The Passing of a Peacemaker - Cardinal Tumi

Cardinal Tumi - Vatican News

Cameroon has lost its most powerful voice for peace at a critical moment. Cardinal Christian Tumi has died, aged 90. Respected across Africa and beyond for his forthright defence of non-violence and negotiation, he is being mourned in his native Anglophone region.

Although Cardinal Tumi retired ten years ago, he never stopped promoting dialogue and human rights in his homeland. Last November, he was abducted by a group alleged to be "restorationists" demanding a sovereign Ambazonia, a pre-independence entity consisting of the former British Southern Cameroons. His captors disapproved of Tumi's call for Ambazonian militia to lay down their arms and enter into negotiations with the Francophone-dominated regime of Paul Biya. The Cardinal refused to withdraw his comments or to endorse the Ambazonian agenda, saying, "I will preach what is the truth with pastoral conviction and Biblical conviction." Having refused to be intimidated by his interrogators, he was later released unharmed.

Dr Chris Fomunyoh of the National Democratic Institute in Washington DC described Tumi as "the people's cardinal." Civil society groups have echoed his sadness at the passing of "a remarkable man." As the Anglophone crisis spiralled out of control, the cardinal criticised the Biya regime for its persecution of unarmed civilians, repeatedly calling for negotiations between all sides to resolve the constitutional issues at the root of the conflict.

When the Yaounde regime proposed a "grand national dialogue" in 2019, Tumi submitted a 400-page document, describing the marginalisation endured by the Anglophone population, and proposing a way forward. However, the dialogue failed because many Anglophone leaders feared that if they attended, they would be interned. Anglophone groups said the topics discussed did not tackle the issues at the heart of the conflict, and the measures proposed did not meet expectations. Hundreds of opposition politicians remain in Cameroon's prisons in conditions condemned by human rights groups.

Nevertheless, Tumi continued to try to bring civil society together, promoting peaceful dialogue, despite what are described as divide and rule tactics by the Francophone authorities.

Christian Tumi was ordained in 1966, and studied in Nigeria, France, the UK and Switzerland. He was made bishop of a Francophone region of Cameroon, and in 1988, he was created Cameroon's first Cardinal by Pope John Paul II.

In 2019, he won the Nelson Mandela Prize for his courageous defence of human dignity. He remarked in his essay about his kidnapping experience, "All I want is for the guns to fall silent and for peace to return to the country." The non-partisan Global Campaign for Peace & Justice in Cameroon paid tribute to the Cardinal, saying his passing was a devastating loss for those seeking a non-violent resolution of the Anglophone conflict.

He died on Good Friday.