CBC constitutional saga: Yaounde court suspends scheduled national elections
The decentralized general elective assembly of the Cameroon Baptist Convention (CBC) scheduled for November 21 in Yaounde, has been temporarily suspended by the Mfoundi Court of First Instance.
However, the defense counsel of the CBC, Barrister Sonkwa Victorine told the press that there was little cause for alarm as the matter was still under legal review.
“It’s a temporal measure. In any case, we have fifteen to appeal and as long as we appeal even today, elections will continue in all the constituencies” Sonkwa said, further calling on all CBC delegates to prepare because the judge only has jurisdiction over Yaounde hence, argued Sonkwa, “elections will take place all over Cameroon”.
The lawyers for the plaintiffs (Mr. Luma Albert, Mr. Emi Emmanuel and Chief Taku Jacob) acknowleged that the suspension from the Mfoundi Court was indeed only a temporary measure.
The court session in Yaounde lasted barely for ten minutes and saw the presence of CBC pastors and Christians in their official church uniforms and it concluded with a prayer by the Yaounde Field Pastor, the Rev. Enoch Jumbuin who prayed for God to be present in these trying moments and for the three excommunicated members who sued the church, to come to repentance in Christ.
The next hearing on the matter is slated for November 22 at the Mezam High Court in Bamenda and could be the defining moment in the CBC’s history under the leadership of its Executive President, the Rev. Dr. Nditemeh Charlemagne.