At the end of the 48th plenary assembly of the bishops of Cameroon, they published a communique, carrying issues discussed during the weeklong plenary assembly. One of these is insecurity which the bishops condemn “The bishops denounced the neglect of civic duties and insecurity that are constantly on the rise and widespread in the country. They appeal strongly to all Cameroonians and particularly to the authorities in charge of maintaining law and order to be more responsible and committed to protecting people and property throughout the country. They invite all to pray for peace and respect for the sanctity of life” the communique published on April 22nd, 2023 read.
The issues discussed by the bishops were further elaborated during the program Cameroon Calling, on state Radio, by His Grace Andrew Fuanya Nkea, president of the National Episcopal Conference of Cameroon NECC. When asked what was discussed during the meeting, the president of NECC said “We have been Looking at some of the contemporary issues affecting our country, one of those issues have to do with insecurity. Insecurity is an issue which is affecting practically every town in our country. While we denounce the criminality that is in the rise, we also are asking the authorities concerned to put in place the necessary measures to help our people to live in security, in peace and tranquility. Secondly we have emphasized the sacredness of human life. We are scared to say the least about the way Cameroonians treat and kill each other now. Before if you saw a corpse you would be traumatized, but now Cameroonians just kill each other as if they were killing chickens and we think we have to decry that and say we should all go back to respect the fifth commandment of the decalogue thou shall not kill. This is a message we really strongly want to pass to all Cameroonians. Please stop killing each other”
Asked about the Church’s position in the problems affecting Cameroonians, His Grace Andrew Nkea called on government to intervene in cost of living “The Church is not able to solve all these problems. With health we are able to do what we can do, with education we are able to do what we can do. But the rising cost of living, is something that we can only make recourse to the authorities of the country to see what they can do in their powers to help our people. Now if you increase taxes the way they have been increased, it is not possible to understand how the common man would get money to pay for all those things and it becomes very difficult for the common man to be able to survive. You increase salaries, we must increase school fee, we must increase hospital care fees and you do that, the common man would not be able. So we have to really work it out but we cannot do it ourselves. We need the collaboration of the civil authorities to be able to know that our first duty and the first duty of every government is to take care of it’s citizens, not to exploit it’s citizens”
The 48th National Episcopal Conference was held from April 16th to 22nd 2023. It was attended by Archbishops, Bishops of Cameroon and other pastoral workers.
By Mildred Ndum Wung
Howdy!
Millions of people are educated, informed and liberated through news. We rely solely on goodwill donation.Support Cameroon Infotrend to go wider. Your minimum contribution matters a lot. We are dire in need of equipment; computers, digital recorders, cameras, ser
vice providers and financial assistance for transportation.Any form of assistance would be a great relief. Please Help us!
Tell: +237651041509