Samuel Forba, of violating the constitution of the church and its election manual in order to “favour his protégés. 

Ordained pastors of the Church are also said to be in chaotic camps, following what they claimed are candidates imposed for the election by PCC hierarchy.

We gathered that Rt. Rev Dr Fonki, who is at the brink of his mandate, in a recent outing, forwarded, through Presbyterial Secretaries, a list of “his friends who he wants PCC Pastors to fearfully nominate as Moderator and Synod Clerk respectively”. 

Sources within the PCC say this is “in complete violation of the PCC constitution and the 2024 election manual”. 

Our sources stated that: “According to these Church documents, nominations for the offices of Moderator and Synod Clerk shall be done by ordained Pastors of the PCC, during the forth-coming Presbytery Meeting, which will hold on Saturday October 12, 2024”. 

A member of the PCC, who did not want to be named, said: “By single-handedly forwarding a pre-prepared list to Pastors, Moderator Fonki is attempting to corrupt the consciences of gullible Pastors for a hidden agenda”.

Buttressing their accusations against the Moderator, other sources within the PCC narrated certain scenarios, stating that: “At the congregational level, during election of elders, if the Pastor presents a pre-prepared list to the congregation of those he or she wants to be voted as elders; such a Pastor will be sanctioned for abuse of office; that list will be cancelled; and those whose names were on that list will be automatically disqualified for election that year”.

“At the level of the Presbytery, if a Presbyterial Secretary presents a pre-prepared list to the delegates on who should be voted as Presbytery Chairman and Synod representative, that list will be cancelled, that Presbyterial Secretary will be sanctioned for abuse of office; and those whose names were on that list will automatically be disqualified for elections that year,” they noted.

Meanwhile at the Synod level, our sources disclosed that: “If the rule of law must prevail, if the Moderator presents a pre-prepared list to Pastors of persons he wants them to nominate as Moderator and Synod Clerk, that Moderator has to be sanctioned for abuse of office, the list has to be cancelled, and those whose names are on that list be automatically disqualified from taking part in the Synod Elections that year”.

Those allegedly “imposed” by Fonki

We gathered that the names of those purportedly “imposed” by Rt. Rev Dr Fonki include, for Moderator; Rev. Miki Hans, Rev. Njongai Polycarp and Rev. Numfor Godwin (said to be Rev. Fonki's brother-in-law). 

For Synod Clerk, there is said to be: Rev. Ayuk Solomon, Rev. Mokoko Elive Simon and Rev. Prof. Epiemembong Louis. 

However, we learned that Rev. Prof. Epiemembong Louis has dissociated himself from what sources claim to be a “malicious scheme”. 

Another source within the PCC has disclosed that: “In the history of the PCC, no Moderator has ever forwarded pre-prepared lists to Pastors for Synod Elections. Moderator Fonki is the only exception who violates the PCC constitution with impunity”. 

Ordained pastors reject imposed list

Meanwhile, ordained pastors of the PCC are said to have vehemently rejected the list of pastors imposed by the church hierarchy, especially because of its order of preference. The pastors and some Christians say they have their own people they will like to vote for and so the field should be made level for all who are eligible to take their chance.

We gathered that some pastors and Christians are backing the candidacy of Rev Ayuk Solomon Eta, for the position of Synod Clerk.  But others claim he is “an unknown within the PCC and may be there just to do Rev Fonki’s biddings”. 

Some Christians allege that the outgoing Moderator is trying to influence the elections to bring in “an unknown person like Ayuk Solomon as Synod Clerk, so that even after leaving office, he (Fonki), will still be pulling strings from behind the scenes and still be controlling the church from back stage”.

Other pastors fire back at accusers 

At press time, all attempts to get Rt. Rev Dr Fonki Samuel Forba to react to the accusations were futile. 

However, some pastors within the PCC, who did not want to be named because they were not mandated to speak on his behalf, told The Guardian Post Sunday that the accusations leveled against the Moderator are the handiwork of his detractors “who have since he took over the mantle of leadership of the Church, been doing all to run him down and discredit his groundbreaking achievements during his tenure of office”.

“These are all machinations of the Moderator’s detractors and enemies of progress within the PCC. They are looking for any means to drag the name of the Moderator in mud,” one of them said. 

This story was first published in The Guardian Post issue N0:3223 of Sunday September 08, 2024