COMMENTARY: Facing Truth House: Time for PCC to Practice Own Lessons
By Wilson Musa
The Presbyterian Church in Cameroon (PCC) will have to borrow a leaf from its recommendations to the Cameroon government – in settling the ongoing conflict in Anglophone regions, and lay to rest its own internal rifts. Since the church elections in 2024, the PCC has been embroiled in controversies and scandals, which have left many seeking an adequate response from the denomination’s leadership. The fight for reforms fronted by a supposed independent group of disgruntled Christians who have taken up the name, Truth House (TH) has laid bare the skeletons of the church’s hierarchy.
Rather than ignoring this growing group, many have asked that PCC leaders follow their own prescription, which they willingly offered to the government. For the last nine years, the PCC has called for peace and justice in and for the North West and South West regions. PCC leaders told the government, like other church leaders did, to engage in frank talks with those heading the grieving factions in English-speaking regions.
Through pastoral letters, the stance of the church was articulated, reflecting justice and peace. After the 2019 Synod of Endurance, one of such statements read: ” The position of the Moderator and Synod Committee Executive has not changed – it remains the call for inclusive and constructive dialogue.” Isn’t it time for the PCC likewise, to bring this controversial group of elite Christians to the dialogue table?
In the face of the unsettling dust raised by TH, the moral authority of the PCC faces interrogation. The Moderator Miki Hans’ leadership, less than a year on the top job, seems to be slowly taking on the unpopular habits of his predecessor, Very Rev Fonki Samuel.
In their most recent newsletter, TH compiled a disturbing eight-page epistle in which they regret that, despite promises he made, Moderator Miki has denied them an audience and hasn’t responded to their letters addressed to his office. It is against this backdrop that they began engaging with the clergyman via the channels of the media instead.
TH says that an overhaul of the church’s financial system is imperative with an independent audit of key officials alleged to have swallowed church money. They call for order, discipline and purity amongst the ranks of the clerics, which they say has, in the last decade, been compromised by fraud immorality and materialism.
The TH’s argument can not now be swept under the carpet. As persistent as their voices have been, it necessitates a call to action, first for the PCC hierarchy to engage with them and then to chart a path of change which reflects the church’s core missions of inclusion, healing and restoration.
