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Biya’s COVID-19 largesse hits the road

April 30, 2020
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By DOH JAMES SONKEY
Hundreds of truck loads with President Paul Biya’s anti-COVID-19 materials have left the nation’s capital, Yaounde to the various regions. The trucks carrying the Head of State’s personal gesture to his compatriots nationwide left the esplanade of the Yaounde City Council under the supervision of the Minister of Territorial Administration, Paul Atanga Nji. Dishing out final instructions to his col-laborators of the Division of Civil Protection, the MINAT boss stressed that “you must take these materials to the ten regional headquarters where they will be received upon arrival by Governors who will in turn send to the various Senior Divisional Officers who will also dispatch them to the various Divisional Officers in their areas of command.”
The Territorial Administration boss ordered that trucks heading to the three northern regions go first starting with the Far North, the North and Adamawa regions because of their long distances after which those of the other regions followed.

By NOELA EBOB BISONG An atmosphere of surprise, shock, excitement and mixed-feelings characterised the later part of Tuesday, April 21, 2020 across Cameroon and beyond, following a communiqué by which the government of Cameroon claimed responsibility that, its soldiers were responsible for the February 14, 2020 bloodshed in Ngarbuh, a locality in the Donga Mantung division of the North West region of Cameroon. The incident which received widespread condemnation with many civil society activists categorising it as a crime against humanity, following the fact some harmless civilians including at least 11 children and some pregnant women were among the 22 deaths. Initially, the government, through its Minister of Defence and Communication were quick to dismiss opinions that the state defence forces were responsible for the massacre. However, after pressure from some national and international bodies for an impartial investigation into the incident, President Biya ordered an investigation, creating a five-man commission of inquiry led by Chemuta Divine Banda, president of the National Human Rights Commission. At a time when hopes were being lost as to whether the findings of the commission will ever be made public, Minister of State, Secretary General at the Presidency of the Republic, Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh’s communiqué, on the instructions of President Biya, got the nation on its heels, as many went ahead to celebrate what they termed, government taking responsibility over military excesses, for first time ever! Following the communiqué, the government details what is said to have transpired during the early hours of that fateful February 14, in the Ngarbuh locality. Noting that the state had previously received a biased report from its elements on the field, the government holds some of its elements responsible for unprofessionalism whereby they included armed civilians into a military mission that led to the loss of innocent lives and property. As a result, Major Nyiangono Ze Charles Eric, Commander of the 52 Infantry Motorised Batallion, Sergent Baba Guida, a gendarme officer Sanding Sanding Cyrille and one soldier by name Haranga Gilbert, are said to have been arrested and will be appearing at the Military Tribunal to answer charges in the days ahead while investigations are on to tract down the 10 members of a Vigilante group which assisted in the bloody expedition. According to the communiqué, President Biya, while extending the nation’s condolence to the bereaved families has equally instructed that the bodies of the victims be exhumed for a befitting burial by the state, the payment of compensation to the bereaved families as well as the creation of a military base in Ngarbuh for the security of the villages henceforth. While the action of the state to the Ngrabuh incident has been described by some as remarkable, calls are on for government to take similar actions in view of other similar incidents which have occurred in the past, or may, in the future. Others however remain doubtful to government’s sincerity in the findings: “There is a reasonable basis to believe that the report is a cover up. The alleged cross fire in a civilian settlement fails to meet the proportionality threshold under the Geneva Conventions and should not form part of a credible investigation or enquiry. A professional army should not conduct an armed operation in a civilian settlement. The alleged suspicious presence of alleged armed combatants in the civilian settlement did not alter the civilian nature of the settlement. This is one important reason why the superior commanders who ordered the operation must bear individual and superior command responsibility for the crimes committed by their subordinates. For me, and unless the complete report establishes otherwise, the communiqué of the Secretary General at the Presidency appears to be a damage control effort intended to conceal the crimes of superior commanders rather than establish a credible basis for accountability and justice”, a source says. Reactions UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet “I welcome the Government’s decision to set up a national commission of inquiry, comprised of military officers, to look into these killings. I applaud the fact that the commission created under the authority of the Ministry of Defence worked with the participation of civil society representatives, religious leaders and the president of the national human rights institution. It is now essential that all those responsible for the deaths of the people in the village of Ngarbuh are held fully to account in a fair and transparent judicial process… I call on the Government to ensure that the security forces abide by applicable international law norms and standards during the conduct of their operations. Any allegations of human rights violations and abuses must be promptly investigated and actions taken to combat impunity and prevent reoccurrence. I also remind armed separatist groups of their responsibilities under international law and call on all parties to refrain from deliberate attacks on civilians.” Peter Henry Barlerin, US ambassador to Cameroon “Elements of peace starting to come together in Cameroon: Government transparency about Ngarbuh massacre; U.S. congratulations; Anglophone citizens becoming fed up with extremism of separatist militias. Let the U.S.-led talks begin.” Agbor Balla (Human Rights/Anglophone Activist) “Whilst commending the report of the Commission of Inquiry of the Ngarbuh killings and noting the recommendations to bring to justice the perpetrators, We recommend that for justice to be done and to be seen to be done, the trial of the perpetrators should be fair and open to the public. The government should assist the families of the victims to travel to Yaounde and they should be provided unfettered access to attend the trials at the military court. Their accommodation whilst in Yaounde should be taken care of by Government. The recommendation of exhuming corpses of the victims and given them a proper and befitting burial and providing financial compensation to their families is laudable. Another form of reparation from the State could be the naming of a street or streets in Ngarbuh after the victims. In addition, the state should declare a national day of mourning on behalf of the victims of the Ngarbuh killings. The state can also provide free education to the children and dependents of the victims. The state can provide pipe borne water and construct roads in Ngarbuh and its environs.” Edith Kah Walla, president of Cameroon People’s Party (CPP) “Government had never admitted the military commits atrocities in the Anglophone regions. Top government officials had always baptized the military as always very professional blaming separatists.”
Cross section of truck loads containing presidential anti-COVID-19 tools

Talking to reporters before giving the official departure of the close to 190 truck loads to the various regions, the Minister of Territorial Administration, Paul Atanga Nji said: “The presidential gesture is intended to go and choke the virus at the level of the 360 subdivisions of the country so that the virus should not reach divisional levels.”
The MINAT boss concluded that “through this personal gesture, our Head of State, H.E Paul Biya who is a man of his words has decided to crucify COVID-19. The President of the Republic took this decision to offer anti COVID-19 materials worth FCFA 2 billion to all 360 subdivisions of the country in order to generalise the fight at the grassroot level against this deadly pandemic.”
The presidential gesture worth FCFA 2 billion is comprised of the following items:
– 50,000 cartons of laundry soap (four million pieces of soap),
– 1,500,000 protective face masks for the population,
– 50,000 surgical masks for health personnel,
-75,000 household buckets for household use;
– 40,000 hand washing cans of 30 litres each,
– Rapid screening test kits,
– Respiratory devices for hospitals.
The Territorial Administration Minister reiterated that “This special gift should not be mistaken for actions of the Special Solidarity Fund created by the Head of State on the sideline of this pan-demic.”

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