24, July 2022
Macron to meet President Paul Biya, 89, who has ruled Cameroon for almost 40 years 0
President Emmanuel Macron on Monday begins a three-nation tour of western African states in the first trip to Africa of his new term as he seeks to reboot France’s post-colonial relationship with the continent.
Macron will begin his July 25-28 tour, also the first venture outside Europe of his new mandate, with a visit to Cameroon, before moving on to Benin and then finishing the trip in Guinea-Bissau.
Top of the agenda in the talks will be food supply issues, with African nations fearing shortages especially of grain due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
But security will also loom large as France prepares to complete its pullout from Mali this year, with all countries in the region seeking to head off fears of Islamist insurgencies.
The trip to three countries which rarely feature on the itinerary of global leaders comes with Macron, who won a new term in April, pledging to keep up his bid for a new relationship between France and Africa.
France has also followed with concern the emergence of other powers seeking a foothold in an area Paris still considers parts of its sphere of influence, notably Turkey under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan but also increasingly China and Russia.
‘Political priority’
The tour “will show the commitment of the president in the process of renewing the relationship with the African continent”, said a French presidential official, who asked not to be named.
It will signal that the African continent is a “political priority” of his presidency.
In Cameroon, which has been riven by ethnic violence and an insurgency by anglophone separatists, Macron will meet President Paul Biya, 89, who has ruled the country for almost 40 years and is the longest-serving non-royal leader in the world.
Biya has run the country with an iron fist, refusing demands for federalism and cracking down on the rebellion by separatists.
Macron will move on Wednesday to Benin, a neighbour of Africa’s most populous nation Nigeria. The north of the country has faced more deadly attacks, with the jihadist threat now spreading from the Sahel to Gulf of Guinea nations.
He is likely to be lauded for championing the return in November of 26 historic treasures which were stolen in 1892 by French colonial forces from Abomey, capital of the former Dahomey kingdom located in the south of modern-day Benin.
Benin was long praised for its thriving multi-party democracy. But critics say its democracy has steadily eroded under President Patrice Talon over the last half decade. Opposition leader Reckya Madougou was sentenced in 2021 to 20 years in prison on terrorism charges.
On Thursday, Macron will finish his tour in Guinea-Bissau, which has been riven by political crisis at a time when its President Umaro Sissoco Embalo is preparing to take the helm of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
Rethink strategy
With all the countries criticised by activists over their rights records, the Elysee has insisted that governance and rights issues will be raised, albeit “without media noise but in the form of direct exchanges between the heads of states”.
Macron’s first term was marked by visits to non-francophone African countries including regional powerhouses Nigeria and South Africa as he sought to engage with the entire continent and not just former French possessions.
Benin is a former French colony, but Guinea-Bissau was once a Portuguese colony while Cameroon’s colonial heritage is a mixture of British and German as well as French.
Macron meanwhile has insisted France’s military presence in the region will adapt rather than disappear once the pullout from Mali is complete.
He announced last week that a rethink of France’s presence would be complete by autumn, saying the military should be “less exposed” in the future but their deployment still a “strategic necessity”.
The pullout from Mali follows a breakdown in relations with the country’s ruling junta, which Western states accuse of relying on Russian Wagner mercenaries rather than European allies to fight an Islamist insurgency.
Source: AFP
25, July 2022
Corruption in the PCC: Bad news for Moderator Fonki Samuel 0
From: Brother Jonathan Fru Awasom ( JAF)
To: Rev. Fonki Samuel Forba, Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon,
Subject: Why have you forsaken the Truth?
Dear Rev Fonki Samuel,
In keeping with 1 Timothy 3,I bring greetings to you in the name of Jesus Christ and for the sake of the founding generation of the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon (PCC).
According to 1 John 2: 21 ” I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth”.
We have known ourselves far back when I was a youth Pastor like yourself some 22 yearsago. You will neither be reading from me for the first time nor foreign to where I stand about corruption in Presbyterian Church in Cameroon and PCC- USA. It is obvious to me that you, your wife and cronies are determined to ruin the PCC taking advantage of the corrupt political regime that has failed to hold corrupt Anglophone leaders accountable thereby enabling the current Anglophone violent conflict.
Instead of being a prophetic voice and the conscience of the state during these tough times in Cameroon, you have become more like the state exploiting God’s people and enabling all the atrocities of the Cameroon regime against the downtrodden, majority of whom are children and women internally displaced and suffering in the bushes and crowded cities across the country. All you care is to gather some of them to exploit.
I am sick to my stomach about how you have become a pestering sore to the church and Christians. Since you were selected by your predecessors to replace them as the next Moderator, your reign has been rat-infested by theft of church funds, accusations of abuse of power, gross violation of the Constitution of the PCC, distortion and tampering with the Constitution to suit you and your cohorts at home and here in the USA.
I have also read articles widely circulated calling upon you to account for private business investments you have carried out while in Office as the Moderator (President of the PCC) whereby you have hijacked the office of the Moderator to hold shares in private businesses using church funds to invest in your name and family members as though PCC is your private owned company.
You have been accused of bullying Pastors and Christians who question your motives when convinced beyond any reasonable doubts that your conduct was/is not in alignment with the execution of your office as Moderator (First amongst Equals). For instance, you were accused of indulging with a war of words with a community of Presbyterian Christians in locations here in the United States to the extent which your actions split the Church. It is alleged that a small group of people loyal to you decided to site with you while majority broke away. I have to wonder what PCC is doing in the United States?
In Cameroon, your propensity to divide and conquer is alarming with detail reports about perpetual conflicts and animosity under your watch and even so orchestrated by your corrupt leadership style. I have been deeply troubled by your corrupt activities within the PCC Community and wanted to address these issues directly with you because they are very serious. The Cameroon Intelligence Report captioned
“PCC Cameroon under Rev Fonki: Corruption runs rampant. Who should we hold responsible? – Cameroon Intelligence Report” is just one of the numerous publications x-raying the culture of corruption you have masterminded in the PCC since you became Moderator.
Therefore, I urge you to give me your undivided attention and to consider my letter to you and your entire body of Synod Executives and Synod of the PCC as an appeal to be mindful of these concerns because enough is enough, Rev Fonki Samuel. We cannot be anymore silent and allow you to continue scamming and exploiting Presbyterians.
Whereas “Moderator” the English Dictionary definition states that he or she a mediator and of course “in the Presbyterian church, the officer who presides over a synod or general assembly”
Whereas as Pastor you are expected to serve and tender “God’s people ” consistent with the calling and mission to reflect the mercy, forgiveness, reconciliation and compassion of Jesus Christ
Whereas the church once “reformed is always reforming”
Whereas no Moderator or any other Synod Executives own the PCC except to be guardians and custodians under appropriate biblical standards in the light of John 15, the Constitution, Book of Order and Confession, and in accordance with governing laws of the State
Whereas your prophetic role in the State can only be effective if you are free from the ills of corruption, fraud, embezzlement and in all dictatorship perpetrated by the state
Whereas you are “First amongst Equals, which does not make you above reproach and accountability or any lesser or greater than your fellow Presbyterians
Whereas the PCC is a church of Presbyters and not a church of individuals loyal to Rev Fonki Samuel,
Whereas it is imperative that the global evangelical and missionary focus of Presbyterianism does NOT discriminate on people based on race and culture with respect to the liturgical application of worship geographically and culturally
Whereas the modus operandi of mission is to foster partnership, diversity and inclusion when spreading the gospel
Whereas Christian discipleship and Financial stewardship go hand – in – hand, I will like to call upon you and your entire leadership at the Synod Office levels of the PCC to account for the following;
1. You, the Rev Fonki Samuel and all Synod Officers serving in high ranking positions shall declare your assets including your bank accounts and investments in Cameroon and abroad including businesses where you are shareholders
2. The Rev Fonki Samuel and the Financial Department shall publish the Financial statements of the PCC including sources of income grants, donations, church contribution etc and expenditures on Salaries of Church workers, projects and charity
3. The Rev Fonki Samuel shall give a detail account of his standing with the PCC USA 🇺🇸 with respect to accusations published against him. Mindful of the non- profit tax exemption of the PCC-USA, I reserve the absolute right to file a complaint to USA authorities against the lack of financial transparency and accountability during the reign of you, the Rev Fonki Samuel from 2014 – 2022 marked by a culture of theft of church funds to enrich yourselves.
4. The Rev Fonki Samuel shall explain the reasons behind his suspicious tampering of the Constitution of the PCC . Perhaps by your own tyrannical actions the PCC does not need to be taken back into the dark ages of corrupt tyranny
We will not lie low to watch you and your gang ruin the church our forefathers and parents have built with faith, sacrifice, humility, grace, mercy, forgiveness, reconciliation and love. These sacred Christians values embodied by Jesus Christ are not part of the vocabulary of PCC leadership.
You may boast of your flamboyant unholy alliance with corrupt politicians in Cameroon to oppress and exploit God’s people to enrich yourselves. That practice ends effective immediately.
Rev Fonki Samuel if your sole purpose is to change the Constitution of the PCC in order to appoint your wifethe Moderator in the same manner you were appointed, so be it but should that not behappening in your own private church in Akwaya or somewhere else.? So long as this is the PCC you shall not oppress and exploit God’s people for so long. It ends effective immediately as appropriate steps are underway to ensure that someone more powerful than you and your regime will end your evil and wickedness against God’s people in Cameroon
Every project you have carried out in the name of PCC is only done so as a calculated means to embezzle most of the money. Why do you close primary schools, unable to pay the salaries of teachers, some who taught you in primary school, yet you are able to increase your salaries in the Synod Office without taking into consideration the plight of others?
That explains why you are now living at large while thousands of children are living in abject poverty around the country due to violent conflict and warfare. It is better for you to resign now from that office in keeping with the laws that govern your activities here in the USA. Rev Fonki Samuel I cannot imagine that you are so inconsiderate to the pain and suffering of children and families to the point where you shut down primary school in the 21st century. You increased your salary from Moderator to CEO. Let me ask you a simple question? Are you the one who owns the PCC? If you are the CEO of PCC then be prepared to come to court in the USA because you will have to account to this country. If you insist I will file a complaint against you and against all PCC churches in the USA. Your conduct is despicable and unacceptable.
Finally, it is important that the Presbyterian Church In Cameroon and PCC-USA be brought to her traditional and historical context as the basis for the present day mission and evangelism by upholding the sacredness of Presbyterian beliefs in the light of Holy Scriptures. This is well articulated by this statement and since you are not complying with this Presbyterian belief, please , leave the PCC .
“Some of the principles articulated by John Calvin are still at the core of Presbyterian beliefs. Among these are the sovereignty of God, the authority of Scripture, justification by grace through faith and the priesthood of all believers. What these tenets mean is that God is the supreme authority throughout the universe. Our knowledge of God and God’s purpose for humanity comes from the Bible, particularly what is revealed in the New Testament through the life of Jesus Christ. Our salvation (justification) through Jesus is God’s generous gift to us and not the result of our own accomplishments. It is everyone’s job — ministers and lay people alike — to share this Good News with the whole world. That is also why the Presbyterian church is governed at all levels by a combination of clergy and laity, men and women alike.”
Thank you for your cooperation and thoughtfulness to these issues.
Yours truly in Jesus Christ,
Bother Jonathan Fru Awasom
Jonathan_light2000@yahoo.com
Phone: 201-878-5829
CC All Pastors, Elders, Deacons and Christians of the PCC
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