Sema Fonkem 16 April 2026

CAMEROON

While many Cameroonian Christians have welcomed and commended Pope Leo’s decision to host a peace meeting in Cameroon, others have questioned the pontiff’s presence in the country during the ongoing Anglophone crises.

Pope Leo is currently on a four-day working visit to Cameroon from April 15 to 18, 2026.

Mass at the refurbished airport in Bamenda, North West Province of Cameroon, attended by roughly 20000 people, has sparked outrage on social media. Many individuals feel the Pope has been invited by Biya’s administration to restore peace and provide false hope to worried citizens seeking an end to the Anglophone crises.

“But war to those who manipulate religion in the very name of God for their own military, economic, or political gain, dragging that which is sacred into darkness and filth,” Pope Leo said while condenming perpetrators of the killings and lootings in the Anglophone regions of Cameroon.

The Pope condemned politicians who use religion to justify war and harshly criticised those who ‘turn a blind eye’ to war atrocities.

Many Cameroonian social media users believe the pope’s oblique rebuke of Biya’s regime for corruption and oppression is ‘planned,’ as average Cameroonian citizens face lengthy prison sentences and daily torture at Kondengui Maximum Security Prison in Yaoundé for making such statements.

The ongoing Anglophone crisis in Cameroon’s North West and South West Regions has claimed thousands of lives, displaced millions of people, and damage properties.

Military officials and separatist leaders have agreed to a three-day ceasefire during the Pope’s visit. This suggests that the pope’s prayer for peace is pointless because it looks like God will not respond if the conflict continues after he returns to the Vatican.

“My dear brothers and sisters, today the Lord has chosen all of us to be the workers who bring peace to this land. Let us all say a prayer to the Lord that peace will truly reign among us. That as we release these white dove, symbol of peace, that God’s peace will be upon all of us, upon this land, and keep us all united in his peace. Praise the Lord.” The Pope said to a cheering crowd.

The majority of Cameroonians no longer value Pope’s voyages to Cameroon. They claim that despite their prayers, the country has deteriorated. Before Pope Leo, Pope John Paul II visited in 1985 and 1995, followed by Pope Benedict XVI in 2009.

SOUTH AFRICA

Julius Sello Malema, the head of South Africa’s opposition party, Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), has been sentenced for illegally discharging a firearm at the party’s fifth birthday festivities at Mdantsane Stadium.

On count 1 (unlawful possession of a firearm), Malema was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment, on count 2 (unlawful possession of ammunition) he was sentenced to two years, and on counts 3 (discharging a firearm in a built-up area or public place), 4 (reckless endangerment of people or property) and 5 (Failure to take reasonable precautions), he was sentenced to pay R20,000 or to undergo six months’ imprisonment.

In terms of Section (280), Subsection (2) of Act 51 of 1977, the court ordered that the sentences imposed in respect of counts two, three, four, and five run concurrent with the sentence imposed in respect of count one.

The court determined that Malema had grabbed an assault rifle from his former bodyguard, Adriaan Snyman, and fired multiple shots into the air during the incident. The court dismissed his allegation that the gun was a toy and that he only fired blanks.

Advocate Lawrence Hodes, Malema’s attorney, has stated that he intends to challenge Magistrate Twanet Olivier’s verdict. The court granted the leave of appeal and discharged him.