wfn.org | All Africa Conferences of Churches Bulletin No: 003 November

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Assembly Update

Bulletin No: 003   November 14, 2003

The All Africa Conference of Churches 8th General Assembly
Yaoundi, Cameroon, November 22-27, 2003 * Theme: Come, Let Us Rebuild (Neh. 
2: 17-18)

Welcome to Cameroon

Host of the eighth General Assembly of the All Africa Conference of Churches

When the name Cameroon is mentioned, many people immediately think of its 
footballers, of whom Roger Miller is the most representative face.  While 
we must admit that it was through football that this country became 
internationally acclaimed, it is no less true that Cameroon presents itself 
as a country of diversities and marvels.  It is triangle shaped stretching 
from the equator to the Tropic of Cancer.

Cameroon stands at the point of convergence of the roads that ran from the 
Nile Valley to the Atlantic and borders countries of Lake Chad to the 
navigable canals of the great equatorial rivers.  Thus, it was the 
crossroads where the great migrations of people of the black race 
converged, giving it a complex ethnic landscape.

People

Occupied both by the people of the Savanna Sudanese and the forest 
populations of Bantu origin, Cameroon is comprised of approximately 250 
tribes with many languages, customs and ancestral beliefs.  Cameroon has a 
growth rate of 2.7% per annum for about 15,000,000 inhabitants, of which 
approximately 60% are youth.

History

The United Nations came up with the unity plan for a bi-lingual Cameroon 
through a plebiscite.  On February 11, 1961, the Anglophone zone in the 
north was established, forming Northern Cameroon, close to Nigeria, while 
the Southern part, Southern Cameroon, become the Francophone zone.  The 
Federal Republic of Cameroon was then born, and the Unitary State came into 
being.	Some years later, the name United Republic of Cameroon gave way to 
a much shorter name: the Republic of Cameroon.

Politics

After a long period of being a single party state, multipartyism was 
introduced by decree on 19th December, 1990. The new Constitution adopted 
in January 1996, culminated in the democratization of the national 
political life. The president of the Republic, Head of State, is elected 
for seven years on a one-man-one-vote basis. Legislative power is exercised 
by the parliament, which is composed of two chambers: The National Assembly 
and soon, the SENATE. Judiciary power is ensured by the High Court, the 
Court of Appeals, and the Tribunals.

Cameroon has more than 170 political parties; the party of President Paul 
BIYA, which has been in power since 6th November 1982, has the majority of 
members in the National Assembly (116 out of 180 seats). Seven parties have 
their headquarters at this Assembly and 11 take part in the management of 
the Communes. The Social Democratic Front (SDF) is the main opposition 
party. Cameroon is a member of the Commonwealth, of the Organization of the 
Islamic Conference, a member of the Non Aligned Group, the African Union 
and the UN.  Cameroon is also a member of ACP -European Union convention, 
the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC), the Economic 
Community of Central African States (CEEAC), and of the Inter-African 
Conference of Insurance Markets (CIMA), among other organizations.

Economy

According to observers, there are many positive indicators for a stable 
economy.  At the macro-economic level, activities have remained stable over 
the past three years, with an actual average GDP growth rate of 4.6% for 
that period.

Cameroon at a glance

Official Languages
			French - (70% of the population) and
			English - (30% of the population)

Flag			Green - Red - Yellow (Golden star on the Red)	

Religious Life

The Cameroonian religious life consists primarily of two main religions: 
Islam and Christianity (Catholic and Protestant). However, in the recent 
past, a multitude of groupings under the banner of Renewal Missions has 
emerged, with a worrying extremism among the sects.

In the greater Northern region, Muslims founded the first school in 1715 
under pressure from the Muslims of Bornou on the Mandara Kingdom. The 
infiltration by the Fulani people and the subsequent crusade of Adama did 
the rest to solidify Islam in the North. While Muslim communities live in 
almost every region of Cameroon, the greater Northern region of the country 
is mostly Islamic; Bamoun Country (Foumban region in the West) has the 
greatest concentration. Today, Islam has nearly 1.5 million followers.

The Catholics arrived in 1890. Several German and later French missions 
were expanding in the southern and western regions. They undertook massive 
conversions including the opening of schools and colleges, dispensaries, 
and orphanages. Today, Catholics represent the greatest number of believers 
in Cameroon, with about 2.7 million followers.

The very recent Renewal Missions were born during the economic crisis and 
constitute a small but fast growing group.  They learn towards Christian 
fundamentalism.

The Protestants set up their first mission in Cameroon in 1841. It is worth 
noting that when Protestant missions began in Cameroon, they consisted 
mainly of Africans, who were former descendants of slaves in the Americas. 
It was at the request of a group from Jamaica that a Society:  The London 
Baptist Mission was founded, that became the first to introduce the gospel 
to Cameroon.

In July 1914, delegates from the Basle Missions, the Baptist Mission, the 
Presbyterian Church, and the Gossner met at Buea: It was this group that 
would one day become the Evangelical Federation, but time was required for 
this idea to mature.  A second meeting took place in 1931 in Gabon, and in 
1940, the Federation of Evangelical Missions of Cameroon and Equatorial 
Africa was established. After deciding to admit autonomous African churches 
into its fold in 1951, the Organization became known as the Evangelical 
Federation of Cameroon and Equatorial Africa.  Following the political 
independence of the countries of French Equatorial Africa, the Evangelical 
Federation restructured and became the Federation of Churches and 
Evangelical Missions of Cameroon (FEMEC in French). Its objectives remained 
the same: the search for unity of churches and Evangelical missions working 
in Cameroon, to experience sharing for mutual enrichment, the common 
management of certain projects, the evangelization of less evangelized 
areas, and promotion of ecumenical movement.

Today FEMEC has 12 member churches:
- Union des Eglises Baptistes du Cameroun or the Union of Baptist churches 
of Cameroon
- Eglise Evangilique du Cameroun or the Evangelical Church of Cameroon
- Eglise Presbytirienne Camerounaise	 or the Cameroonian Presbyterian
Church
- Eglise Evangilique Luthirienne du Cameroun or the Evangelical Lutheran 
Church of Cameroon
- The Presbyterian Church in Cameroon
- The Cameroon Baptist Convention
- Eglise Fraternelle Luthirienne or the Brotherhood Lutheran Church
- The Native Baptist Church
- Eglise Protestante Africaine or the African Protestant Church
- Union des Eglises Evangiliques du Cameroun or the Union of Evangelical 
Churches of Cameroon
- Eglise Anglicane or the Anglican Church

For its functioning, FEMEC is structured into several departments under the 
leadership of the General Secretary:

President of FEMEC		-	Rev. Dr. Joseph Mfochive
1st Vice-President		-	Rev. Nyansako-Ni-Nku
2nd Vice-President		-	Rev. Dr. Felix Abena
Secretary General		-	Rev. Dr. Jean Emile Ngue
Financial Advisor		-	Mr. Moundi Ko'o Arnold

It is important to note here that the work of the Protestant missions in 
Cameroon, like everywhere else was not just evangelization. Protestants 
also undertook to educate the Cameroonians and thus, Protestant teaching 
has been in Cameroon for 158 years, rating second to only the State in 
terms of education.

In healthcare, the protestant medical institutions are present in the ten 
provinces of the country and are represented in the 160 sanitary 
formations, among which 28 are hospitals with good performance records, 
with close to 2000 -staff members, all of which give this protestant 
medical work first place in healthcare, after the Cameroonian State.

Venue of the Meeting:  The Palais des Congrhs.

Perched on the Nkolyada hill, 10 minutes from the City center, the Palais 
des Congrhs (Congress Centre) of Yaoundi has an interior space of 4,000 m2, 
15000 m2 esplanade, and a range of rooms with respectively 1,500 seats, 400 
seats and 200 seats.  It has been the venue of several major meetings, 
including that of the Organisation of African Union Summit in 1990 and the 
France-Africa summit of January 2001.