The Patterns of Corruption in Christian Churches of Cameroon: The Case of the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon

Introduction

Corruption, according to FrunzikVoskanyan, is one of the oldest and perplexing phenomena in human society, and it is not exclusively a problem of Christian churches. ¹ It is a canker that generates a lot of benefits for a few persons at the detriment of multitudes. The concept of corruption has been variously defined by different scholars. Christoph Stuckelberger points out that it is the abuse of public or private power for personal egoistic interests. ² Put differently, corruption denotes the abuse of power or authority vested in an office for personal gain. On his part, Carl Fredrich sees corruption as a kind of behavior which deviates from the norm. ³ In other words, it is deviant behavior associated with a particular motivation, namely that of individual gain against collective benefit. Building on the foregoing definitions, this article thus considers corruption as all forms of unchristian behavior (bribery, fraud and misuse of funds earmarked for specific programs) capable of negatively affecting the smooth growth of a church. The numerous Christian churches in Cameroon have been, and continue to be, plagued by corruption. Amazingly, it is widely believed by the public that these churches are far beyond the realm of corrupt practices by virtue of their role in fashioning and equipping God-fearing people with unquestionable moral ethics. As a matter of fact, greed, selfishness, envy, opulence, and flagrant flaunting of wealth have, in the last 50 years or so, been some of the key drivers at the wheels of corruption in these churches.

Since its birth in 1957, the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon (PCC) ⁴ has also been marred by the emergence and exacerbation of these corrupt practices. As a matter of fact, the activities of a majority of PCC leaders, pastors, and elders were fed by and have thrived on corruption. According to most of our informants, especially Rev. Mercy Abong, corrupt church officials tended to refashion their working methods to render them less visible and obvious. ⁵ Administrative and financial transparency became things of the past. The persistence of this phenomenon has cost the church much in growth and reputation. Surprisingly, the uninformed Christians merely applaud and never ask what their money has been used for; some are afraid to speak the truth arguably because they fear reprisals. Consequently, corruption has attained suicidal proportions in the PCC. In fact, the various administrative organs of the PCC (synod, presbyteries, parishes, and congregations) together with their numerous departments like those in charge of health, education, church centers, and Women’s Work have consciously or unconsciously domesticated these corrupt vices over the years. Worse still, the numerous ecumenical partnerships affiliating PCC’s presbyteries to foreign church districts of European-based churches like Goppingen and Menchum-Boyo Presbytery, Dikome and Schopfheim, Malheim and Bui, Donga-Mantung and Konstanz, Mezam and Heidenheim, Meme North and Witzenhausen, Bakossi and Uberlingen, etc. have been marred by the shameless plunder of funds. Indeed, the misdirection of whopping sums of money allotted by the aforementioned Western church districts for the realization of socio-economic projects in Cameroon (schools, health centers, oil palm plantations, and vocational centers) has been masterminded by pastors and elders.

Although most of the donor church districts trusted the religious sanctity of PCC’s authorities and did nothing to ensure financial accountability, some pressurized officials of their partner Presbyteries to show prove of judicious management of funds. For instance, the authorities of the Goppingen Deanery frowned at the misappropriation of funds by officials of Menchum-Boyo Presbytery and requested financial accountability in the following words:

We kindly ask you for information about the use of the received amounts, as we ourselves owe to Christians in Goppingen District, who so far have supported the partnership programme, to give account on their donations [. . .] I appeal to you to send us information on these grants, as fast as possible [. . .] Photos on the progress of projects would be very much appreciated. Your response will help us to continue the partnership programme, as much as we are aware that all previously transferred amounts can only be signs of our concerns for each other [. . .] ⁶

Even though the Goppingen Deanery threatened to terminate the previous partnership (2008) due to the persistent mismanagement of the Menchum-Boyo Presbytery, the misappropriation of funds surprisingly heightened. Generally, the misuse of funds has resulted in an increasing loss of confidence that affects the PCC, which is supposed to be a forum for shaping morals and equipping consciences. Hence, a corrupt religious body like the PCC cannot successfully change a corrupt society like Cameroon.

In the light of the foregoing, this article seeks to bring to the fore a general overview of the forms of corrupt practices in the PCC. Firstly, the article discusses the causes of corruption in the PCC and then situates them within the Cameroonian perspective. The various dimensions of the canker in this religious body are crudely brought to focus. Secondly, the article then explores the consequences of the ill on the PCC. Finally, the article provides some recommendations which can enable the PCC to win the war against corruption. This essay, in my opinion, has the potential of contributing ideas which may permit the PCC in particular, and religious bodies in general, to move towards dismantling the foundations of corrupt practices in Cameroonian Christian churches.

An Overview of the Causes of Corruption in the PCC

The heightening and sustenance of the cancer of corruption in the PCC has been the product of a combination of factors. Self-centeredness and greed have been forces that promote corruption in the PCC. As a result of selfishness, the entire system of the Church has become dominated by self-interests rather than collective interests. In fact, greedy and self-centered persons have been pushed by greed to put in place Machiavellian strategies aimed at achieving their illicit and self-seeking interests. Corrupt pastors and elders increasingly turn a blind eye to the suffering that their corrupt practices inflict on entire Christian communities. One of the greatest charges that can be nailed to the door of these corrupt people is the numbing effect of their individualism and corrupt attitude on the growth of the PCC. It should be noted that the financial and material resources of the Church, as shall be subsequently discussed, were systematically mishandled and plundered by greedy persons.

Another factor that has promoted corruption in the PCC is undeniably the spiritual weakness (questionable faith) of some pastors and Christians. As a matter of fact, Presbyterian pastors study only for two years at the seminary and then graduate. A majority of them leave the seminary without receiving the required spiritual, intellectual, and pastoral formation. In addition, they do not only take vows of obedience and celibacy, but also vows of poverty. The half-baked training and doubtful faith of PCC pastors is evidenced by the spiritually weak Christians nurtured by their congregations. Put differently, a spiritually weak pastor can only produce spiritually weak Christians. Consequently, some PCC pastors and Christians lack outstanding knowledge of and commitment to the Holy Bible. These pastors and Christians engage in well-designed corrupt practices irrespective of the anti-corruption verses in the Bible they uphold. In Exodus 3:2 for instance, it is written ‘Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe makes people blind to what is right and ruins the cause of those who are innocent.’ Similarly, Ezekiel 22:12, condemns corruption saying: ‘In you, they take bribes to shed blood; you take both advance interest and accrued interest, and make gain of your neighbors by extortion.’ There exist other theological anti-corruption verses like Psalm 15:1, 5; Proverbs 16:8; and Acts 8:8–24. ⁷

It is worth stressing that the heightening of corruption in the PCC in spite of its condemnation by the Bible is evidence of the unrighteousness of some of her pastors and Christians. This certainly explains why some of our informants, Amos Yondo, Awo and Rev. Mercy Abong (all Presbyterians), described PCC pastors as wolves in sheep clothing. No wonder these pastors hold on to their old habits of doing things the wrong way and perpetrating corruption and other forms of immorality. These pastors, in spite of their meager salaries, ride luxury cars and own big mansions. They are the main actors in the mismanagement of funds set aside for socio-economic projects at the central and local levels of the church. The highly inadequate salaries received by PCC pastors, teachers, nurses, support workers, and administrators have a direct bearing on their corrupt practices. They cannot permit them to support their large families and carry other responsibilities. Consequently, church workers, especially pastors, are constantly in acute want of money and this motivates them to violate established regulations in an effort to obtain unorthodox benefits. For instance, a pastor who earns FCFA 40.000 per month certainly finds it difficult to take proper care of his immediate and extended family. ⁸ Church workers are therefore pushed by such miserable wages to indulge in corrupt practices. But these church workers cannot justify corruption because it is the result of pitiful wages and poverty. Therefore, it is better for them to have a little with righteousness than great revenues in injustice.

At the same time, the flawed auditing system and the non-prosecution of corrupt persons have helped in various ways to sustain and raise the level of corruption in the PCC. The Synod Finance Investigation Committee (SFIC) is the body charged with auditing church workers. Amazingly, the audits are neither regular nor professional. This is evidenced by the doubtful audits conducted by the department at the synod and presbyterial levels. In practical terms, the auditors connive with corrupt church officials to shield their corrupt practices while pulling their own share of the booty. Confirming these allegations, the Drum Call Magazine of the PCC reported in 1985 that

Our church is not a poor one. What is killing us is the lack of effective supervision of our finances. I feel that much of the church’s money is being put into private pockets. The unscrupulous church auditor takes bribe from the clever chief accountant or treasurer and connives at his embezzlement of church funds. An external audit will prove this beyond doubts. ⁹

The above view by an insider (M. A. Eselape) of the church confirms the level at which corruption has twisted audits by the SFIC. As a matter of fact, the SFIC surprisingly promoted and continues to promote the misuse of church funds instead of combating the evil. In the course of this article, some cases of flawed audits by the SFIC would be exposed.

Even more disturbing is the fact that officials caught in the nets of corruption quite often go unpunished. Apart from the so called punitive transfers, a majority of corrupt church administrators are either maintained or promoted. Church leaders generally fear negative consequences of the prosecuting of corrupt officials. They fear that this may tarnish the image of the church. It is therefore not surprising that most of them, as shall be pointed out subsequently, are still serving the PCC as wolves in sheep clothing. It is my contention that the prosecution of corrupt church workers can serve as a deterrent for persons harboring egoistic interests. But, the non-prosecution of corrupt workers has attracted many to the canker instead of scaring them from it. Therefore, the flawed audit system and the non-prosecution of corrupt church workers are largely responsible for the perpetuation of corrupt practices. The phenomenon has thus entrenched itself much deeper into the system of the PCC. ¹⁰

The lack of proper training of church officials in administrative, finance and project management has also invited corruption, especially mismanagement, into the PCC. In fact, the Synod Office appoints pastors as presbyterial treasurers without any proper training in finance administration. The financial accounts presented by these untrained pastors are consequently full of flaws. This in turn encourages some egoistic individuals to plunder church funds without the knowledge of such treasurers. Worse still, church projects (farms, schools, health centers, and buildings) are executed by pastors without any training in project execution. Consequently, the planning and execution of such projects are quite often faulty. The lack of required skills therefore leads to the mismanagement of church projects which is considered in this article as a form of corruption. ¹¹ Examples of such poorly executed projects include the Bu Health Centre, the Meli Health Centre, the Wum Eye Clinic, the Bawuru Church House, etc. ¹² The foregoing causes of corruption have enabled the canker to manifest in varying forms within the PCC.

Dimensions of Corruption in the PCC

In the PCC, corruption was and is manifested in varied forms at the synod, presbyterial, congregational and departmental levels. These corrupt practices are visible in the appointment and transfer of church workers; during church elections; in the management of projects and property; and in the audit system. Considering the broad nature of the PCC system, tracking down all the forms of corruption is a very difficult task; this article is only a specimen study. This explains why our evidences would largely be drawn from the Menchum-Boyo Presbytery of the PCC where the author carried out a thorough investigation from 2008 to 2011.

The first stage where corrupt practices were expressed in the PCC was in the appointment and transfer of church workers. The employment and appointment of heads of departments, principals, teachers, nurses, and presbyterial secretaries and treasurers were dictated by corrupt practices. As a matter of fact, employment opportunities were quite often ‘sold’ in the sense that those in search of such jobs had to flatter the persons in charge of the selection with gifts or money so as to win their favor. This was particularly common when teachers were recruited to teach in Presbyterian secondary schools. Some of these teachers were not recruited on the basis of their qualifications, but on the number of fowls, bags of yams and heavy envelopes of money given to members of the recruitment panels.

Another stage where corruption was visible in the PCC system was in the execution of socio-economic projects. Since its birth in 1957, the leaders of the PCC initiated socio-economic projects (schools, health centers, farms, buildings, just to name these few) intended to maintain the church on the path to growth. But the execution of these projects has quite often been marred by the mismanagement of funds by the executors. The mismanagement of funds allotted for such projects became the subject of self-centeredness. This was often in the interest of the people chosen to handle the funds. There existed numerous means by which these elders and pastors siphoned and misappropriated funds earmarked for projects. Indeed the embezzlement mechanism of the PCC was very innovative and well organized. Even the selection of persons to manage these projects was not done by chance. Persons without any knowledge of project management were chosen to execute projects simply because they had well-placed persons at the Synod Office. Consequently, those possessing the required credentials were pushed aside.

In some situations, the executors of these projects violated all existing norms of transparency and accountability. For example, funds were deliberately transferred from one project to another by the executor without the knowledge of the donors. This situation was very common with projects funded by the church’s ecumenical partners abroad such as the Mission 21, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Württemberg, and Bread for the World. In 1994, for instance, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Württemberg through one of her deaneries (Goppingen Deanery) allotted the sum of FCFA 2.000.000 for the construction of a church building in Furu-Awa. Surprisingly, the executors of the project, officials of Menchum-Boyo Presbytery, sidelined the Project Committee and diverted FCFA 564.595 to other projects without the consent of the donors. ¹³ Worse still, all attempts to receive a financial report from these officials on how the diverted funds were spent failed. Many other projects, especially those that were intended to resettle survivors of the Nyos disaster of 1986 were also infantilized by such self-centered persons. ¹⁴

In other cases, pastors and elders embezzled entire sums earmarked for projects. As a result, such projects never took off. To flatter and possibly convince the donors, the executors would then send fake statements of account showing how they objectively executed such projects. Some even forwarded photographs of different projects (farms, schools, and church buildings) to the donors as evidence of work they had just completed. A few examples are worth noting here. On 12 January 2006, the authorities of the Goppingen Deanery handed the sum of FCFA 10.910.250 to Rev. Manfred Ekum, Secretary of Menchum-Boyo Presbytery, for him to work in collaboration with the other presbyterial authorities and equip the Christian Women’s Centre in Wum, renovate some primary school buildings and to revamp the oil palm plantation at Esimbi operated by the presbytery. ¹⁵ On 25 October 2006, Rev. Ekum forwarded a statement of account to Germany in which he maintained that the projects had been executed. ¹⁶ Yet the reality on the ground contradicted the financial report. In fact, the FCFA 2.000.000 meant for renovating primary schools were never received by school authorities. When we visited the schools in Esu, Wum, Modele, and Benakuma in 2010, many of the classrooms had collapsed. The oil press and kennel cracker that were to be established in the plantation at Esimbi were never bought. Worse still, the equipment for the women’s center was never purchased. ¹⁷ Surprisingly, a 2008 church audit concluded that Rev. Ekum had properly executed the projects. The audit, it should be noted, was not flawless, as shall be revealed later in this article. ¹⁸

In the same vein, Rev. Ekum was given FCFA 1.700.000 in 2005 by the sons of one late Akum living abroad (in the US) to construct a building at the Presbyterian Health Centre in Meli-Kom. Amazingly, Rev. Ekum defied all existing conventions and bought only a trip of stones and sand each for the project. ¹⁹ This was the only task Rev. Ekum carried out, according to the Chairman of the Building Committee of the project, Johnson Awo. We also gathered from our informants (Amos Yondo, Awo and Rev. Mercy Abong) that Rev. Ekum took photographs of a different building and sent to the donors in America. ²⁰ Similarly, Rev. Timothy Beng, in one of his ecumenical trips to Germany in 1998, returned with some FCFA 900.000 allotted by Alfred Holzapfel for the construction of a church building in Bawuru. ²¹ Upon his return from Germany, Beng together with Rev. George Ngwe, took upon themselves to execute the project. Rev. Beng gave the latter FCFA 600.000 to collaborate with elders of the Bawuru congregation and to commence work at the project site. But Rev. Ngwe and two elders whose names we gathered as Clement Numfor and Ivo Tamufor misappropriated the entire sum. The Christians reported the matter to authorities of the Presbytery in 2000, ²² causing the two elders to escape from Bawuru. The remaining FCFA 300.000 ended up in Beng’s suitcase. ²³ Consequently, the project was not realized. During one of our trips to Bawuru in 2010, we saw the church land still in dire need of a building.

Furthermore, some projects were poorly executed because the managers wanted to reap the maximum from them. For example, some pastors and elders bought low quality equipment at cheaper prices thereby keeping the surplus for themselves. Such projects, even when completed, were neither solid nor balanced in income and expenditure. In some cases, the projects remained uncompleted. Hence they failed to serve the purposes for which they were initiated. Evidence for this can be found in the gross misuse of funds (FCFA 24.000.000) allotted by ‘Bread for the World’ for the construction and furnishing of the Bu Community Health Centre between 1981 and 1995. ²⁴ In 1981, ‘Bread for the World’ released the first quota of FCFA 9.000.000 for the construction of the hospital. ²⁵ The project manager, Rev. Elias Cheng, together with the Wum Rural Council, completed the building in 1986. Surprisingly, the main structure collapsed in 1987 due to the use of low quality building materials. In one of his letters to Bongezee II, Fon of Bu, the Moderator of the PCC, Rt. Rev. Henry Awasum, pointed to the fact that the project failed because of miscalculations and blatant mismanagement of its funds by Rev. Cheng. He emphasized that ‘Rev. Cheng is the person who blundered with the project.’ ²⁶

Even more disturbing was the fact that the funds (FCFA 15.000.000) released by the same donor in 1988 for the reconstruction and furnishing of the Bu Health Centre were largely embezzled by Rt. Rev. Awasum. Apart from sidelining the Building Committee, Moderator Awasum reduced the size of the building and failed to furnish it. When the Moderator decided to inaugurate and hand over the ‘naked’ building to the Bu community in 1995, Fon Bongezee II and the Municipal administrator of Wum Rural Council, Abraham Dinga Abang, took him to task. In separate letters, they accused Rev. Awasum for embezzling a greater portion of the FCFA 15.000.000. Fon Bongezee II particularly maintained in his letter to Awasum that

Since the death of Rt. Rev. J. C. Kangsen you singlehandedly ran the project with a band of thieves, surrounding the operation with much secrecy. . . . It is rather incomprehensible that you intended to hand over a ‘naked’ unfurnished centre? Why was the centre not furnished, since the sum of 15 million FCFA, could have been used to re-roof, cement and furnish it? What was really done with the 15 million FCFA? Is it in a credit union account or has it been invested in your estates in Bamenda Town (Ntamulung), and your project near the Bamenda airport? . . . As a Christian leader, you must be morally upright. You are not… ²⁷

The foregoing excerpt from Fon Bongezee’s letter confirms the incessant looting of funds set aside for the Presbyterian Health Centre in Bu.

In addition, officials of the PCC initiated projects at all levels of administration and lobbied for funds which were never accounted for. For example, the collection of funds for church buildings and other projects was and remains common in most congregations. This is done through fundraising ceremonies organized by pastors and elders. Amazingly, most of the funds are never properly accounted for. Worse still, these officials through appeal letters obtain funds from ecumenical partners abroad. In most cases, the central administration of the church is sometimes not aware of the arrival of such funds and they are therefore diverted into personal suitcases. In Menchum-Boyo Presbytery for instance, the sum of FCFA 1.000.000 allotted by the Goppingen Deanery was withdrawn from account No. 1465 in the Aghem Cooperative Credit Union by two elders: Emmanuel Formou-Kum and Simon Kuchah, in 2005. ²⁸ It should be noted that this money was to be injected into the Esimbi oil palm plantation. At the same time, elders and pastors in Menchum-Boyo Presbytery collected an annual amount of FCFA 1,000 from each Christian within their own district between 1998 and 2006. For them, the money was to be injected into the palm plantation project. Although not all the Christians paid the money, our investigations revealed that a greater portion of the money was misused by congregational and presbyterial authorities. ²⁹

The foregoing corrupt practices relating to church projects was not only limited to the Menchum-Boyo Presbytery. This misappropriation of funds for projects represents only a tip of the iceberg on the standard manner of executing and managing PCC’s projects like schools, health centers, church buildings, and farms.

The conduct of flawed audits by church auditors was and remains another form of corruption in the PCC. The SFIC was largely comprised of persons with doubtful morals. They also lacked the know-how required for the audit of such funds. Consequently, their audits at the synod, departmental, and presbyterial levels have been far from being professional. Apart from the mistakes they committed, these auditors connived with officials they were expected to audit. They assisted these church workers in manipulating and falsifying financial records. In the Menchum-Boyo Presbytery for example, controversial audits were conducted by the SFIC in 1997 and 2008. Concerning the 1997 audit conducted by Rev. David Tende, his report concluded that all the funds had been properly managed. ³⁰ However, our inquiries revealed that funds earmarked for the construction of a Sunday school hall and a women and youth center in Wum were largely misappropriated by Revs. Samuel Kilo, Reuben Mbuat, and Timothy Beng. ³¹

Even more disturbing was the audit conducted in Wum in 2008 by auditors from the Synod Office. The audit team had the mission to investigate how the sum of over FCFA 10.910.250 allotted by the Goppingen Deanery in 2006 for various projects had been used. When the auditors arrived in Wum in August 2008, Rev. Ekum who individually executed the projects fell ill and the audit was rescheduled. ³² Surprisingly, Rev. Ekum was later audited in Buea and the auditors’ final report maintained that he had properly managed the funds. This was not true. In fact, the author’s investigations revealed that the above sum was never used on the projects by Rev. Ekum. The oil palm plantation, the women’s center, schools, and the health centers that were to be assisted received nothing and remained in dire need of the money. Rev. Ekum was finally transferred out of Wum without executing the projects. The elders of the presbytery wrote a series of letters demanding the whereabouts of the money. ³³ The answers were blowing in the wind. It is therefore clear that the above audit was faulty. The auditors connived with Rev. Ekum and shielded his corrupt practices and then probably got their share of the booty. It should be noted that the foregoing cases of flawed audits represent only a faint picture of how all other audits in the PCC were and are conducted. This is apparently true because those who conducted the audits in Menchum-Boyo Presbytery were equally assigned to other presbyteries and departments for the same exercise.

The last dimension of corruption in the PCC was and remains the fake conduct of elections at the different levels of the church’s administrative set up. The election of officials into various positions at the synod, departmental, presbyterial, and congregational levels has been marred by corrupt practices. Some of the candidates especially for the post of Moderator and Synod Clerk use money to buy their voters. Their campaign managers are always commissioned to buy the voters. As an act of corruption, the buying of voters leads to the election of incompetent officials. In some cases, elections were rigged especially at the level of the departments and presbyteries. In 2003 for instance, the election of a new Presbytery Chairman in Menchum-Boyo Presbytery was rigged by Rev. Manfred Ekum, the Presbyterial Secretary. The latter favored Allen Neba with whom he preferred to work. The elders addressed a memorandum to the Moderator in which they condemned the fraud that characterized the elections. ³⁴ The rigging of elections in the Menchum-Boyo Presbytery is a clear picture of how church elections are marred by fraud in the PCC.

The Impact of Corruption in the PCC

From a general perspective, the cancer of corruption has had injurious consequences on development and society as a whole. It disproportionately injures the poor masses by diverting material and financial resources allotted for diverse socio-economic development projects into private pockets. In fact, corrupt practices obstruct and undermine the church’s urge and ability to morally transform societies. In the PCC, corruption has not only obstructed development but has also cost the church standards, reputation, foreign funding and membership.

The embezzlement of funds and the mismanagement of projects hurt the poor. Enormous sums of money that were set aside by the church for socio-economic programs largely end up in private pockets. As a result, the church’s ability to provide basic services is undermined. The wealth of the church is therefore concentrated in the hands of a few pastors and elders. These workers, in spite of the meager salaries, enjoy good living standards at the detriment of grassroots Christians. In fact, corruption has enabled them to acquire expensive consumer goods while the poor masses languish in poverty . Reacting to an interview granted by the former Moderator of the PCC, The Rt. Rev. Nyansako-n-Nku, relating to corruption, Vande Aka maintained that

They say charity begins at home. Let the Moderator start by stopping corruption in his church. Let me ask himself where pastors, who earn very little salaries compared to civil servants, have enough money to construct big mansions and let out on rent while they occupy free church houses for which Christians are made to pay. This is true especially for pastors working in the central administration of the church, of which the moderator is one of them. ³⁵

In the light of the foregoing excerpt, corruption has caused collective interests to be shelved in favor of individual interests. Undoubtedly, therefore, corruption has had a negative impact on all processes of socio-economic development and spiritual conversion within the PCC. In fact, the church’s rate of socio-economic growth, financial assistance from ecumenical partners, employment and fair income distribution have progressively dwindled and regressed due to this type of corruption.

Corruption intrinsically undermines public trust in the church’s credibility and the morals of the laity and pastors. The fact is that the public expects the PCC to serve as an unquestionable example of morals and proper Christian behavior. Unfortunately, this is not the case. The rising number of publicized cases of corruption has enabled PCC’s Christians and a majority of the public to be aware of the unchristian attitude of pastors and elders. No wonder some pastors and elders have identified revivalism (resulting from the proliferation of Pentecostal churches) as the only appropriate means to restore the church’s reputation. Unfortunately, the corrupt ones, in order to shield their corrupt practices, battle against the introduction of revivalism. Consequently, pastors with proven morals like Rev. Prof. Michael Bame Bame, Dr. Zacharias Tanee Fomun, Rev. Jonathan Fru Awasom, and Rev. Solomon Wara were tactfully bundled out of the PCC. ³⁶ The incessant deflection of PCC’s Christians to ‘Pentecostal’ churches is partly dictated by corruption. However, this does not imply that Pentecostal churches are free from the canker of corruption. But it is relevant to note that Charismatic churches in Cameroon like Full Gospel Mission, Apostolic Church, Deeper Life Bible Church, and the True Church of God of Cameroon are still relatively young and provide a lot of hope for many a people.

Conclusion

This article set out to examine the causes, forms and impact of corruption in the PCC. We have demonstrated from the foregoing that the sustenance of corrupt practices in the PCC is the product of a number of factors. It is our humble attempt to expose the various dimensions of corruption in the church alongside their damaging consequences. After learning of all these injurious cases of corruption, the conclusion is that the cancer of corruption has plagued and continues to plaque the PCC. There are traces of it in almost all administrative units and departments of the church. Our contention is that if nothing is done to erode the foundation of corruption, the material and financial resources of the church would still be incessantly misused and looted by corrupt pastors and Christians. Amazingly and as earlier pointed out, the authorities of the church have not yet committed enough time and resources to check the evil. The apparent lack of will to do so leaves many questions unanswered – What can now be done? Is it too late to launch a successful anti-corruption campaign in the PCC in particular and Christian churches as a whole?

Corruption, I believe, can be successfully combated in Christian churches if the will is there and if appropriate measures are designed and systematically implemented. For instance, the reality of corruption in the PCC can be exposed as a lee-way to its better comprehension and elimination. The poor wages of church workers is another important issue. Since we identified low pay as one of the major causes of corruption, it is imperative for the leaders of the church to improve these salaries as a mechanism of reducing the evil. In addition, the appointment of officials should be merit based and not a question of patronage. Indeed, efforts must be bundled towards fading away nepotism in the system. Further, the Synod should fashion appropriate budget processes, strategically allot resources, and guarantee an effective and efficient implementation of programs and projects. The persons managing finances and implementing projects must be equipped with the required know-how. It is necessary for them to objectively and frequently report to the Synod on budget implementation while fake auditors are weeded out. This can enable the leaders to prevent, discover and punish corruption.

Furthermore, the conduction of regular professional audits can check corrupt practices before they begin to have a negative impact on the use of resources. Also, the journals and magazines operated by the PCC like Drum Call, Youth Splash, The Messenger, and Newsletter can be involved in anti-corruption campaigns so as to deter people from the canker. It is only through such anti-corruption media campaigns that the Christians can be made to understand why corruption constitutes a problem in the PCC. For FrunzikVoskanyan, an authoritative researcher on corruption in Armenia, corruption is better controlled only when citizens no longer tolerate it. ³⁷ Therefore, a sustained media campaign remains a dire necessity. As concerns the fight against corruption in Christian churches of Cameroon in general, it is my suggestion that the battle is likely going to be a difficult one, and I hold the view that radical changes can only come through God fearing, ethical and reform-minded church leaders and pastors.