Cardinal Tumi Rubbishes Fame Ndongo’s Education Harmonisation plan

Catholic Archbishop and Cardinal, Christian Tumi, has rubbished plans by the minister of higher education, Prof. Jacque Fame Ndongo to harmonise higher education in Cameroon and rid the country of its dual educational system.

Christian Cardinal Tumi

Cardinal Tumi was made nonsense of the minister’s plan in an interview with US-based Cameron Daily Journal’s Tamfu Harison yesterday, June 14.

Quizzed whether he shared the opinion of Anglophone teachers’ groupings who are protesting against the so-called harmonisation, the influential clergyman answered with a series of rhetorical questions.

Hear him: “when they talk of harmonizing, what do they mean? Degrees will be Anglo-Saxon or French system?  That’s what I am asking. It will be interesting. Why harmonization at all costs? We are two, what will I call two colonial systems. So how will the harmonization be done? Will we create our own certificates, national certificates? That will be done in English and also in French?”

Tumi was categorical that the planned harmonisation is not Cameroon needs. He went further during the interview to suggest that “As it’s now, let the Anglo-Saxon and French system continue. There are two cultural systems. May be we will add something to it, may be from Canada – I don’t know or any other country that is bilingual.”

Fame Ndongo: Higher Education Minister

He also suggested that it will be good for Cameroon to know how the Canadian educational system is organised. “I like the Canadian union. I like Canada. It would be good for us to know how their educational system is organized.”

Cardinal Tumi was also quizzed about media reports that he had asked SDF national chairman, Fru Ndi, not to run for the 2018 presidential elections.

To that he said “it’s not true. I read in the newspapers that I was in a meeting in Bamenda where it was decided that Fru Ndi should not stand. First of all, I was never in any SDF meeting in Bamenda. Of course, I know Fru Ndi. He comes here from time to time to see me when he is travelling to Europe or somewhere else. 

One of the decisions I took as a priest was never to attend any political  party meeting and I have never done that and I am 55 years today as a priest and  have never done that….never attended any political party meeting. I do not belong to any political party and I have my political opinion.”

He however admitted that he had discussed about a transitional government with Fru Ndi and “suggested to him that it will be good a transitional candidate for the presidency be a neutral person. But, if those opposition parties that come together will want to propose him Fru Ndi, I don’t have anything against it.”