Cameroon in Shock as Musician-Turned-Spiritualist Impregnates Daughter, Claims “Divine Mission”

The case has ignited outrage across the country, and questions are mounting over why the self-proclaimed “Christ” has not been formally detained.

Saint Désir Atango, once popular in the early 2000s music scene, has more recently reinvented himself as a spiritual leader claiming to embody African animist principles. His daughter, now visibly pregnant, was admitted to a local hospital in Yaoundé, where she revealed that her father had coerced her into sexual relations under the guise of a sacred duty to produce “a line of chosen ones.”

A Shocking Confession

Following public outcry and the young woman’s hospitalization, Atango was taken in briefly by the Gendarmerie in Yaoundé’s Central Legion. However, to the disbelief of many, he was released shortly thereafter.

In a shocking and widely condemned Facebook post, Atango openly admitted to having sexual relations with both of his daughters, including fathering a child with his eldest — a 31-year-old sanitation engineer. He claimed that these actions are part of a larger mission to “restore Africa's pure bloodline” and to defy what he calls "imperialist religious dogma."

"I am not Christian. I am Christ. I am a fundamentalist animist,” Atango declared online. “If God had something against a father being his daughter’s first husband, He wouldn’t have allowed the child to be born."

He also accused political and traditional elites of conspiring against him to prevent his expected appointment as chief of the Ebang clan and to sabotage a land project near Akak I, which he claims to be developing with his daughter.

Legal Inaction Sparks Fury

Cameroonians across social media and civil society are demanding justice, expressing horror at the lack of immediate legal consequences. “This is not only criminal—it is a perversion of both law and culture,” said one women's rights activist in Yaoundé. “The law is clear: incest is a punishable offense, regardless of the perpetrator’s spiritual claims.”

Many are now pressuring the judiciary and Ministry of Justice to reopen the case and file formal charges under Cameroon’s Penal Code, which criminalizes incest, rape, and abuse of vulnerable persons.

Broader Implications

This case is more than a criminal matter — it’s a test of Cameroon’s capacity to protect women and children, to enforce the law without fear or favoritism, and to draw a firm line between spirituality and abuse.

The silence from religious institutions, law enforcement hierarchy, and cultural custodians has only deepened public unease.

How long will Cameroon allow self-declared prophets to hide behind “spiritual missions” to commit sexual crimes?
Why was Saint Désir Atango released after such an incriminating confession?
Where are the legal, medical, and psychological protections for his victims?
Is this case a wake-up call about unchecked spiritual abuse masquerading as tradition?