Ecumenical service to be organised for victims of violence in Cameroon

An ecumenical service is set to take place at the Bonaberi Presbyterian Church, Douala on Saturday March 7, 2020 at 11:00 a.m.

This will be followed by “mass dedicated to the victims of violence in Cameroon at the Douala Cathedral in Akwa on Sunday, March 8, 2020 at 11:00 a.m.”

Organised by a group of women led by Alice Nkom, Charlotte Tchakounte, Michèle Ndoki and Kah Walla, it comes as part of a series of activities ahead of the 2020 women’s day and their #8MarchInBlack Initiative.

To succeed in the initiative, they have called on women to wear black on March 8th, request masses and services in the churches they attend across the country, and refuse to attend any government-sponsored events.

The objective of this initiative they have stated “is to enable Cameroonian Women mourn the thousands who have died due to violent conflict in our country, especially in the Extreme North, North West and South West regions, raise our voices against the use of violence in our country by both the armed groups and the government. Violence cannot resolve conflict, it can only aggravate it.”

Calling on women to join them “cry out against the very bad governance in our country which has resulted in a catastrophic situation for us as women”, they also ” demand the release of all political prisoners … arrested in the context of the Boko Haram Crisis and the Anglophone Crisis who are non-violent and who committed no crime.”

Among other requests, the ladies have been discouraging other women from purchasing the Women’s day fabric, encouraging them to turn up in black.

MMI