A critical analysis of the role played by the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon in addressing the political crisis in Cameroon, 1990 – 1992

Abstract

The aim of this study was to critically analyse the role played by the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon (PCC) in addressing the political crisis in Cameroon from 1990 – 1992. This research sourced data from primary and secondary sources. The qualitative method was employed in the collection and treatment of data. This research examined the Dietrich Bonhoeffer paradigm as a tool for the analysis of the role the PCC played in resolving the 1990-1992 political crisis in Cameroon, and compared it to the South African and El Salvadoran models, established the remote and immediate causes of the 1990 – 1992 political crisis in Cameroon, identified and examined the various roles the PCC played in addressing the 1990-1992 political crisis in Cameroon, critically analysed the role the PCC played in addressing the crisis in the light of Bonhoeffer’s paradigm and proposed a contextual model for the public role of the Church in Cameroon. In applying the Bonhoeffer three-step model to the role the PCC played in addressing the 1990-1992 political crisis in Cameroon this research realised that the PCC aptly applied the first step, timidly applied the second step, and did not engage the third step. This research found out that PCC’s inability to engage the third step was caused by the inapplicability of this step given the Cameroonian context of church-state relations, the lack of precedence in Cameroon of church involvement in politics beyond the first step and the constraints of the Constitution of the PCC. This was the foundation of the proposed contextual model. The research work rounded off with some recommendations and a conclusion.