Story, Louvier Kindo Tombe
The ongoing debate raised by some catholic clergy about the candidacy of President Paul Biya in the upcoming presidential election could not leave the president of the National Episcopal Conference of Cameroon indifferent.
Andrew Nkea, who doubles as the Head of the Catholic Archdiocese of Bamenda is of the opinion that bishops are free to express their minds but their opinions should not be seen as imposing a candidate on the people.
“As Cameroonians, they have a right to their civic opinion. But their civic opinion does not represent the position of the Catholic Church in Cameroon,” Andrew Nkea said.
He was speaking on the sidelines of the 48th annual seminar of Bishops in Buea.
“If any bishop comes out with his own opinion about a certain idea, that does not represent the position of the Catholic Church.”
Some Catholic clergy have recently issued statements insinuating that the candidacy of President Paul Biya is not the best for Cameroon in the October election.
Many feared it would tarnish the image of the church and affect the relationship between the church and the state, but the government through its spokesperson, Minister Rene Emmanuel Sadi, says the relationship is stronger than any individual outburst from one party.
“As of now, I can say that relationship between the Church and the State is excellent. The foreign Minister of the Vatican, Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, just left here two months ago and we think that in spite little challenges, as always, we are still enjoying a very good relationship,” Andrew Nkea said in an exclusive interview with Municipal Updates Newspaper.
The church is however not totally indifferent with issues of politics and elections in the country.
“If you remember, last April, I personally called for people to participate massively and register for the upcoming elections,” the Archbishop said.
The church through the Episcopal Conference will definitely have an official position to take, but that, according to its president would be after a general assembly.
“The conference has not met in a general assembly to discuss this. So until we meet and discuss, we stand at what we said that people should go and register massively and prepare themselves for the upcoming elections. But it is not our position to start declaring who should stand or who should not stand. That is not part of our job as bishops now.”
The 48th annual seminar of Bishops is holding in Buea under the theme “Synodality: to live Synodality in the Cameroonian context”. The bishops are sharing ideas from various ecclesiastical provinces and looking at how the pastoral plan of every diocese is functioning.
Special focus is also on the Anglophone crisis. The Head of the Catholic Church in Bamenda says everyone should be involved in working toward regaining peace in the North West and South West regions, as well as seeking for justice. To Andrew Nkea, despite today’s challenges, there are hopes for an emergent Cameroon tomorrow.
“I am a positive person. In my thinking, 20 years from now I can see a very, very strong and prosperous economy, because we can only go ahead, we can never go backwards anymore.”
