Revivalist churches ransack traditional shrine in Bafoussam

Trees, huts and other sacred objects were destroyed at the banks of the MiFi Metche river. The followers of the ancient religion Bamiléké called the act a sacrilegious vandalism and breach of freedom of worship and religion.

A traditional practitioner instead said Bamendzi in Bafoussam Soufo jewelry is an art in all states. It is unworthy and inappropriate that revivalist churches attack increasingly the symbols of the ancestral religion of Bamiléké.

"The God we serve is slow to anger. But these blasphemers continue their barbarity, they will be punished. We serve one God. We are not followers of the diabolical practices. We serve God as our fathers taught us. We Kamsi officiate as spiritual facilitators in the ancestral religion Bamiléké," she explains.

It is a local cultural heritage, S. Nougueko, a follower of the ancestral religion agrees: "We are born with this religion. It's ours. We practice. We are outraged that people come to attack our sacred spaces and objects. It is a sacrilege. We must denounce it. Governments need to secure this space. For Cameroon, there is freedom of worship and religion. It is protected in the Constitution. Religious fanaticism must not have citizenship here at home."

Desecrate our places of worship

"We follow these practices for years. Each time you build they come to destroy. We serve just God. We express our faith. The ancestors are channels to approach God. And we are indignant when some followers of imported religions come to desecrate our places of worship," growls Clarisse matene, seer and priestess of the ancient religion of Bamiléké.

In addition, it must be remembered that people are so dissatisfied that the fall of the Metse and its surroundings are a tourist area with its many attractions, reinforced by the presence of sacred spaces. Objects whose originality and cultural vitality give advantages to the enhancement of local cultural heritage.

Note that sun rays vanished through the waters flowing from the fall of the MiFi Metse river in Bafoussam dated April 2015. A 20 meter of this slope, some traditional patricians perform mystical rituals on behalf of the followers of the ancient religion Bamiléké. They do it with commitment.

Like the blind man who runs the palm oil drops on stones encircled in raffia contrevent pen light. Next to it is another that strives to cutting into pieces a goat leg. Passersby are invited to consume the wine and raffia or pieces of meat, bring their prayers for the success of the wishes of the adept led by Kamsi (priest or priestess Bamiléké language) or Ngakang (initiated Magic).

We draw our forces there only, people mobilized today at the fall of the MiFi which is a public shrine or run ancestral rituals of the Bamiléké guard imaging violent sequences suffered by this space near two weeks.

"I woke up one morning and I found that the vast square built in the middle of the sanctuary of Metse through tradi-patricians contributions was destroyed. I grew up seeing everything that was there. Many times in case of problems, I was simmering there. I was treated several times, just because the rituals were performed at the fall of the MiFi. I am disappointed by what I found: fragments of brick on the ground, scattered pieces of wood and the sacred signs on the hangar wall built in blocks. This act of vandalism is not unique. What is happening out there contributes to the psychological and mental elevation of Bamiléké. We draw our forces there," said Stéphane H, a follower of that religion.

Indeed, witnesses report that the followers of a revivalist church of the city of Bafoussam disembarked to sack the sacred objects in the area. Trees which are invocations to God through the myth of the founding ancestors have been cut. The traditional big-box demonstrations of ancestral epicenter-was demolished by the fanatic Christians.

They also removed the iron bars that use rail for people going to the bottom of the fall of the Metse where people shaken by curses wash down for their purification. Practices which rebelled against revivalist churches as they wrote on the wall of one of the boxes, "Jesus alone washes away sins."

According to these Christians, we must banish practices related to ancestral worship among the Bamileke. They find that they are "evil cults." What challenges many of the people we met on Tuesday in the month of April was the scene at Metse.