By Sah Terence A.
The Catholic Men Association, CMA, now has a new national executive led by the very affable Okie Johnson Ndoh, general manager of the National Hydrocarbons Prize Stabilisation Fund.
This was one of the major outcomes of an extra-ordinary general assembly of the group that met at the Big Mankon hall of the Bamenda Metropolitan Cathedral on Friday, February 9, 2018.
The deliberations were presided over by Bishop Andrew Nkea of the Mamfe Diocese, vice chairman of the conference of Bishops of the Bamenda Ecclesiastical Province in the absence of the chairman, Bishop George Nkuo who was unavoidably absent. Bishop Nkea was assisted throughout the session by Arch-Bishop Cornelius Esua of the Bamenda archdiocese.
Another major highlight of the assembly was the adoption of the first-ever constitution of the group approved by the bishops.
During the congress mass con-celebrated by the bishops of Mamfe, Bishop of Kumba, Agapitus Nfon and the arch bishop of Bamenda, the Vice Chair of BAPEC His Lordship Bishop Andrew Fuanya Nkea, Bishop of Mamfe cautioned CMA members to stay focused on the objectives of the group and avoid anything that will cause them to split like the twelve tribes of Judea.
They were further warned to keep their ears open to listen to the word of God and to emulate the example of their patron, Saint Joseph who is referred to as Man of Honour. They were equally warned that leading the CMA was not a political opportunity and so people should not make it look like a political party. Members were told that the CMA is not a secret society and thus all its activities must be done in the open to ensure true transparency.
Turbulence
When the Catholic Men Association CMA met in Douala in August 2017 to have their national elections, there were a lot of conflicts resulting from an unclear electoral process and an opaque financial management by the out-gone executive. The AGM thus ended in a stand-off with no elections conducted.
This led to a lot of wrangling and petitions by some members. Infact Mr. Okie Johnson Ndoh the newly elected CMA national president revealed to members during his acceptance speech that he took upon himself to write to the Bishops of the Bamenda Ecclesiastical Province, BAPEC in anonymity, after seeking the advice of some top ranking personalities in the church. In his anonymous letters to BAPEC, he called on the bishops to kindly step in and restore sanity in the CMA before it splits completely.
The bishops of the Bamenda Ecclesiatical Province had to step in and take the bull by the horns. A meeting was summoned in Yaounde late last year during which an interim exco was put in place and given mandate to propose a constitution for the group and to organise an extra-ordinary general assembly in Bamenda where the constitution shall be adopted and a new national executive put in place.
Constitution
Before the adoption of the constitution, Bishop Nkea insisted that there was no room for further debates because the bishops had worked on the draft proposed by CMA members and made vital amendments in accordance with the church’s canonical doctrine. Thus, he continued, since the bishops have approved the constitution after very long hours of discussions members only obligation was to proceed with its adoption. This was done with acclamation. The major amendments the bishops imposed was the discarding of the list system which warranted that the president, secretary general and treasurer should come from the same diocese thus placing a single diocese at the helm of CMA affairs in the whole country.
Origin
The Bamenda extra-ordinary general assembly was also one that had to set the records straight as regards the authentic history and origin of the CMA. The Arch-Bishop of Bamenda, His Lordship Bishop Cornelius Fontem Esua was saddled with this task. In his narration, he noted that the CMA originated from St. Theresa’s Parish Kumbo in the Late 70s as an emulation of the well organized Catholic Women Association that was so much encouraged by Rev Fr. John Culknan, the then Parish Priest of St Theresa’s Parish Kumbo that was still in the Bamenda Diocese and later had canonical recognition through the help of the first Bishop of Kuimbo Diocese, His Lordship Bishop Cornelius Fontem Esua after the creation of the diocese.
Now the Arch Bishop of the Bamenda Arch Diocese and the canonical father of the CMA and the only bishop still alive who saw the origin and introduction of the CMA as a group into the local church and it’s recognition by the Pope, His grace Cornelius Fontem Esua had to get very actively involved and to exercise a lot of patience in the restoration of the dignity of the CMA despite his age.
It was on this note that the National Episcopal Conference, NEC, referred the exercise of restoring CMA to the Bishops of BAPEC. This is because NEC has the authority and not the competence to mediate in the complex issues of the CMA as well as the CWA. A caretaker committee was thus set up under the guardianship of the secretary general of BAPEC to prepare the CMA for eventual elections
Prior to this day, all dioceses were asked to present a draft constitution to the caretaker committee which was forwarded to the bishops of BAPEC for scrutiny and corrections. In the preambles of the draft constitutions, all groups ignored the historical background of the CMA thus living out the chronological order of facts relating to the spread of the CMA giving the impression that the CMA just sprang up as an initiative in the various dioceses.
It was for this reason and others that the bishops of BAPEC schooled the CMA members on a brief historical account of the origin of CMA by the Founding Canonical father of the association, His Grace Cornelius Fontem Esua to enlighten the members more and justifying why BAPEC has the right to intervene at the national level of the CMA.
This right was further clarified by the Vice Chair of BAPEC as he explained the setup of the church and the process of getting a group recognized in the church first at the diocesan level, provincial level and then national level.
Having explained all these, the bishops gave room to the caretaker committee which met in Yaounde on October 13, 2017 in order to chart a way forward for the CMA to appraise the work done by the committee so far during which the chair of the committee, Mr. Raphael Manyi, thanked all involved especially the bishops of BAPEC for stepping in and prayed for successful deliberations while paving way for the adoption of the final constitution and for elections.
The elections were conducted by the bishops and chaplains with an electoral college of 110 members delegated from all the dioceses in Cameroon except for Maroua Diocese that was absent. The results saw Mr Okie Johnson Ndoh From Yaounde diocese as the new CMA national president with Dr. Julius Awasum of Ngoundere as vice.
The former National Communication Secretary, Dr. Tchoupi Raphael who hails from the West region but is born and bred in Kumba is the secretary general. Atabe Gilbert is assistant secretary general. Yufanyi Bath Okodiakuru from Douala was elected treasurer while Cyril Tambe from Mamfe is the financial secretary assisted by Nde. Ndeh Richard Lajong was acclaimed communication secretary while Ghong Fidelis is liturgy master. Both are from Bamenda. Bill Mbella Oscar was voted overwhelmingly as protocol officer while the social secretary is Tangang Gabriel. Five advisers were also elected representing the five archdioceses with Manyi Raphael from Douala, Ngah Eric from buea to represent Bamenda archdiocese.
During his first speech as CMA national president, Mr Okie Johnson said being elected CMA National president after such difficult moments the association has gone through, means God actually wanted him to pilot the affairs of the association and called on his team and all members to follow his theme which is “ Evangelization in deeds and action.” He also went on to propose agriculture as a means to sustain the activities of the group and avoid the feeling of financial burdens especially on the grassroots.
At the end of the elections, the bishops announced the appointment of Rev. Fr. Kizito Forbi to the position of the CMA national chaplain while thanking Rev. Fr. Jude Mbi Thaddeus for work done during his over 10 years as CMA National Chaplain.
Speaking to The SUN after his appointment, Fr. Kizito said he is highly honoured by the appointment and said he believes, as it is said in the Bible, that when one is faithful in small matters, bigger ones will be given to him and that he is confident God will give him the grace to handle the CMA as required.
The Arch Bishop during an interview with the press referred to the exercise as a giant step that will send the CMA to better developments while expressing total satisfaction in seeing a group he encouraged from the start in Kumbo grow to such a great level.
Bishop Andrew Nkea at the end testified to the word of God that when two or three are gathered in his name, he is always in their midst and that the success of the event is eloquent testimony of God’s presence which ushers in a new phase in the leadership of CMA in Cameroon.