Minister Paul Atanga Nji at Press Conference
By Mesumbe Nelly
The Minister of territorial administration has called on all unregistered churches in the country to close down immediately. The Minister declared at a press conference December 10, 2024 that government in the days ahead will clamp down on all illegally operating churches mushrooming all over the national territory.
“ Only President Paul Biya can authorize the functioning of churches in Cameroon. Any church operating without authorization by the head of state will be close down,” the Minister said.
The Minister intimated that information has reached them on some churches like NGOs receiving huge sums of money used for purposes not very clear to the government.
“ Cameroon is not a dumping ground of fake and unauthorized churches. We have to cleans the sector to avoid chaos,” the Minister warned.
The Press conference also shed light on the suspension of some NGOs accused of receiving huge sums of money from abroad, used to sponsor terrorism.
“ The time for administrative tolerance is over, Cameroon is a state of law and any organization that does not respect the law will be dealt with accordingly,” Atanga Nji said.
FROM NGOs to Churches
It should be recalled that last week the government suspended the activities of several NGOs and associations for three months, and banned two other entities.
The decision was defended by Paul Atanga Nji, Minister of Territorial Administration, who justified it on the grounds of suspected illicit financing, money laundering and terrorist financing.
The organisations targeted by this measure include the Charitable Socio-cultural Association of Cameroon (ACSCC), Reach Out Cameroon (ROC), the Réseau des droits humains en Afrique centrale (REDHAC) and the L.M Nanje Foundation INC.
The suspensions and bans were issued without prior notice, sending shockwaves through the human rights community.
