Conclusion
Responsible family leadership between tradition and Christianity :
there is a need for dialogue and complementarity, moving towards a
culture of responsible leadership centred on Christ and rooted in posi-
tive and universal traditional values. In short, we would urge that we
set about developing a practical concept of responsible family leader-
ship of a general and integral type, i.e. a leadership model that incor-
porates both positive traditional values and Christian principles. A
model of this type would enjoy a wide measure of legitimacy in dif-
ferent cultural settings because it would be the outcome of encounter,
dialogue and complementarity among cultures. It would also be useful
in our families today and could be used by them in their search for
authority, reference points and a model to follow.
The approach based on inter cultural dialogue would form the
basis of family political ethics worldwide and would thus contribute
to the world ethic proposed by Hans Küng in his Projekt Weltethos.
This is challenging from the practical point of view, but it is not
impossible.
REFERENCES FOR FURTHER READING
FTPY, Eglise et éducation, Yaoundé : Collection Semaine Interdisciplinaire, 1987. Handbuch der
Christlichen Ethic, Band 3 : Wege Ethischer Praxis, Basel : Herder, 1982.
IPAM, Histoire : le monde, des premiers hommes au 6 ème siècle après J. C., Tours : Mame, 1977.
Kesteloot, Lilyan, Anthologie négro-africaine, Verviers : Marabout université, 1976.
Matateyou, Emmanuel, Les nouveaux défis de la littérature orale africaine, Yaoundé : PUY, 1999.
Mbala Owono, Rigobert, Education traditionnelle et développement endogène en Afrique Centrale,
Yaoundé : Ceper, 1990.
Mvé Bekale, Marc, Piere Claver Zeng et l’art poétique fang : esquisse d’une herméneutique, Paris : l’Har-
mattan, 2001.
Ondji’i Toung, Richard, Contribution de l’éthique économique à l’examen de l’endettement
extérieur et de la pauvreté dans les pays de la C.E.M.A.C., thèse, Université de Bâle, 2003.
Quéré, France, L’Ethique et la vie, Paris : Odile Jacob, 1991.
Rich, Arthur, Ethique économique, Genève : Labor et Fides, 1994.
Stückelberger, Christoph, Global Trade Ethics, Geneva : WCC publications, 2002.
Tsira Ndong Ndoutoume, Le Mvett, épopée fang, Paris : Présence Africaine, 1983.
NOTES
(^1) On the family as an evolving social institution, cf. Rigobert Mbala Owono, Éducation tradi-
tionnelle et développement endogène en Afrique Centrale, Yaoundé : Ceper, 1990, p. 24.
(^2) For what follows, cf. Ibidem, p. 46
(^3) For further information on the ‘Nya mbôrô’, especially with regard to procreation, cf. Mbala
Owono, op. cit., p. 45, where having male children is a criterion in identifying the true man. We
shall come back to this.
(^4) It is rare for the population’s choice to take precedence over the will of the administrative
authorities.
Traditional and Christian Approaches in Cameroon 43