NOT OVER YET!
Battle for St John’s soul heats up
THE battle for the soul of one of Southern African’s biggest churches, St John Apostolic Faith Mission, is expected to turn nasty in the coming weeks.
Having raged on for close to three years, the fight seemed to be over when, on February 16th, Justice Ketogetswe ruled in favour of the late Arch Bishop, Andrew Ndubano’s daughter, Melittah Ndubano, to take over from her father.
However, this week the church’s executive committee appealed for a stay of execution, insisting court erred by entering a final judgment without hearing evidence.
In his ruling in favour of Melittah, who argued she was rightfully appointed arch bishop designate by her late father before he passed, Justice Ketogetswe based his decision on a copy of the minutes of an executive committee meeting from July 4th, 2020 where her appointment was made and approved.
According to Ketogetswe, the minutes clearly state Melittah was to take over from her father upon his death. Ndubano passed away on 26th July, 2021.
“She was to henceforth take the conduct of the affairs of the church as an understudy to her late father, pending her coronation as arch bishop,” noted Ketogetswe, ordering Melittah duly be installed as the Arch Bishop of St John Apostolic Faith Mission of Botswana.
Unconvinced, in their filing notice, St John, led by Secretary General Terence Seitiso, argue court should have considered the church’s constitution before reaching its verdict.
“Had the court interrogated the constitution, it would have realised that the respondent does not, to begin with, qualify for appointment to the position of arch bishop of the church as required by the constitution. She’s not a bishop and never claimed to be a bishop in her papers,” Seitiso states in his affidavit.
They further argued the late Ndubano did not have the power to appoint his daughter arch bishop.
“There was no vacancy, and the position of arch bishop-designate does not exist in the constitutional structure of the church.”
Despite this fierce battle in the courts of law, the young Ndubano is already wielding her authority.
In a letter dated 21st February, she warns church members to abide by the court order or face possible imprisonment.
“I’ll have no choice in my role as the steward but to have the orders enforceable if there’s resistance by any section within the body of Christ,” she wrote.
The letter further states the treasurer was restrained from releasing funds without express permission of, and consultation with, the chairperson.
She further instructed signatories to the bank to reverse all transactions made after the court order.
“This includes P20 000 and P150 000 withdrawals made on February 19th and 20th respectively. Any spending made without due authorisation of the arch bishop shall be in contempt of court. Ongoing projects must also pause with immediate effect,” reads part of the letter addressed to the secretary general.
“You slept on your rights to explain why the late arch bishop was out of order to appoint me his successor. I now assert my authority as the arch bishop-designate pending unveiling at a time yet to be announced,” wrote Melittah Ndubano.
The matter is back in court on 14th March.