Bishops weep for Cameroon’s stagnation 65 years after independence.

Archbishops and Bishops at end of 48th annual seminar in Buea

Catholic Bishops have wept over what they say is the socioeconomic stagnation of Cameroon, sixty years after its gained independence.



The pain of the religious leaders over the country’s development is one of the highpoints of a release they issued Saturday January 11, 2025. 

This was at the end of their 48th annual seminar in Buea, Fako Division of the South West Region.

In the release, the Bishops declared that: “Cameroonians feel a real despondency because of the lack that is on the rise in our country. Many of our fellow citizens are living in dramatically precarious conditions and in deplorable, undignified conditions. Unemployment among young people seems to have no end in sight, even among graduates. Hence, the mass exodus from the country in search of greener pastures”. 

Over six decades after independence, the religious leaders said Cameroon’s development cannot still guarantee basic human rights, such as; the right to food, the right to education, the right to quality health care, the right to justice… “…in short, the right to life”. 

The release further underscored that 65 years after Cameroon gained independence; citizens are still living in economic and social stagnation with an uncertain future. 

This, they added, is because of the endless cycle of the hardship felt by most citizens. The situation, they noted, has been made worst with the continuous increase in taxes.

One of the causes of Cameroon's anguish is undoubtedly the tax burden, which increases year in, year out, to the detriment of the most vulnerable populations. It is seen as the ultimate means of suffocating Cameroonians whose purchasing power is so low,” the Bishops indicated. 

“We wonder whether a country can only be built on and through taxation,” the Bishops wondered.

 

Faults non-respect of Article 66 on declaration of assets

Another issue which the Bishops said is taking the country down the drain is the non-respect of Article 66 of the country’s Constitution on the declaration of assets. The non-respect of the Article, they said, is further aiding corruption. They also asked how those in power can be asking citizens to respect laws in force when they are not respecting same. 

The Bishops acknowledged that Cameroon is a country blessed with huge natural resources but decried that a select few are plundering these resources. “…we are witnessing the organised plundering of our economic heritage. We are thinking in particular of the sell-off and alienation of mining and agricultural concessions, which are being carried out through agreements signed here and there in a highly questionable manner,” they prelates further noted. 

Corruption, they added, is having a great toll on the entire wellbeing of the nation. 

“Each of us seems obliged to corrupt or to be corrupted. It is as if we are forced to live with corruption, to accept it as part of our daily existence, and in so doing, we only reinforce it,” the religious leaders noted.

 

Fresh dialogue to address Anglophone crisis 

The Bishops condemned the violence which continues to ruin lives in the Far North, North West and South West Regions. To address the Anglophone crisis, they called for the organisation of a fresh dialogue without preconditions.

“…is it not time for the political class to sit down in humility and engage in calm dialogue, mindful of its responsibility to lead our people, our country, towards happiness, which requires justice, forgiveness, reconciliation?”, they asked. True peace, they said, does not come from graveyards, but from reconciliation. 

 

Authorities should work for citizens’ good

In the same statement, the Bishops called on those occupying public offices to work for the general good of citizens. 

Public officials, they said, must ensure that Cameroon is “no longer transformed into a permanent market for the cheap exploitation of its natural resources…”. 

They equally asked for the return of stolen funds to the public treasury.  “…we ask that the money unjustly taken from Cameroonians be reimbursed to the public treasury. We also demand that those charged with recovering embezzled funds of the State should not have to endure threats and intimidation of any kind”. 

The Apostolic Nuncio to Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea, José Avelino Betancourt, attended the closing ceremony of the seminar.

 

This story was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3337 of Monday January 13, 2025

 

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