Barrister John Kameni has threatened to seek legal action against the Principal of St. Joseph’s College Sasse, Fr. Valentine Suum and the Catholic Education Secretary of Buea Diocese, Fr. Edwin Msing, over a letter they wrote, tagging him as a Persona Non Grata in the College.
“At the end of the day, these two fellows will answer for defamation, misrepresentation, blackmail and threat to livelihood…” Barrister Kameni stated.
The learned Barrister was speaking to Journalducameroun.com in Buea, on Saturday, April 21, 2018, days after a letter banning him from stepping his feet into St. Joseph’s College Sasse went viral on social media.
In the April 17, 2018 letter titled Persona Non Grata, addressed to Barrister John Sichui Kameni by the Principal of Sasse and the Buea Catholic Education Secretary, the two priest wrote: “Considering your role as architect and promoter of a systematic chain of events beginning the 17th of January, 2018, which were in flagrant contempt of the Proprietor of St. Joseph’s College Sasse and considering your continues advancement of these events which have adversely affected the image and brand of the institution, the Proprietor of St. Joseph’s College Sasse, Bishop Immanuel Bushu has instructed me as follows: Your presence on the campus of St. Joseph’s College Sasse has been or may be disruptive to the campus environment and or to the safety and security of the campus.
As such, this letter is to serve as official notice that you are hereby designed Persona Non Grata and not to be on the campus of St. Joseph’s College starting from the date of this letter and for always, that is for life,” the letter read parts.
The two priests further asserted that the letter has been forwarded to all administrative and public security officials of the South West Region and also to campus security for permanent reinforcement.
Reacting to the decision, , Barrister Kameni said: “First of all I am not a student of Sasse College and I do not work at the Secretariat of the Catholic Education Secretary for them to have signed a document termed Persona Non Grata. In their so called Persona Non Grata letter, there is nothing directly or indirectly linking me to Sasse College.”
He fumed that the letter is replete with defamatory, libellous and slanderous utterances, which are criminal offences “and I will not take them lightly.”
He also said in a State of law like Cameroon, it is criminal to deprive a citizen of his livelihood and that the letter is an absolute blackmail on his person.
He termed the decision banning him from entering Sasse as unfortunate.
“If I had done anything wrong to Sasse College, which owes me a lot as well as I do, because I went to Sasse for five years and after that I have been to the college several times. In fact, the Fridge in the Staff Canteen as we are talking was offered by me with a cash prize of almost FCFA one million… and I raised funds and contributed over FCFA 750,000 to effectively built up that Staff Canteen,” Kameni boasted.
He said he has never had any contact with the Catholic Education Secretary or any altercation with the Principal, “so you will see behind that letter that it is not only blackmail, but it is a ploy to tarnish my pristine image, first in the community in which I am a Municipal Councillor, secondly as a politician and thirdly as a lawyer. It is inadmissible that priests jump into the arena of issues that are totally disconnected with them and start copying letters to the Minister of Territorial Administration, the Governor, the Procurer General and the Bar Council President without copying or serving me the concerned person. I only got to see the letter on the social media tarnishing my name.”
The Barrister believes that there are hidden faces behind the letter “and we will see the person as the days unfold. But I’m telling you, their actions are criminal and they will be held criminally liable and at that instant, they will be forced to unveil their blackmail partner(s).
However, tongues are already wagging that the aforementioned letter is not unconnected to the protracted power imbroglio that has been rocking the Sasse Old Boys Association (SOBA)
