In a recent interview granted Cameroon daily, Municipal Updates, the President of the National Episcopal Conference of Cameroon, His Grace Andrew Nkea, clarified the Catholic Church’s stance on Cameroon’s upcoming presidential election. Archbishop Nkea emphasised that bishops have the right to express civic opinions and condemn societal ills, but they do not determine who runs for elections.
“The Church’s primary role is to promote peace, reconciliation, and unity,” Archbishop Nkea stressed. “We are messengers of peace, messengers of reconciliation as men of God. We condemn the ills of society, we don’t condemn people.”
The Archbishop urged citizens to participate massively in the upcoming elections and to focus on nation-building. “I personally called for people to participate massively and register for the upcoming elections,” he recalled. “We stand at what we said that people should go and register massively and prepare themselves for the upcoming elections.”
Archbishop Nkea also highlighted the Church’s involvement in promoting peace in the crisis-hit South West and North West Regions. “We have been doing a lot in propagating messages of peace, messages of reconciliation, messages of love, messages of unity,” he explained. “We have also been trying to reduce hate speech.”
Regarding the relationship between the Church and the state, Archbishop Nkea described it as “excellent.” He noted that the Church and the state collaborate on various issues, including education and healthcare. “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,” he said.
Archbishop Nkea, President of the National Episcopal Conference of Cameroon
The Archbishop also addressed the issue of some bishops making critical comments about the political atmosphere in Cameroon. He explained that individual bishops have the right to their civic opinions, but these opinions do not represent the position of the Catholic Church in Cameroon.
“It is only the conference, after deliberations in the General Assembly, that can come out with the position of the Catholic Church,” he clarified. “So people say that the church has that…. The Church has said that, but those are individual bishops. It doesn’t represent the Catholic Church.”
Looking ahead to the future, Archbishop Nkea expressed optimism about Cameroon’s prospects. He envisioned a strong and prosperous economy, with Buea developing into one of the country’s biggest cities. “I am a positive person,” he said. “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.”
The Archbishop’s interview came following a trend where some Catholic Bishops in Cameroon have made statements or public outings largely seen to insinuate a call for the incumbent President Paul Biya not to seek re-election. While some like Archbishop Nkea had simply called for massive participation, some of his colleagues had insinuated that Cameroon needed a change in leadership.
