Bishop Bibi continues, “The said six workers later took the matter to the Labor office with the false or misguided claim that they were wrongfully terminated. The matter could not be resolved amicably at the Labor office and was taken to court.”
He further says that he has invited the workers to his residence to dialogue and seek a way forward “but they have refused to honor my invitation twice and prefer we settle the matter in the labor office.”
“It is still my prayer that we come to a peaceful resolution in justice, whether in court or outside of court,” Bishop Bibi says in his statement shared with ACI Africa March 13.
The Bishop says he had an issue with the contracts of Fidei Donum Priests sent from the Diocese and other Clerics working at CUIB.
“Another disturbing issue I noticed when I came to Buea as Apostolic Administrator was the fact that Priests of the Diocese of Buea had to be loaned from the Diocese in order to work in CUIB; and contracts had to be established between these Priests, CUIB, and the Diocese of Buea,” he says.
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The fact that the members of the Clergy who left the Diocese as Fidei Donum Priests to the Diocese of Charlotte, NC, USA, went on behalf of CUIB and not the Cameroonian Diocese “was an awkward arrangement.”
“As such, whatever they were to do out of the country was meant to promote the interest of the university and not the Diocese of Buea,” he says referencing the Fidei Donum Priests, and adds, “CUIB was being run like another Diocese within the Diocese of Buea. That was an awkward arrangement.”
Making reference to Canon 271, Bishop Bibi says, “Only Dioceses are capable of assigning clerics as Fidei Donum ministers to other Dioceses”
Amid all the challenges, Bishop Bibi says, “I had asked Fr. Jingwa to come back home after his almost two years sabbatical to sort out the irregularities of CUIB, and up till now he has refused to come back.”
In his statement that highlights various challenges since he was appointed Apostolic Administrator in December 2019, Bishop Bibi urges parents, guardians, and well-wishers to join him and the CUIB faculty “so that together we may accomplish the immense task God has entrusted to us: the education and formation of our children.”
“We trust that God will always guide and protect his own, despite all the tribulations we might go through,” the 50-year-old Catholic Bishop says.
Magdalene Kahiu is a Kenyan journalist with passion in Church communication. She holds a Degree in Social Communications from the Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA). Currently, she works as a journalist for ACI Africa.