In heavy worded final communiqué signed by all the Bishops of Cameroon at the end of their 48th seminar in Buea, the prelates paint a bleak picture of the socioeconomic situation of Cameroon, bred by ever-increasing corruption.
The bishops write in full: “THE SOCIO-ECONOMIC SITUATION OF CAMEROON.
Dear brothers and sisters, At the beginning of this new year, the Jubilee year 2025, which we
have just received from God, we, the Archbishops and Bishops of Cameroon, present to you
our New Year wishes for peace, joy, and every good from this historic city of Buea. From the
4th to the 11th of this month, we met for the 48th annual seminar of the National Episcopal
Conference of Cameroon. And we give thanks to God for the gradual return of security to the
city of Buea.
We dare to hope that efforts will be intensified so that lasting peace can return to all the regions
of Cameroon. As the Second Vatican Council puts it, “The joys and the hopes, the griefs and the anxieties of the men and women of this age, especially those who are poor or in any way
afflicted, these are the joys and hopes, the griefs and anxieties of the followers of Christ.”
In addition to the work of our annual seminar, we wanted, by virtue of our mission at Sentinel,
to address this special message to you, dear Christians, and to all people of goodwill, a message
of hope in this holy year of the Jubilee of Hope, in the face of the particularly worrying socioeconomic situation of our country. In the Bull of Indiction of the Ordinary Jubilee of the Year
2025, that we have just begun, Pope Francis says some words that we could apply to the
situation of our country”
“Everyone knows what it is to hope, and the heart of each person’s hope dwells as a desire, an
expectation of good things to come, despite our not knowing what the future may bring. Even
so, uncertainty about the future may at times give rise to conflicting feelings, ranging from
confidence and trust to apprehensiveness, from serenity to anxiety, from firm conviction to
hesitation and doubt. Often, we come across people who are discouraged, pessimistic and
cynical about the future, as if nothing could possibly bring them happiness.”
The title of this papal bull comes from the epistle of the Apostle Paul to the Romans 5:5. Saint
Paul, a disciple of Jesus, who experienced extreme hardship and suffering in his life, who yet
was able to preserve the joy that comes from Jesus, his joy and his hope. Paul is not a prisoner
of circumstances. He is striving, full of hope, towards a goal.
This is not a fleeting happiness that can be felt in certain circumstances, not some fickle
pleasure that comes and goes at the whim of opportunity, but a joy that could only be a gift
from God. It is expressed in the profound confidence that all is well, whatever the
circumstances, whatever the difficulties, whatever the problems. It is, in a word, a joy that
nothing can interfere with, a joy that comes from the Holy Spirit to all those who abandon
themselves entirely into the hands of God, whose word we must keep in the midst of triumphs.The Apostle Paul is convinced that, in Jesus, there is no such thing as a lost or hopeless
situation. Anyone who desires God’s salvation can find it, provided one pays heed to the call to
conversion and commits oneself to it in order to enter into the joy of forgiveness. Therefore, the
hope of the Jubilee should not be an empty word, but a reality based on the possibility of
conversion for every human being.
God loves all his children and does not want to lose any of them. Yet his call to conversion is
addressed to every generation of men and women in every moment of life. The Church, for her
part, cannot be dispelled in any situation, of course.
Neither can she limit herself to presenting only God’s goodness to us all. She has a duty, after
the example of Christ, to call to conversion, a cause of profound joy for the Father in Heaven,
who stands at the door of hope, waiting patiently to celebrate the return of each of his children.
Our wish is that this Jubilee be a favourable opportunity for each of us citizens of hope.
And increasingly so in recent times, the anxieties of the vast majority of Cameroonians have
been transformed into cries of despair at the misery as they are living through and the
degradation of our beautiful country, Cameroon. Our consciences as pastors and citizens cannot
remain indifferent to these cries of distress. For from the north to the south, and from the east to
the west of Cameroon, we are all brothers.
United by this beautiful garden that our forefathers cultivated and bequeathed to us as a
heritage. We therefore recognise that we are truly and intimately united to all the peoples of
Cameroon and to their aspirations. And sharing their worries and sorrows, we, your bishops,
have made a point of discerning, from a primary pastoral point of view, the various aspects of
the general situation prevailing in our country. As in the past, we are keen to make our
contribution in the search for ways to assist the country to diligently pursue its flight towards
the heights of development, which guarantees the social well-being of all Cameroonians. In 1990, we addressed a pastoral letter to all our compatriots on the economic crisis in our
country, in which we invited each of our fellow citizens to examine his or her conscience in the
face of the two serious economic crises that our country was going through at the time. It was
our hope that such an examination of conscience would lead to rapid and radical solutions.
Speaking of the internal causes of the crisis, we said that;
“The structures of sin that have perverted international economic relations have also found a
privileged home in our countries. It is well known that it is in absurd wars, in the arms of
industry and trade, in the support of regimes of oppression and social injustice, in the
unbreakable wistfulness of megalomaniac tyrants, in drug trafficking, in embezzlement of
public funds, that our monetary debt is too often wasted. Prestigious state-owned investments
are swallowing up billions and billions in palaces, unfinished skyscrapers and bogus projects,
emptying state coffers and increasing the misery and destitution of generations condemned to
debts they did not incur. We are thus faced with the real global industrial misery and death.
Maintained by these structures of sin, whose ramifications extend right into our society.”
But it is even more interesting to recall what we said about the particular situation of
Cameroon.
“We must not ignore this hour of crisis, misery, hunger, destitution, unemployment, and in
some rural areas, real despair, weighing heavily on the destiny, not only of the people in
general, but especially of the poorest, the weakest, the most destitute. We cannot fail to listen to
the distraught people, the weight of so many unanswered questions create discontent among
the people. Hatred finds a fertile breeding ground. Tensions provoked and fuelled by
unscrupulous and often hidden and interest-stricken disability of public institutions, social
cohesion, and family peace.”
We then appeal to the public authorities to ensure that the people in their distress would always
and everywhere feel the support of the state. They should ensure that the interests of the nation and the well-being of our people were given priority in their actions. We also call on all
Cameroonians to change their lives, to convert their hearts, the Cameroonian people in general
and Christians in particular, to know that,
“We are not just victims of the crisis; we are also its causes and agents.”
In the aforementioned pastoral letter, as in our previous and subsequent messages, we have
always stated our readiness to serve human society in accordance with a particular mission
received from our Lord Jesus Christ. The Church is the light of the world and always invites us
to turn against what Jesus Christ has saved. So, we have never ceased to invite you all to
conversion, reconciliation, mutual love, and the practise of justice.
Unfortunately, 35 years after the alarm bells rang concerning the economic crisis and 65 years
after country gained independence, it must be said that we are still living in economic and
social stagnation with an uncertain future. In his speech on the 31st of December, 2024, the
President of the Republic addressed issues of security, the economy, infrastructure, and
governance. He acknowledged the frustrations linked to the state of roads and urban
infrastructure, the lack of drinking water, not to mention the problems linked to energy. We
could add those linked to telephone in general.
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 those Cameroonians whose purchasing power is so low. The proof is this.
The proof of this is in the failure to apply Article 66 of our fundamental law and its
implementing text, that is, Law No. 003-2006 of 25 April 2006, which requires all
Cameroonians who assume important responsibilities in the service of the nation to declare
their assets.
We wonder whether a country can only be built on and through taxation. It is well known that
Cameroon constitutes a real scandal of blessings because of the work of its forests and waters,
its soil, its subsoil, and so forth and so on. On the other hand, 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 The Head of State acknowledges that the malaise of Cameroonians also stems from bad
governance and therefore poor management of public affairs. He cited, for example, the case of
roads and urban infrastructure. How can we explain that the year 2024 ended with only 446
kilometres of asphalted roads and 228 kilometres of rehabilitated roads? In other words, if the
budget voted every year for road infrastructure were judiciously used for this purpose, it would
belong with a lack of transparency. In 2000, we deplored the fact that our country seems de
facto installed in corruption.
Each of us seems obliged to corrupt or to be corrupted. It’s 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. We
can’t seem to do anything to get rid of it.
Embezzled public funds can only considerably slow down the country’s progress towards
development, while at the same time preventing any Cameroonian from enjoying a minimum
standard of living. There can be no peace without development, says Pope Paul VI. Peace is an
integral part of the development of our people. While there has been some progress in building
basic infrastructure, our country is still a long way from achieving the goals of sustainable
development. How can we explain the fact that 65 years after independence, our development
cannot 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?
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.
The crisis in the northwest and southwest regions, as well as the unrest in the far north, is
certainly being contained, but it still remains and continues to cause the loss of so many lives.
In the northwest region in particular, where reconstruction had begun, the violence continues with guerrilla groups wreaking havoc, sometimes even routing overwhelming military forces.
We are thinking of the new ghost town operation to be observed even on Saturdays. The
violence in the Southwest and Northwest regions has been going on for seven years now. Could
it be that those who wage the war are getting scandalously rich and do not want the war drawn
to an end? Yet, it’s clear that, as with any conflict, NOSO war is ruinous and destructive for a
country. It continues to breed divisions and resentments, hatreds and settlings of scores. 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? True peace does not come from graveyards, but from
reconciliation. The Church proclaims the gospel of peace and thus, invites her sons and
daughters to dialogue as a contribution to peace.
At the dawn of the year 2025, the year of the Jubilee of Hope, the Holy Year, considering the
expectations and aspirations of our people, the analysis and the official orientations of our
country, in the name of our national conscience and the common good, we call on the state and
all the other stakeholders of this nation to commit themselves to effectively work to achieve the
development goals so well appreciated in our country, that all Cameroonians in charge of
managing public affairs, as a matter of conscience, must be committed to promoting efficient
public services, employment, especially for young people and economic growth, to fight the
distressing and scandalous impoverishment of the masses and social inequalities, to put an end
to mismanagement of our land, to ensure that Cameroon is no longer transformed into a
permanent market, for the cheap exploitation of some of its natural resources, the promotion of
education and vocational training and support for businesses, improving public infrastructure,
promoting security and justice for the population, the fight against corruption and crime, that
entrance examinations to the distinguished and professional schools follow meritocratic
criteria, the preservation of the environment. It is clear that responsible and transparent
execution of the national budget is essential to improving the living conditions of the
population who have a right to accountability for the credibility of public institutions is also at
stake. We welcome the constant willingness to sanction those responsible for misappropriating public
funds. In the event that this is fruitful, 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.
Back in the year 2000, we said that,
“Corruption and the widespread theft of public funds with impunity were the main causes of
the crisis.”
We appeal to the conscience of every Cameroonian and to everyone’s sense of responsibility
with regard to hygiene and sanitation. We also strongly reiterate our commitment to working
together to promote human dignity, fraternity to place at the heart of our lives and our
coexistence.
We therefore invite you to exercise your fundamental rights and freedoms responsibly.
Freedom of expression, for example, is a fundamental right of every human being, but a right
that also entails the duty to respect the rights and freedoms of others.
The means of communication are a great technological advancement. We should use them with
a great sense of responsibility. They exist so that we can help the Cameroonian people to
inform and educate themselves. They are the service of truth and not ideologies.
In this regard, Pope Francis affirms that,
“It is easy to give in to temptation, to feed the flames of mistrust, fear and hatred. On the
contrary, courage is needed to guide people into the process of reconciliation. And it is
precisely this positive and creative curiosity that offers real solutions to all conflicts and
opportunity to achieve lasting peace.
Let Men and the women of the media therefore be competent, distinguishing themselves by
their knowhow and the quality of the information they disseminate as well as by their resistance
to pressures contrary to their deontology. We must be particularly weary of all those who stir
up deception and scandal and those through lies, hold the people hostage dumping them into
their raid of darkness, hatred, violence and death.
Since we are all brothers and sisters, we must also avoid ging into ethnocentric ideologies with
its tendencies towards exclusion and domination.
We must not be discouraged by our country’s current dramatic situation. God is with us. And if
God is with us, who and what can be against us? We urge to trust in a happier, more prosperous
future for our country based on adequate social, economic and political structures
To achieve this, we appeal to our individual sense of responsibility. Cameroon was betrothed to
us by our forefathers, so we must make it prosperous as we sing in our national anthem. This is
our collective duty. Let us resolutely accept to convert ourselves and above all, our mentalities
and God will do the rest.
May God through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Queen of Peace and Patroness
of our country, watch over every citizen and grant us all the gift of true brotherhood and love
for our common good.
Done in Buea, the January 11, 2025,
SIGNED:
All Bishops of Cameroon”