By DOH JAMES SONKEY
The President of the Republic, Paul Biya has signaled he will put an end to the series of killings of forces of law and order in general and the recent ones around Mamfe in the South West Region by “Anglophone secessionists.”
The Head of State made the declaration last November 30, 2017 to press men at the Yaounde Nsimalen International Airport as he returned from Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire where he attended the 5th Africa Union-European Union Summit.
President Biya who, until now, had not publicly addressed the deteriorating socio-political crisis in the North West and South West Regions of the country declared that “I heard with deep emotion, the assassination of four soldiers and two polices officers in the south west region of our country. Following the disappearance of these six military officers, I’ll like to present my condolences to the bereaved families as well as to our defense forces. I think that things are becoming clearer to everyone now that Cameroon is victim to repeated terrorist attacks from a secessionist group. In the face of such repeated aggression, I’ll like to assure Cameroonians that measures have been taken to eliminate these criminals and bring back peace throughout the national territory”
The Head of State firmly assured the Cameroon people that all measures have been taken to put an end to these acts of aggression, and to ensure that peace and security reign all over the national territory.
In reaction to the declaration of the President of the Republic, Paul Biya, the leading opposition Social Democratic Front, SDF MP, Hon Joseph Mbah Ndam who doubles as Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly expressed shock with President Biya’s solution to the escalated crisis
“It is unfortunate that the President of the Republic is bent at using force in an attempt to solve a purely socio-political crisis that can be handled in a rather peaceful manner through dialogue. We have repeatedly condemned the use of force against unarmed civilians that has led to the deterioration of the crisis as we experience today with the killing of military officers. At SDF, we believe that all lives are important, that of civilians and the military. This is why we are advocating for political dialogue that can preserve both lives”, Mbah Ndam told reporters
Hon Mbah Ndam vowed that the SDF will continue to mount pressure on the government by blocking all plenary meetings at the National Assembly because it is giving deaf ear to the overdue dialogue on the Anglophone crisis that can help avert a civil war provoked by both sides seeking for revenge.
Last week, Members of Parliament of the Social Democratic Front in a demonstration in the House Chamber at the National Assembly choked PM Yang’s presentation of government economic, financial, social and cultural programme for the 2018 financial year demanding the Prime Minister to discuss the Anglophone problem first before presenting the programme.