September 2006

Dear family and friends,

This summer our family went a second mile to share about the mission programs of our church and its partners in Central Africa. In five weeks time we drove 5,200 miles (about 7500km), passing through 19 states to visit individuals, groups, congregations, presbyteries, and Presbyterian summer camps. With our three teenagers, we loaded up interpretation materials and tools, from poster board and printed materials, to computers, thumb drives and projector, and set out. Though tired at the end of the full summer, we are grateful for the opportunity to carry over the stories of people we meet in our ministries. Upon my return in Cameroon, just a fortnight ago, I learned that one of those stories has taken a turn thanks to advocacy efforts through the Joining Hands Program.

Mr. Samuel Minkouo used to feed his family off a large field in the village of Ndtoua, where also his father, grandfather, and their forefathers had farmed. But when the Chad Cameroon Oil and Pipeline Project came through, his terrain was confiscated to serve as the project’s regional base. For a couple of years it housed several thousands of crew members, and his newly built home was used for the project’s officials to hang out after work. In accordance with the project’s guidelines and Cameroonian law, Mr. Minkouo received payment for the destruction of his crops. The loss of land was not compensated, because it belongs technically to the State with villagers having the customary right to cultivate it. With his compensation money, Mr. Minkouo bought an adjacent plot of land and started to farm there, waiting for the construction works to be finished and his family’s land to be restored to him.

Instead of being returned back to him for cultivation, his former terrain will be handed over for use by the government. And the promise that his house would get the indoor walls, the windows, and a proper painting job, in return for the eleven months it had freely served the project, had not materialized.

Mr. Minkouo’s case is one of over 400 claims that RELUFA had submitted with another NGO to the Worldbank, whose initial support had catalyzed the project’s mplementation. In May 2005, we were invited to the negotiation table of the Worldbank’s International Advisory Group, where we pleaded these cases before representatives of COTCO (Cameroonian Oil and Transportation Company, of which two American oil companies jointly hold the majority of shares) and the Cameroonian government. As a direct result, they are now sitting down with a handful of civil groups like RELUFA, and cases that the company had discarded are back on the table. We have accompanied the two stakeholders to a sample of communities, and facilitated direct discussions with the claimants. In that way, Mr. Minkouo got to personally present them his situation a few months ago.

Upon my return to Cameroon, RELUFA’s coordinator Valery Nodem broke the news to me that COTCO had finally acknowledged its responsibility for the destruction of the crops in Mr. Minkouo’s new terrain by awarding him about $2,000 in damages. But nothing has been done to repair the erosion at the base, and rain water keeps on pouring into his plantation. With no other land to farm, Mr. Minkouo is forced to continue cultivating there, with the risk of future crops being spoiled again. Whereas COTCO considers the case closed, RELUFA will continue to monitor the situation.

Monitoring and following up on the aftermath of the pipeline project is part of RELUFA’s Economic Justice program. At the same time, the network spearheads efforts by Cameroonian civil society to push for transparency in the extractive industries. It is widely acknowledged that the lack of transparency in this lucrative sector contributes to corruption, the break down of democratic processes, and civil strife in much of the Central African region. RELUFA therefore accommodates and takes care of the logistics for the Cameroonian branch of the Publish What You Pay Campaign and has already been invited to and participated in national and international gatherings of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI).

In the context of the EITI, the Council of the Protestant Churches in Cameroon, along with the Catholic Church and the Muslim Community, has officially been invited by the Cameroonian government as representatives of Civil Society to monitor the spending of revenues from oil and mineral extraction. However, the government’s decision to bypass non-profit organizations with more relevant experience has been met with skepticism. Guided by ethical principles, faith communities can indeed contribute to a society’s foundation. But churches know little about transparency in resource revenue management, and RELUFA’s role in capacity building will be invaluable. Grounded in that very fundamental belief, the PC(USA) stands by its Cameroonian Joining Hands partners as they work to build an equitable and peaceful society.

Peace be with you!

Christi Boyd

P.S. With a fast Internet connection, you can see Mr. Minkouo. He is the second interviewee on the clip about land.

The 2006 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 315