Catholic Bishops condemn homosexuality

While the Bishops have expressed unreserved bitterness and have called for reinforced prayers as a way of ridding society of the ungodly practice, the government is sparing no effort to punish promoters of the “crime of passion”    
   By Sarah Nkongho Ojong in Tiko
Catholic Bishops in Cameroon have issued a strongly-worded document condemning homosexuality as a way of life. This was the outcome of a two-day meeting they held in Batouri, East Region recently. The Bishops in their memorandum described homosexuality as a practice that goes against the teachings of the Holy Bible. They are therefore calling on Christians to reinforce prayers if they must stop the spread of homosexuality in society.
    Homosexuality is spreading among young boys and young girls in Cameroon even though the law prohibits it in the country. The Cameroon penal code punishes homosexuality by a prison term and a heavy fine.
    Few years ago, the Cameroon government chastised the European Union EU for sponsoring human rights associations defending homosexuals in the country. This was after it emerged that the EU had paid the sum of over two hundred million cfa (FCFA 200, 000,000) to Douala-based lawyer, Alice Nkom as financial support for her defense of the rights of some  Cameroonians who were being prosecuted in connection with homosexuality.
    Today Barrister Alice Nkom not only defends homosexuals, she also sensitizes the public that homosexuality is not criminal and that individuals have a right to live their lives the way the want and also do what ever they liked with their bodies.
    This advocacy by the now famous barrister is perhaps what has pushed many more Cameroonians into embracing homosexuality.

    However, the government has not relented in its efforts to check the spread of homosexuality. Only last week a police squad stormed the home of a young man Egbe Elvis Tambi Nyuo Ashu, who was said to be a notorious homosexual. Egbe, in his early thirties, was believed to be the leader of a group of young homosexuals said to be going about and potraying themselves in public as homosexuals. 
    Egbe Elvis and his partner(s) in crime however, succeeded to elude the police dragnet. They have since gone into hiding as it is now evident the police are after them. 
    The case was also reported of a notorious group of young women in Tiko in the South West region, who were said to be  vulgarising lesbianism as a way of life.  Members of “lean on me”, as the group is called, go about brainwashing other women, married and non-married alike, into joining their fold. They tell these unsuspecting women and girls that lesbianism is the only way they can avoid being victims of the sexual and other forms of violence and cruelty that men visit on them.
    The activities of “lean on me” first came to public knowledge sometime in 2012, when a man whose wife had joined the group, reported the matter to the police. Thomas Bate told the police that his wife’s behaviour had become strange ever since she joined a certain group that met regularly in a house along the Tiko-Douala road. The police later stormed the meeting venue of “lean on me” and arrested some of the members. They were interrogated but later released, we can confirm. 
     But Thomas Bate’s wife, Cecilia Bate did not quit the group despite the threats from the police and her husband. It later emerged that Cecilia was having an affair with a fellow member of “lean on me” by name Tabi Agborndiep Frida.
    We learnt that Tabi Frida was also unyielding when Cecilia’s husband approached her and urged her to leave his wife alone. She even warned Mr. Thomas Bate that when next he comes to disturb her she would call the police for him.
    But things took a new twist recently, and that was after Cecilia Bate reportedly died in what her husband and many others have described as unclear circumstances.  
    Reports say a taxi cab bearing Mrs. Cecilia Bate and other passengers had an accident along the main stretch in Tiko. Cecilia succumbed to her injuries in hospital while all the other passengers survived.
    Cecilia’s husband Mr. Thomas Bate has since vowed to avenge his wife’s death, saying that she was a victim of the occult and witchcraft practices that Tabi Agborndiep Frida and other members of “lean on me” introduced her into. 
    Fearing for her life therefore, Tabi Agborndiep Frida has since gone into hiding.
    It should be mentioned that in Cameroon homosexuality is considered strange and unacceptable. Some people even see it as a form of witchcraft and occultism.