Pope Leo's Visit To Cameroon: Expectations High As Many Believe Visit Will Boost Biya’s Peace Efforts

Achieve Pictures: L-R; Pope Leo XIV, and Paul Biya

By Raymond Dingana 

The Anglophone crisis began in 2016, and later turned into an armed conflict. It has caused unprecedented loss of both life and livelihoods. The President of the Republic, Paul Biya, could not ignore the suffering of the people as the two Anglophone regions, North West and South West, were already falling into the abyss.

He needed strong leadership to help restore peace. On January 4, 2019, President Paul Biya appointed Chief Dr. Joseph Dion Ngute, a jurist and academic from the South West Region, as Prime Minister and Head of Government. His mandate was to bring peace back to the troubled regions.

Dione Ngute knew this task could not be achieved from his office in Yaounde. Following a bottom-up approach, PM Dion Ngute made several trips to the crisis-affected areas, the North West and South West Regions of Cameroon. His aim was to meet people directly, listen to their problems, and encourage armed group members to lay down their weapons and allow peace to return.

“Guns do not dialogue. People do,”

he said during one of his visits.

Through these visits, he collected proposals, heard grievances, and passed them on to the President of the Republic, Paul Biya, and the result was the Major National Dialogue.

The Major National Dialogue as a Peace-Building Mechanism

On September 10, 2019, President Paul Biya spoke to the nation and announced the Major National Dialogue. He said it must be held within the constitutional framework of one and indivisible Cameroon. Many people criticized the announcement, arguing that it already included conditions, which they felt would weaken the idea of “dialogue without preconditions.”

However, the Major National Dialogue took place. About 600 delegates met at the Yaounde Conference Centre for five days of deliberations. The discussions were held across eight commissions, including bilingualism, education, the judiciary, decentralization, disarmament, reconstruction, and more.

During the event, Chief Dr. Joseph Dion Ngute urged participants to “make history” and find solutions to the problems that had separated people physically and intellectually in recent years.

Key outcomes included; Special Status for the North West and South West Regions ,The creation of bicameral Regional Assemblies, with Houses of Chiefs and Houses of Regional Representatives ,Commitments to strengthen bilingualism and decentralization, A Presidential decree creating a follow-up committee to implement the recommendations, Disarmament initiatives for ex-combatants, The foundation for what would become the Presidential Plan for Reconstruction and Development of the NW/SW Regions (PPRD)

The Presidential Plan for Reconstruction and Development of the NW/SW Regions

Peace is not only the absence of gunfire. It means rebuilding schools, restoring court systems, and supporting livelihoods. President Biya understood this. In 2020, months after the Major National Dialogue created the Presidential Plan for the Reconstruction and Development of the North West and South West Regions (PPRD-NW/SW), the plan began with the United Nations Development Programme as the first implementing partner.

The plan was designed to inject resources and speed up recovery in communities weakened by years of insecurity. It was described as a “build back better” approach.

By 2024, PM Dion Ngute had updated and expanded the plan. He restructured the framework to improve delivery, broaden implementation, and increase the pace of intervention.

Water supply systems now serve more than 170,000 people in multiple divisions, Equipment was provided to over 2,400 farmers and fishermen, Courthouses were reconstructed in Bali, Tombel, Batibo, and Limb,and Penitentiary infrastructure was rehabilitated in Kumba, Kumbo, and Bamenda.Support was extended to cooperatives, start-ups, and community credit funds  

These actions are the building blocks of lasting peace guided by the Head of State and implemented with determination by his Prime Minister.

Why Bamenda Matters and What It Shows About the Government’s Peace Efforts

In a symbolic move, the Vatican chose Bamenda for Pope Leo XIV’s itinerary as the Holy Father also visits Yaounde and Douala, Cameroon’s political and economic capital respectively.

The Pope will travel to Bamenda. This move shows the world’s view of the situation: that Cameroon’s peace process has advanced to a point where the heart of the Anglophone crisis can welcome the world’s leading spiritual leader, not as a place of distress, but as a place of dignity.

Archbishop Andrew Nkea of the Bamenda Archdiocese, who also serves as President of the National Episcopal Conference of Cameroon, explained that the visit theme “May They All Be One”was chosen intentionally. It reflects concerns such as political tensions, ethnic divisions, hate speech, and violence in some parts of the country, according to Municipal Update nes paper.

The Church does not come to declare that suffering is finished. It comes to strengthen the call for unity. In doing so, it adds spiritual support to what the Biya government has been building politically.

Finally, the Government of Cameroon extended a formal State invitation to the Holy Father, as confirmed by the Minister, Director of the Civil Cabinet, Samuel Mvondo Ayolo.

On Thursday April 16,2026, Pope Leo XIV will be in Bamenda where he is also expected to grant audiences to many individuals including traditional authorities, amongst others.