Cameroon has thousands of churches, but evidence suggests that only 47 are currently registered. Recently, Cameroon Minister of Territorial Administration Paul Atanga Nji asked unregistered churches to close down.
“Any church that is not registered should close down. I am advising them to close down before I get to them.” Paul Atanga Nji said, “Only President Paul Biya can authorise the creation of a church in Cameroon.”
His remarks come amidst thousands of churches operating in the country in illegality.
Who carries blame for unregistered churches?
Since 2010, Cameroon President Paul Biya has not authorised the creation of any church.
Based on threats from minister Atanga Nji, it appears the government has deliberately unregistered churches.
“Break time for administrative tolerance is over,” he said recently.
Despite the government not issuing authorisations, so many churches continue to spread across the country.
As of 2013, only 47 churches had authorisation to operate in Cameroon. They are the EPC, PCC, Roman Catholic, EBC, and CBC, among others.
According to the law, the creation of a church shall be authorised by a presidential decree upon the reasoned recommendation of the Minister of Territorial Administration.
Where Atanga Nji Failed
According to the law, any congregation seeking to be authorised shall deposit its documents at the ministry of territorial administration.
According to studies, despite a lack of registration, there are hundreds of applications submitted while pending presidential approval.
Meanwhile, Minat Boss, while threatening churches to close down for lack of authorisation, failed to indicate the number of applications his ministry is keeping.
Considering that his office is responsible for recommending to the president which church should be given authorisation, Atanga Nji did not explain why they have not fastened the process.
Well, despite his advice, no church has closed down so far.
This is also at a time when many have cast doubts on churches that they believe are exploiting the masses and diverting from real issues on the ground that affect them.
