FAREWELL BAMENDA

                        DEATH OF A PASTOR

Bamenda has been in a spin over the death of one of its leading pastors.  The story reads like an exciting and tragic mystery novel.  The Presbyterian minister of the largest church in Bamenda was shot and killed outside of his home one morning by about 5 young men.  Initially it appeared that it was an attempted robbery gone bad.  But as time and investigation proceeded, suspicions began arising that there was more motive than this; that possibly these young men had been up for hire.  No money was taken and the pastor was shot a number of times to include once in the head.  He lived for several days, but died on his way to a larger hospital for more surgery. After several days the men were rounded-up and captured but then most suspiciously and embarrassingly for the police, four of them managed to escape from the jail cells. Shockingly, after they were captured and being transported to another prison, the vehicle they were in was in an accident and one of the prisoners died. We all know that these prisoners were likely under severe torture and beatings to reveal their story.  So within days, more information began leaking out.  The former pastor, who had quit about 7 years previously, became a hot topic of suspicion.  He had overseen the fund-raising of a large building project for the church.  Rumors were that he had come under some allegations of stealing money from the project (Large Amounts of Money!) so he quit and joined Elecam (the committee responsible for counting election votes in Cameroon-just the right place for corrupt individuals!). A new pastor was assigned to this church, but the new pastor was asked to look into the finances of the building project to determine what had happened to the money. So after some years in this role, the new pastor is said to have found some damning evidence pointing to the former pastor.  This is where the corruption and evil become very dark.  Rumors say that the former pastor and his son, with their stolen money, hired some thugs to murder the new pastor in the hopes of burying the evidence against them.  And possibly some of this money also went to buying off some police officers to help the men escape. 

The final story has not been verified nor has anyone gone to trial.  I know from my personal experience in the Cameroonian prisons, that justice can be extremely slow – that torture is not uncommon when it comes to making interrogations and that people in influential and high positions can be bought and sold. Time will tell what kind of justice this pastor and his family will receive.  The funeral was attended by people from all over Cameroon and this beloved pastor will be missed by his congregation.

GOOD-BY BAMENDA



Art by Damien Blue



I really do dislike “good-bys” but I also know they are important.  So after great ambivalence, I decided to host a final party at my “perfect party” home for 30 of my “closest friends”- Cameroonians and ex-pats.  It was too wet for a bonfire but we had our great dance music and dance teacher.  We also had the walls filled with the art of one of the more talented Bamenda painters, adding a lovely ambiance to the rooms. Little stories were told, sweet gifts exchanged and many hugs and words of appreciation were shared.



My Bamenda Family



The night before my departure, the electricity went out in the neighborhood.  This was also the night that a number of people were coming over to collect the items that they had purchased from me.  So I had no less than ten people running around my house in the dark, me with my headlamp, trying to pack up the kitchen, collect food items, get the right stuff to the right people, and get my sweet cat, Cammie, into her new owner’s arms.  (We succeeded in doing that, although she peed all over me in the process.)  The following morning, all of the furniture and the bed went to its new owners, piled high on top of their flatbed truck- an African version of the Beverly Hillbillys.

I seem to be easing my way out of Cameroon, which is making it all a little less traumatic.  I am now in the capital, Yaounde, to complete some training for my organization with the staff here.  After finishing this, and joining the ranks of the unemployed, I will spend a month at the Mefou Primate Reserve just outside of Yaounde (ApeActionAfrica.org) living and working with the baby chimps and gorillas.  This is going to be a real change of pace and also will fulfill a long-time dream of mine to get up-close and personal with the chimps. Stay tuned for plenty of photos of chimps!