By Barrister ATOH WALTER*
It is outrageous, yet, arguably, the Republic of Cameroun is seemingly governed from within a sub-sect, a sub-sect that is managed by a very few, and absolutely fragmented from the sect. Unarguably, noteworthy, is the fact that, for the past 50 years or so, even within the sub-sect, a very few would have known with certainty what is going on or happening, and specifically, what is going on or happening within the public institutions, such as, SONARA in Limbe, and the Port Authority of Douala, just to name a very few.
The scrappiness from within the sub-sect has caused enormous prejudices within the entire sect, for instance, state orders, are not applicable to all, and recently, Cameroon tops the chart in sub-Saharan Africa relating to the number of infected persons with Coronavirus (COVID-19), 1.430 people infected, including 692 active, 120 hospitalised, and 20 on respiratory assistance, 668 recovered and 43 deaths.
It should be noted that, the Coronavirus pandemic is the most dreaded in our time, yet, a very few, probably because of their positions and or influences within the sub-sect have caused a rise in the number of infected persons in Cameroon. Many of such persons have refused to be quarantined, yet, coming back from overseas, where COVID -19 has killed so many, notwithstanding the enormous developed medical facilities in these countries:- France, Italy, Germany and the U.S.A, you name the rest.
Appalling, yet, only in Cameroon, many would have wished others dead.
Arguably or unarguably, in a society full of moral compromise, even the most ethical and committed person feels the damaging effects of moral depravity. The most serious and or thoughtful, is probably the growing acceptance of lower moral standards in a society.
In Cameroon today, people no longer care about violence, discrimination, harassment, or conflicts. Cameroonians are seemingly just too very busy doing their everyday work to show their commitment or try to defend higher moral ideals. Even when they fall victim to moral decadence and or decay, they may not be in a position to defend their interests or seek justice.
In Cameroon today, it is not uncommon for violence and corruption to go unpunished.
In Cameroon today, it is also common to treat victims as offenders, and vice versa. Be minded that, moral decadence lowers standards of moral behavior and creates new but lower criteria for ethics and justice.
In Cameroon today, people are no longer required to act morally or ethically.
In Cameroon today, people no longer expect each other to be noble. Cameroonians no longer expect each other to be honest.
The Ngarbuh incident on the 14th day of February, 2020, which led to many dead, speaks loudest, yet, state sovereignty is used as a defence, in order to abuse Human Rights while perpetrators of such monstrous and or heinous crime(s) are exalted and encouraged to continue with such genocidal disposition.
Dreadful, yet, a morally decadent society is no longer sensitive to the issues of violence, injustice, discrimination, corruption, sexual harassment or fairness. Undisputedly, moral decadence is a path to self-destruction because only societies that maintain high moral standards can preserve their economic, social, and cultural well-being.
Cameroon in the present age is in disarray, confusion, at ‘… six and seven…’, Shakespeare, KING RICHARD II. This is quite shameful. Quite a lot has gone wrong in the psyche of almost every Cameroonian, yet, nobody cares.
The Cameroonian mentality is strange, and even obscure. Irksomely, yet, Tuesday, 14th day of January, 2020, a 15- year-old form three Student (Brice Bisse Ngosso) of Government High School Nkolbisson in Yaoundé stabbed his Mathematics teacher (Maurice Njoni Tchakounte) to dead with a pair of compass.
There’s problem everywhere in Cameroon today, problem in schools, problem in the society, yet, religious knowledge is discarded in our schools, and religious knowledge certificates are not recognised by our institutions. There’s absolutely gross reduction in the moral values in Cameroon. There’s progressive loss of or weakening of the moral and ethical structures that have traditionally prevailed in Cameroon. There’s absolutely perceived decay in standards, morals, dignity, religious faith, honor and discipline in Cameroon. In Cameroon many people are so desperate to reap where they have not sowed. God, help us.
Barrister ATOH WALTER M. TCHEMI,
HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST
FOUNDER AND C.E.O: THE TIME LAW FIRM, P. O. Box 244 Kumba
Email: atoh@thetimelawfirm.com / website: www.thetimelawfirm.com
TEL: (00237) 677 62 73 08