YAOUNDÉ, Cameroon – Twenty-nine inmates from the Buea Central Prison in Cameroon regained their freedom Tuesday following the intervention of Bishop Michael Bibi of Buea, through the Justice and Peace Commission.

The Church achieved the feat by paying off fines for prisoners who had completed their sentences but lacked the financial means to secure their own release.

As the 29 prisoners regained their freedom, they actually burst into song.

“Our Bishop, we say thank you! Our Bishop, we say thank you!” they sang.

As the freed inmates emerged, they shared stories of relief and renewed hope. One former inmate, who identified himself as an ice cream vendor named Elake Mbua, recounted a family dispute over property that finally landed him in prison.

“I’m thanking the Roman Catholic Church for intervening for me. If not of the bishop, I don’t know for how much longer I’d remain in jail. I say thank you,” he said.

Another freed man, Clovis Fuh, who had been incarcerated for a year, simply beamed.

“Today is the happiest day in my life,” he said.

“My father [meaning Bishop Bibi} and the Catholic Church have done something that I will never ever forget in my life,” Fuh told Crux.

Bibi, accompanied by the Director of the Justice and Peace Commission, Joyce Mbong, and diocesan priests, personally oversaw the release. The bishop explained that this act of mercy is a longstanding tradition for the diocese, fueled by the generosity of priests, religious, and lay faithful.

“It has been a tradition that I, together with my priests, the religious and the Christians of the diocese … struggle to see what we can do in order to get them out of prisons,” Bibi stated.

“I’m happy today that the work that the Justice and Peace Office has carried out has made it possible for us to release these prisoners… This is the first set we are doing. We will work again and get another list,” Bibi said.

The bishop’s involvement with the Buea Central Prison extends far beyond Tuesday’s event, according to Prison Administrator, Donatus Ntemgwa. He said the release of the 29 inmates has scaled down overcrowding in the prison.

“He has also promised us to do post-detention care… since he has promised us to follow up these inmates after their release, so we are very, very happy,” the prison administrator told journalists.

However, Bibi cautioned the newly freed individuals, urging them to make a clean break from their past.

“The prison is not their home,” the bishop stated.

“They came here because they did something that was not proper. Some came here because of misjudgments … they should go and not come back, because some of them have gone and come back once, twice, thrice,” the bishop said.

To ensure they don’t return, the Justice and Peace Commission is implementing a comprehensive reintegration plan. Mbong outlined a multi-faceted approach to the social and economic reintegration of the ex-prisoners.

“As of today, we are going to get a database of those who have skills and their talents,” the commissioner told Crux.

“Some have already expressed the need to want to continue on skills training or to continue education. So we still have to look for resources to be able to support them,” she explained.

She said the commission “will maintain contact with the former inmates, assist with family reconciliation in cases where needed, and help them find productive work.”

One freed prisoner, a former hairdresser, said that she will “start from where I stopped.”

The Church officials pledged to help secure essential documents for those who lack them, such as birth certificates and national identity cards.

Mbong made a direct appeal to the public for support, given the costs involved.

“We cannot do all at a time, and I want to use this forum to appeal to those who can and have the resources to support the Justice and Peace Office in this mission of preparing these inmates and also facilitating their reintegration into society,” she said.

For the 29 prisoners who walked through the prison gate into freedom, the journey to a new life has just begun, with the Diocese of Buea pledging to walk alongside them every step of the way.