Christian Tumi, Archbishop Emeritus of Douala died on Saturday, April 3, in a hospital in Douala. It was his successor, Monsignor Kléda, who announced it this morning in a press release. The 91-year-old prelate was one of Cameroon’s greatest voices and moral authority. In recent years, he has been particularly involved in finding a way out of the crisis in the conflict the country is going through.
Christian Tumi had retired from the congregation altar since 2009 after 43 years of life as a prelate, but he never really took advantage of it. Blame it on the Anglophone crisis that has shaken his country for almost five years. Cardinal Christian Tumi really mobilized what he had left of his strength to try to restore peace in these regions so dear to his heart, he, the son of the English-speaking Northwest where he was born in 1930, in the small village of Kikaikelaki.
Thus, he placed himself at the forefront of the Cameroonian scene and relentlessly called on the government and the separatists to engage in an inclusive dialogue for a coordinated solution to the conflict in these regions. His investment in this crisis had already almost cost him his life. In November 2020, he was kidnapped and released 24 hours later by armed men who claimed to be English-speaking separatists.
With Yaoundé’s power, its relationships have always been mistrustful, even contradictory. He was seen, feared, feared … This is how his idea of the General Conference of Anglophones, which he wanted to be a framework for consultations between the parties to the conflict, encountered hostility from the Cameroonian state. Christian Tumiest, however, is 91 years old. He was the first and only Cameroonian cardinal.
An irreplaceable moral authority
Among the very first reactions to Monsignor Christian Toumi’s death is Elie Smiths. He joined the Rfi and is one of the relatives of the late prelate and former spokesman for the Anglophone Bishops’ Conference in Cameroon.
“He was someone who was sincere, who spoke the truth in power, which made him look very controversial. He always said that he recognized Paul Biya as president, but that the Church’s social doctrine required him to speak the truth with power. He was avant-garde. He started in 1975. He was the first to criticize Amadou Ayo and said that Amadou Ayo was corrupt. So Cameroon is losing irreplaceable moral authority, ”said Elie Smith.
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