A prominent Cameroonian academic has sparked nationwide debate after fiercely criticizing the country’s newly passed law on human organ transplants, warning that it dangerously disregards deep-rooted cultural and spiritual values.
Vincent-Sosthène Fouda, a respected professor and public intellectual, denounced the legislation in a sharply worded public statement, calling it a “violent intrusion” into traditions surrounding death and bodily integrity.
“This law collides brutally with the deeply entrenched traditional views on the human body and death in Cameroon,” he said. “In many Cameroonian communities – whether Bamiléké, Duala, Bassa, or Peul – the body of the deceased is not seen as mere flesh. It is sacred, the vessel of the departed soul.”
Fouda’s scathing remarks have brought ethical concerns to the fore, especially regarding consent, transparency, and the absence of inclusive dialogue before the law was enacted.
He emphasized that in many indigenous belief systems, the deceased body is a sacred connection to the ancestral realm. “Tampering with a body outside of a culturally appropriate and consensual ritual context disrupts not just the spirit of the dead, but the spiritual balance of the entire community,” he explained.
Traditional funeral rites, he added, are meticulously designed to ensure the soul’s peaceful transition and integration into the ancestral world.
The new law, according to Fouda, introduces vague and potentially dangerous legal frameworks. “Who has the authority to consent? Under what conditions is this consent obtained?” he asked. “There is persistent ambiguity. The law fails to clearly mandate family notification prior to organ retrieval.”
This legal opacity, Fouda warned, could open doors to serious ethical violations. He also questioned whether Cameroon’s health infrastructure is equipped to safely manage an organ donation system of such magnitude, citing fears of organ trafficking and unregulated practices in the absence of strict oversight.
“Removing organs post-mortem without explicit, informed consent that honors both family and cultural traditions is a serious ethical breach,” Fouda declared.
He called for urgent national and local forums and cultural mediation to revisit the legislation. “Without grounding the law in Cameroon’s diverse cultural realities, its application could fracture societal trust,” he said.
Fouda’s impassioned appeal has reignited public discourse on the role of tradition in shaping modern health policies in a country where ancestral customs still guide everyday life.
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