Cameroon is embroiled in what could be the precursor to a civil war. The nation is currently divided into two basic populations: the French-speaking majority and the English-speaking minority to the southwest who want to break off as their own nation — Ambazonia.

Those in the Anglophone region feel underrepresented by Cameroon’s government. Two years ago, they decided enough is enough. As English-speakers in southwest Cameroon clamor for autonomy, the French-speaking state military is clamping down.

We spoke with Efi Tembon, the Executive Director of the Cameroon Association for Bible Translation and Literacy, a partner of Wycliffe Associates. He says, “It’s actually like a genocide where the war is going on in one part of the country, in the English-speaking part of the country. The military has been deployed in that part of the country and they are causing horrible atrocities.”

“There are over 30,000 refugees who have fled into Nigeria and over 200,000 people have been displaced. Many of these people are hiding in the bushes — some of them elderly people, expectant mothers, mothers with young babies, and children without any care, without any food, without medicine, [and] without protection.”

State forces are going into villages in southwest Cameroon, burning homes, and shooting civilians.

The violence has become a vicious cycle.

“The people decided to fight back, so they have young people who get together and form their own groups in communities to defend their communities. So they ambush soldiers, they take weapons from soldiers and when weapons are taken or a soldier is killed, then the military goes out into the community and burns the [homes] and kills more people.”

A paranoid military means it’s not even safe to ride a motorbike in Anglophone communities.

“Motorbikes have been burned in the area and many people have been shot because they were riding on motorbikes. Sometimes the people who attack soldiers also have motorbikes. They will attack the soldiers, ambush them, and take their weapons to fight back. So the government decided to ban motorbikes in some of the areas.”

Because of the travel dangers, including on motorbikes, CABTAL staff have a hard time getting around. But sometimes more dangerous than traveling is the danger of staying. Some translators have left their communities. Tembon says the president of a translation program had to flee the area when soldiers took over his church. Later he found out his entire village was burned.

This outbreak of violence in Cameroon has affected more than a dozen Bible translation projects.

“We have about 13 language projects in the area where this core of violence is taking place,” says Tembon. “Even some translators have died. The husband of one of our translators was shot and killed and we had to go rescue them in the forest. They were hiding in the bushes for weeks with babies and even older people. Whole families were hiding in the bushes, so we’ve taken them out into the regional training center where translation will be taking place now to help them. But even that center is not safe because it is at the heart of the crisis.”

Wycliffe Associates is hoping to raise funds to build a wall around the regional training center compound and make it safer. Also, computers and translation materials have been lost in the chaos. The ministry is trying to recover or replace those items as well. Currently, they are trying to raise $170,000.

Tembon assures, “In the midst of all of the violence, our teams are still working. God’s Word is still spreading. They are still reaching out to people.”

One thing CABTAL is doing to respond to the fighting is provide a trauma healing workshop for Christian leaders to be the healing hand of Christ in Cameroon.

“It’s a trauma healing workshop where we train people who can reach out to those who are suffering from the trauma. So we have launched out this workshop to train pastors and other leaders so they can help all these people scattered in the bushes to heal from this trauma of the war and the killing going on.”
Source: Mission Network News

The Archbishop of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Bamenda, His Grace Cornelius Fontem Esua, has tendered his resignation letter to the Pontiff, His Holiness Pope Francis.

The Prelate handed over his resignation letter to Pope Francis in prelude to his 75^th anniversary. Speaking to reporters on Monday, July 2, 2018, at the St Joseph Metropolitan Cathedral, Big Mankon, Bamenda, during the commemoration of the 75th anniversary on earth and his 35^th anniversary of his episcopacy, Mgr. Fontem Esua said his decision is in tandem with the Canon Law.

“Take note that, according to the Cannon Law, when a Bishop reaches the age of 75, he tenders his resignation to the Pope so that the Pope should find some other person to take over from him, and I have done so already and I am waiting for the time when the Pope will appoint some other Bishop to take over from me,” he said.

He said even though he is due retirement, he is still the Chief Shepherd of Bamenda Archdiocese.

“I am still due retirement; that is, getting to the age of retirement.  I am retired but not tired. From the inspiration I have, I will continue to serve the church as I have been doing.  As long as the Pope has not appointed anybody else yet, I remain the Archbishop of Bamenda,” he averred.

Meanwhile, the Archbishop used the dual celebrations to apologise to those he has hurt in the course of shepherding God’s flock.

Source: Journal du Cameroun

It was early morning in western Cameroon on May 23rd. A local Bible translator walked out of his house to head to his fields that day. Then just down the road, he saw a white vehicle barreling his way.

The translator shares, “Bullets were flying out of the car towards me. But by the power of God, I was able to escape all the bullets and none of the bullets hit me and I escaped. I ran and hid far away in the bushes.”

(Photo courtesy of Efi Efi)

He saw the men in the vehicle get out and approach his house. It had been built by his father, and he had hoped to pass this home on to his own children. So what he witnessed was heartbreaking.

“They knocked down the windows and doors. They knocked down everything and set fire on the house. The house is completely burnt and nothing is left. I thank God because before they came, my family was already out of the house. My wife, my mother, and children were out of the house.”

The Cameroonian Bible translator now lives with his wife, mother, and children in the bush where they are constantly eaten at by mosquitoes. “My children are still too young and I don’t know what I can do now. I am stranded and do not have anything. I have nothing left except the clothes on me; I had them on that morning. All my documents have been burnt, except my ID card that was on me…. I trust in the Living God that I serve, else I should not be here talking now.”

(Photo courtesy of Efi Efi)

These scenes of brutality have plagued Cameroon for several months now. Cameroon was a largely peaceful country until recently when disputes between French-speaking state forces and English-speaking separatists caused violence to break out in the west.

Bruce Smith with Wycliffe Associates explains, “It goes back to the post-colonial season of their history where there was a French-speaking portion of the country and an English-speaking portion of the country that eventually unified to create a federation, which is the current Cameroon. But unfortunately, the people in the western part of the English-speaking majority area has not felt adequately represented or regarded in terms of the governance of the country. This has been growing in recent years and until just [recently] where it has exploded really into this common violence.”

More than 160,000 people have been displaced by the surge of violence in Cameroon, and at least 21,000 have fled as refugees to Nigeria.

Wycliffe Associates has worked with Bible translation partners in Cameroon for about 25 years. The unrest in the country has directly affected Bible translators and their work. One translator, Anka Terence, was among those killed by soldiers in the Ngwo region on May 23rd.

“There has been a number of people that have had their homes burned,” Smith says. “They have had to flee into the bush…. The problem is the violence just seems to continue to be escalating with no end in sight. We’re concerned, naturally, for the people of the country, but also for the progress of Bible translation there as well.”

(Photo courtesy of Wycliffe Associates)

There were 85 Bible translation projects in progress in Cameroon when the violence broke out. About 17 of the Bible translation languages are located in the western region and have either been slowed or come to a dead-stop because of these attacks.

“There is just a huge disruption to the whole family of Bible translation projects that are going on. Even though it’s only affecting 20 percent of them, 20 percent is a pretty large number when it’s your brothers and sisters in Christ.”

Smith explains, “The Church is not really a target in this process, but unfortunately as the Church leaders have tried to mediate this disagreement between different parts of the country, they have also been targeted in lawsuits by the government and basically intimidated in order to back down so that they wouldn’t continue to influence the process.”

Wycliffe Associates is currently seeking to locate other Bible translation partners that have gone missing.

“We’re trying, first of all, to secure the people’s safety, the translators that are part of the teams that have been driven out of their homes. Most of them have lost their fields, they have lost their herds, their animals, things like that as well as their physical homes. They’re basically just surviving [by] hunting and gathering in the bush. So we’re trying to locate them, we’re trying to get them to safe places, trying to help them reconsider resuming their Bible translation work, but they really have to go through some counseling and some adaptation in between now and then in order to make that possible.”

While the hope is to eventually resume the affected Bible translation projects, they also have to recover the lost manuscripts or digital files for those projects and see if they are still viable.

“It’s a huge matter of prayer. It’s an urgent matter for us to respond to financially, so we would invite listeners to be a part of that as well. This is the time for us to stand with our dear brothers and sisters in Christ in Cameroon.”

Culled from Mission Network News

The call for dialogue as a way out of the security crisis in Cameroon’s Anglophone region has been reiterated by the country’s Catholic Bishops.

In an interview with the BBC Focus on Africa, Bishop of Mamfe in the southwest region, Andrew Nkea, stressed that urgent dialogue was required to pull the country back from a “useless and senseless” civil war.

In the interview, he spoke at length about the harrowing experiences that bishops went through during a tour of burnt down regions in the violence hit parts of the Anglophone regions – Northwest and Southwest.

“One of the main things we are stressing is that violence only breeds violence, but if we start talking to each other, we may arrive at a middle point where there will be peace and that is what we want, we want a peaceful resolution to the conflict.

“And this can only come through dialogue, some form of reconciliation, some form of discussion that will bring all the warring parties to save this country from what we call a useless and senseless civil war,” he said.

The regions in question have been riled by armed violence between government and secessionist forces. A cry against marginalization from French-majority Cameroon escalated in October last year when separatists attempted to declare a so-called independent Ambazonia Republic.

The bishop stressed that violence has been on both sides, whiles the army was burning down entire villages, the spearatists were also burning down schools and other state institutions.

The international Crisis Group has identified the church as the most potent political mediator between the government and separatist elements.

Its April 26 report titled: Cameroon’s Anglophone Crisis: How the Catholic Church Can Promote Dialogue, averred that the clergy needed to united with a strong common position (between federalism vs. decentralisation) in order to be seen as credible mediators.

Source: Africa News

Shaken by socio-political crises including the Anglophone crisis; incursions from Nigeria by Boko Haram militants, Cameroonian Bishops have urged the faithful to a national novena to pray for peace in the country. The novena to the Holy Spirit started on 11 May and will end on the 19 May.

The novena will end on Saturday, 19 May, the evening of the solemnity of Pentecost. “Christians of Cameroon, let us enter the Upper Room following the Apostles with Mary. Let us become a living cenacle,” the Bishops invited the faithful in their message issued by the Archbishop of Doula, Samuel Kleda. He is also the President of the National Episcopal Conference of Cameroon.

“Christ makes all the arrangements so that we can live today as Christians and that through us others can recognise who He is because being a Christian is a commitment,” Archbishop Kleda said.

The novena in honour of the Holy Spirit is the oldest of all novenas since it was first made at the direction of Jesus Himself when He sent His apostles back to Jerusalem to await the coming of the Holy Spirit on the first Pentecost.

Cameroon’s English-speaking minority, which represents about 20% of 25 million Cameroonians, has been protesting the use of French in their law courts and schools. The massive demonstrations, in these areas, have since led to an ongoing crackdown by government forces. UN agencies have spoken of an under-reported humanitarian crisis. Cameroon’s English-speaking Catholic bishops described the situation as “a growing genocide.”

Notwithstanding natural reserves and economic growth in the last ten years, Cameroon continues to face endemic poverty, a high illiteracy rate, corruption, poor sanitation and health delivery challenges. As the novena to the Holy Spirit comes to an end, at the weekend, Cameroon’s Bishops have invited the faithful to go beyond words and accompany their prayers with penance and works of mercy.

Source: Vatican News

Rev Babila Fochang will be signing copies of his latest books Daily Presence Volume 3, 4 and 5 written about faith and belief in the 21st century. The hardcover editions will be made public on Saturday the 26^th of May 2018 at the Sunday School Hall, Presbyterian Church Nsimeyong in Yaoundé at 4:30 pm.

The Daily Presence Volume 3, 4 and 5 has received glowing reviews in Ireland and the UK from Cameroon Concord News Group cream of editors and it is vital to include in this report that the book launch will feature Rev Emmanuel Masok of the Presbyterian Church in Bastos in Yaoundé.

With carefully selected number of pages and handsomely designed, this hardcover series is an ideal Christmas, communion, or birthday present, and will be a cherished part of any family home library in Cameroon and even beyond.

There shall be limited copies available on the evening for a reduced price, so come prepared… this will be a rare opportunity to show community support for Rev Babila George Fochang. The man of God is presently the Synod Clerk of the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai in Dublin

Source: National Catholic Reporter

A priest in Cameroon’s Northwest region has been released by unknown gunmen after about two days in detention, Catholic Church leaders have disclosed. The Bamenda Archdiocese confirmed that Rev. Father William Niba had been abducted in the town of Belo. He was the principal of St. Bede’s College.

His arrest is said to be connected with the failure to observe a social boycott call by separatists. Local media sources reported that after the kidnapping of the principal panic gripped the school as parents rushed to withdraw their children.

Kidnapping is rampant among a section of the secessionists pushing for independence from French-majority Cameroon. The two Anglophone regions – Northwest and Southwest have long protested marginalization from the central government.

The main separatist group pushing for the so-called Ambazonia Republic command the Ambazonia Defence Forces (ADF) which says it targets members of the security forces but was not engaged in kidnap.

It suggests that other fringe groups are engaged in the kidnappings. The security situation in the region has meant curfews are in place supposedly to control the incidence of attacks.

The army has denied using reprisals against citizens after separatists attack them. That is contrary to reports by local media and rights groups that accuse them of human rights violations.

Source: Africa News

Rwanda has closed thousands of churches in recent months, for alleged ‘noise pollution’ and non-compliance of building regulations. Now another predominantly Christian country is considering following suit.

World Watch Monitor reports, Cameroon has previously enacted similar measures – like the order to close dozens of “noisy” churches in 2013.

The government said it was mainly targeting unofficial Pentecostal churches, engaged in ‘indecent’ practices. The latest call to close some Pentecostal churches follows reports of gross misconduct by Cameroon pastors.

Phil Clark from the University of London said Pentecostalism is growing in Rwanda – and church closures there are much more politically influenced than the government says. He said it signals that they’re under observation.

Source: Vision Christian Radio

Cardinal Christian Tumi, the Archbishop emeritus of Douala, has accused the Cameroon military of excessive use of force against unarmed civilians in Cameroon’s North West and South West regions. The two English-speaking regions, that constitute 20 percent of Cameroon’s over 24 million people, have been in turmoil for over a year now over perceived marginalization and an assimilation drive by the predominantly French-speaking administration of long-serving President Paul Biya.

The current “Anglophone crisis” began in late 2016, when disgruntled lawyers and teachers began protesting the use of French in courts using the Anglo-Saxon common law tradition (practiced in the English parts of the country) and in Anglophone schools. The demonstrations soon spread to the general public, and the calls for outright secession started growing.

In a strongly-worded statement released on October 6, 2017, the Anglophone bishops condemned “the barbarism and the irresponsible use of firearms against unarmed civilians by the Forces of Law and Order” and called on Biya to stop “the bloodbath and genocide that has skillfully been initiated in the North West and South West Regions.”

In the absence of a dialogue initiative from the government, many English-speakers are now calling for secession, and the formation of a new state called Ambazonia.

The country’s president has promised to “eliminate the secessionists.” Biya has deployed the military to the two regions, but their actions on the ground have met with severe criticism by Tumi.

During a visit to the country’s North West Region, the cardinal gathered harrowing tales of torture, destruction and killings. “I was in Mbim village on 28 February and the military had visited the same village a day earlier,” Tumi told Crux.

“I saw and listened to people in their depression…I saw houses that had been reduced to ruins, to dust and ashes. I saw the house of a man who had fled with his wife and six children, reduced to dust and ashes,” the cardinal said.

Tumi described various signs of destruction in the village, including a destroyed water project, and a vandalized cooperative union. He also said the military harassed the population and committed crimes against the people.

“I saw the house of an old man ramshackled and I was told that the army had made away with two generators of the family. I saw a man looking completely depressed from whom the military had made away with $1500,” the cardinal said. “I saw the bar of a young man running a small business from where hundreds of bottles of beer had been taken away by the army, and what could not be taken was broken to bits and pieces.”

He said security forces also burned the villagers’ crops, destroying the year’s harvest. Tumi told Crux he was struck by the question an old man in Mbim asked him: “Cardinal, just what crime have we committed, that the army should be sent to treat us this way, as if we were foreigners who had come to ransack the village?”

Tumi said the lives of the “simple, innocent people” had been shattered by the actions of the military.

“If they are looking for a criminal, let them look for the criminal in all patience. They should not draw the conclusion that since the criminal was in this village, everybody in the village becomes a criminal. It’s not a logical conclusion,” the cardinal said.

Similar scenes of destruction are visible in many parts of Cameroon’s South West Region, where “Ambazonian” fighters have been engaged in hit-and-run attacks on security forces.

The attacks in both regions have so far left at least 24 members of the security forces dead. It is difficult to estimate civilian deaths, but UN human rights chief Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein has noted that “allegations of summary executions of civilians by members of the security forces have been reported, and are generating widespread resentment.”

The military action has been hard and decisive, with entire villages being burned to the ground, and several people being killed extrajudicially.

“An old woman who couldn’t flee was burnt to death in the South West,” Tumi said.

Bishop Andrew Nkea Fuanya of Mamfe – in the South West Region – said the destruction in Kembong village, where four soldiers had been killed by secessionists, looked like “a horror movie.”

“I saw more than 20 houses burnt down by soldiers and one dead body still lying there, being fed on by dogs and chicken,” said Nkea.

“Of the village’s 5,000 or so residents, only 30 remained, all huddled in the house of the area’s priest because they had nowhere else to go,” he said.

Tumi also claimed that the crisis could be serving to enrich some top-ranking people in the military.

“We are told that some high-ranking military people use the crisis to enrich themselves, because the state spends on these military operations, and the account on how the money is spent is not given,” he told Crux.

The cardinal blamed Biya for choosing a military solution for a purely political problem.

“The presence of the army is no solution. With a human being, you reason: You don’t use violence as if you are treating a beast. That is why the world is calling for dialogue. Nothing can be done without our meeting to talk about the problems. Many have called for what is called inclusive dialogue. The government should dialogue with everybody,” Tumi said.

Cameroon’s bilingual and bi-cultural status derived from its colonial heritage. Initially administered as a German Protectorate in 1884, Cameroon would later be shared with France and Britain as League of Nations Mandates after Germany was defeated in the First World War.

The end of the Second World War and the establishment of the United Nations saw the two parts of Cameroon transition from mandated territories to UN Trust Territories.

In 1960, the northern part of Cameroon administered by France gained its independence. The southern part administered by Britain as part of Nigeria was in 1961 subject to a plebiscite in which they were offered independence by reuniting with their francophone Cameroonian “brothers” or by remaining part of Nigeria.

The results showed an overwhelming desire by English-speaking Cameroonians to reunite with the French-speaking part of Cameroon.

The “marriage” was guaranteed by a Federal Constitution that was meant to preserve and protect the minority Anglophones and their colonial heritage. But in 1972 then-President Ahmadou Ahidjo organized a referendum that dissolved the federation in favor of a united republic, thereby removing the protections Anglophones enjoyed.

As the current crisis worsens, several Anglophones have fled to Nigeria, causing a refugee crisis in Cameroon’s neighbor. The United Nations has expressed “great concern” over Nigeria returning dozens of asylum seekers to Cameroon.

“We also urge the Government of Cameroon to ensure that the group is treated in accordance with human rights law and standards,” the UN refugee agency said in a statement.

Culled from Cruxnow.com