Arrest of Catholic Priest in Atangan Kouna Saga: Is Cameroon Government in Collision Course with Catholic Church?

A catholic priest has been arrested in Yaoundé, Cameroon’s political. Abbé Alain Nkodo, vicar of the Sacred Heart parish of Mokolo in Yaoundé, was arrested Tuesday by police officers from the special operation group (Gso).

TCR gathered that the reason for his arrest was linked to the escape of the former Minister of water and energy, Basil Atangana Kouna, because of his closeness to the family of the former minister. There are reports that the priest is suspected to have helped the former member of government in his escape plans. Without a passport and having been banned from leaving Cameroon, Basile Atangana Kouna however still succeeded to leave the country. He was caught in a neighboring country and repatriated to Cameroon on 22 March.

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After several hours of hearing at the Special Criminal Court, he was remanded in custody at the Yaoundé Central Prison in Kondengui. He will have to answer to charges related to misappropriation of public funds as he is being accused and also to explain how he found himself out of the country. According to sources, this will involve revealing accomplices to his escape.

TCR learnt from concordant sources that, the priest contacted law enforcement officers that aided the ex-minister to flee the country. And that, he also made a transfer of huge sums of money to Basil Atangana Kouna while he was in Nigeria and that it was in the course of cashing the huge sum of money, that suspicion was raised and he was arrested and extradited to Cameroon.

In the meantime, Abbé Alain Nkodo, was released conditionally on the night of Tuesday March 27, 2018. He will have to remain at the disposal of justice. His arrest coincided with the visit of the archbishop of Yaoundé Mgr Jean Mbarga on Tuesday March 27, to Sacred Heart parish of Mokolo where he said a mass.

The bishop did not mention anything about the arrest of the priest during the religious service.

In the meantime, it had been feared that the arrest of the priest might have put the Catholic Church and the government of Cameroon on a collision course. However, from the look of things, the church is ready to collaborate with the government of Cameroon in unraveling the facts of circumstances that led to the escape of the former minister of Water and Energy, Basil Atangana Kouna. We learnt that the Archbishop of the Yaoundé archdiocese, His Grace Jean Mbarga, subsequently declared that the priest was going to be made available to the Cameroon judiciary anytime need arises.

By LVV