Papal visit: Robbing Peter to pay Paul!.

Archbishop Kleda of the Douala Metropolitan Archdiocese said at a press conference in Douala before the arrival of the Pope, that: "In addition to the crisis in the two English-speaking Regions of the country, in the North and South of the eastern parts of the country, Cameroon is experiencing a deep economic crisis. Too many people are suffering; too many people are unemployed".

Certainly, the Pope will not provide them with jobs. No one expects such a miracle. Ironically, the visit has deprived some of the wretched of the earth, as Frantz Fanon would call them.

There have been reports that "just hours before the Pope's arrival in Cameroon, a scene of desolation unfolded in the streets of the nation's capital. Traders who make a living from small businesses, were evicted without any consideration". 

The Yaounde City Council is said to have carried out demolitions of makeshift or informal business structures. This will directly affect traders and residents whose workplaces and sources of income have been destroyed.

One trader in Yaounde, opting for anonymity, is quoted as saying: "ln a single day, hundreds of Cameroonians are reduced to unemployment". 

It is a cry of desolation, not a slogan. It is a wound, according to an articulate commentator; a plight that resonates strangely with the words the Pope is preaching, when he reminds everyone that true peace cannot exist without justice and without respect for human dignity, without attention to the most vulnerable.

He has affirmed that "God desires peace for all nations: peace that is the expression of justice and dignity".

Commentators have asked: "How can we speak of peace when families are deprived of the little they badly need to survive? How can we welcome a distinguished guest, while sacrificing those whose only horizon is their work?"

The Pope’s visit has been in preparation since November 2025. Why have the ministers in charge of sanitation and the mayors taken no initiative to help small business owners protect their livelihoods? Why were they not located to other places? Why wait for the arrival of the Pope, before thinking that the cities can be cleaned, refuse removed and the roads he will pass through repaired?

The mass evictions carried out to clean things up, according to one commentator, "violates four dignity".

Dignity is not an abstract concept. It is what allows each person to stand tall. Depriving families of their livelihoods for reasons of image amounts to denying them dignity.

The common good sacrificed for appearances. The common good is not the aesthetics of a boulevard; it is the possibility for each person to live from their work, to feed their children, to participate in the life of the city and country.

Apart from the eviction of roadside hawkers, there are reports that "the population may suffer or experience hardship due to several factors associated with the high-profile visit". 

Opposition critics argue that government is spending billions of FCFA on the visit, to serve political recognition, when the money should have been used for public services such as hospitals, schools, and infrastructure. 

Some residents feel the event will drain them financially, rather than improving their living conditions.

The government has also ordered adjustments of traffic routes entirely blocking some and disrupting daily economic activities, especially in Yaounde.

Some residents have, according to medai reports, said the visit might hinder their ability to work, eat, or return to their homes. 

The Guardian Post understands the plight in which some Cameroonians have found themselves as a result of the papal visit. They should, however, be comforted with the maxim that "you cannot eat omelettes without breaking eggs".

A few will not eat the proverbial omelette, but there are hopes that the visit will bring peace, justice and reconciliation in a country not at ease with itself.

If nothing else, it has forced the government to repair broken roads, and cleared some of the mountains of garbage in cities the Pope is visiting.

It should also be a wake-up call for the government to learn to keep the towns and cities clean. Yaounde should develop the attitude of learning from the African proverb that: "Only a lazy woman sweeps her house when expecting visitors", highlighting laziness, delayed responsibility, or inertia.

Cameroon should not be seen in that perspective after the visit, despite the havoc it has caused some compatriots.

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3762 of Thursday April 16, 2026