EDITORIAL Archives - THE SUN NEWSPAPER CAMEROON

Mr. Persident your people are waiting

Steve — Tue, 11 Nov 2025 10:11:03 +0000

The presidential election of October 12, 2025 has come and gone. Despite deep and genuine concerns over the conduct of the polls, the results have been proclaimed and the incumbent declared the winner. In keeping with laid down rules, he was sworn-in on November 6, to take up his eighth term in office. He will be there for the next seven years barring any unforeseen.

In the interest of peace, it is our hope that we should be able to see clearly where things have gone wrong for us to mend our broken fences and chart a new course forward. We congratulate the president for his victory.

We do this, however, with a strong message on our lips across to Mr. President that, the Cameroonian people, as well as the world at large, are waiting for the peace they believe he can now offer the Cameroonian people as a whole and the the people of the two English-speaking regions of the country in particular, following his official landslide victories in these regions. This despite the many post-election protests at home and abroad.

We are aware of the many concerns raised by the Western governments and international organizations over the conduct of the polls and the ensuing contestations.

Our entire electoral system needs to be reformed and seriously improved upon with the election management body ELECAM to be truly independent and shielded from an overbearing administration which seems to be the main masters of elections in Cameroon.

In his inaugural address, just like in 2018, President Biya called on separatists to lay down their arms and join the CNDDR centres. A call which has had very limited heeding.

Calls for inclusive dialogue continue to be drummed up nationally and internationally with the Yaounde government remaining impervious.

No doubt there was such a huge groundswell support for opposition candidate, Issa Tchiroma Bakary, who not only promised an inclusive dialogue on the issue but promised to liberate political prisoners. Mr Biya and his hardliners should have a second thought on how to resolve this 9-year-conflict.

Decentralisation is such a patent failure and the current deep frustration among the masses is partially due to the clogged wheel of Decentralisation. We have to move forward and fast.

In his speech, the president mentioned impending constitutional reforms. We think the structure of the state, electoral reforms should be high on the agenda.

Whichever way the president might have all along been directing his wisdom over this crisis, we still believe that the situation has become more complicated and cumbersome than it was when it all started with the Common Law Lawyers’ strike followed very closely by the teachers’ strike. This therefore requires even more sober reflection over his official position that the form of the state cannot be compromised.

As seen during the election, a strong consensus is building around a federal state which cannot be ignored.

What we think is important now and to a large extent urgent, is the dire need for peace and this requires that pride be put aside for concessions to be made and accepted. This is the direction we would want the president’s wisdom to take to justify the rationale in his victory.

The president during his oath-taking vowed to pay special attention to the empowerment of youths and women and improve the dilapidated sectors of roads, energy and water.

Cameroonians in towns and villages are facing nightmarish situations be it in poor roads, epileptic electricity supply and lack of potable water. The situation is both disgusting and shameful for a country so rich.

But how can it be otherwise when a few have virtually grabbed nearly all our resources and are living in luxury and nagging opulence while the majority of Cameroonians wallow in abject poverty and misery!

The president’s fight against graft, corruption and embezzlement seems to reach a deadlock as the same even on crutches lord it over vibrant and intellectually capable youths and women.

Mr. President, your people are waiting. After 43 years on the seat, nothing will justify another delay to change the direction our country has slumped into. We have already wasted so much time.

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African Fund FAGACE supports members of Cameroon’s Chamber of Agriculture

Steve — Thu, 28 Jul 2022 10:30:44 +0000

The Cameroon Chamber of Agriculture, Fisheries, Livestock and Forestry (Capef) reached a partnership with the African Guarantee and Economic Cooperation Fund (FAGACE). The deal will see the institution provide affordable credit facilities to Capef members.

“Fagace, which is a credible and capable institution, will help us obtain credit facilities at extremely low rates for our members. It will be their guarantor with all credit institutions and donors. In addition, Fagace will help us attract external funding,” said Mindjos Momeny, President of Capef.

Capef acts as the voice of the rural world to the public authorities in Cameroon. The Chamber also provides expertise, advice, training, and support to farmers, fishermen, breeders and other operators in the forestry and wildlife sector.

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The Minister’s disturbing pronouncement

Steve — Thu, 04 Jun 2020 09:50:32 +0000

Recent declarations by the minister of public health, Dr. Manaouda Malachie, are to many, very disturbing. Early last week, the minister warned that the situation of the spread of the corona-virus, despite efforts that have been put in place, is becoming complicated. At press time, Cameroon already records a total of 5,904 cases with 3,568 recoveries and l91 deaths! With these developments, we think the minister has the right to describe the situation as becoming increasingly complicated and therefore disturbing.
In the first place, the ratio accounting for increasing number of detected cases, recoveries and the deaths is certainly what is most disturbing. That, the number of detected cases, instead of dropping is only rising, certainly calls for a review of our efforts so far exerted to arrest the situation. Under the present circumstances, it becomes even more pertinent to ask the question: on whose door step must the blame be laid?
We are convinced that, like most other countries, government’s initial measures involving a comprehensive shut-down, which included the prohibition of huge gatherings, limited to not more than 50 persons in one spot were most appropriate. Such restrictions included even churches, mosques, drinking and eating places etc. The restrictions even made it compulsory for masks to be worn in public places such as markets. We think it all went well. Masks were bought and worn. Places were ordered to operate until 6.pm. What should be noted is that, most people grumbled against these measures no doubt, but they were compelled even by their own conscience that they must obey.
We want to believe that there was a genuine reason why these measures were put in place, and within the first few weeks of the restrictions, the spread seemed to have been on check. If we did ask the question, on whose door steps the blame for the now increasing number of detected cases should be laid, it is because the most important, and perhaps most effective measure was the ban on open gatherings which involved social distancing and the wearing of masks. If we should answer the question ourselves, the blame should be put on government for reneging so soon, on a decision it took which was believed to be in the best interest of the people, without applying a long tern examination of the proper results.
Besides, government failed to take into consideration the mentality of the population, especially when it comes to accepting the reality of a particular situation. We think all of us, especially government, ought to have learned some lessons from the early days of the HIV-AIDS attack, of which many Cameroonians took for a mere illusion, until it started taking its toll on many, before a treatment was discovered. This time around, after the lifting of some of the measures initially put in place for better results, there was jubilation among the population that the restrictions having been lifted, merely on the presumption that the killer diseases has at last been brought under control, and for this reason, those measures had outlived their usefulness. But if one may ask, is it really true that, these measures have outlived their usefulness? The answer is obviously NO.
We are saying no, because the minister of public health has actually foreseen the complications he had earlier warned about. In another rush decision, government has ordered that schools must resume today, Monday, June 1, 2020. We share in the minister’s fears. For instance, the level of preparedness for the resumption of schools raises even more questions than answers.
As if to compound these complications, 19 Teachers Unions have been saying NO to schools reopening come June 1, citing the increasing positive COVID-19 cases recorded. Parents on their part, as well as some students themselves, are equally expressing worries on how classes can resume in the face of the rising threat of the disease. We are therefore at the cross-roads, where parents will have to choose between their children being given the opportunity to live on the one hand, and their diplomas which may only end up being awarded to them in their graves. Certainly the first option of seeing our children alive carries the day. All we are saying is that, some serious attention should be paid to the issue of health security in schools in order to arrest this invasion.

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The “Resurrection”

Steve — Wed, 27 May 2020 10:53:27 +0000

In lighter mood, we have chosen the “RESURRECTION’ in quotes, as the caption of our editorial this week. This is so simply to reflect the mood of the nation during the past few weeks or months. The rumour machine was in full motion, milling various versions of the interpretations for the President’s absence from public view, as well as a protracted silence over a tormenting issue such as the raging Coronavirus.
To some, “Biya had died”. To others, “his health condition had deteriorated virtually beyond repairs”. Be it for those who thought he had died, or those who believed his health condition had deteriorated beyond repairs, we can only express our relief that he is alive. After all, his ultimate appearance on TV to address the nation on the occasion of the uncelebrated 20th May, national day, did put an end to all speculations centered on the where about of the president.
However, having expressed our relief from the fear of what might have actually occasioned such a disposition at a time of grief and uncertainty, following the outbreak of the deadly COVID-19, it is pertinent to wish that may it not happen again. For, no matter how good or bad a regime may be, the people must not find themselves abandoned like a rudderless ship in the middle of a gale. It is indeed troubling, especially in a sky infested by hawks, crazy for power.
We think this is exactly where we found ourselves engaged in such wild speculations as we have just experienced. We must not forget that we are cramped between the Anglophone problem, which has degenerated into a bloody war, on the one hand, and the now devastating COVID-19 VIRUS attack, both of which are certainly no welcome visitors in our midst. We therefore strongly believe that, this is no moment for any leisurely approach to serious issues, but rather, a very solemn call for prudence in their management.
We however appreciate the president for his speech to the nation last Tuesday, May 19, in which he focused on the raging Coronavirus, laying stress on the need for all Cameroonians to unite and fight this common enemy. We indeed agree the COVID-19 pandemic is a common enemy to fight with all zeal and urgency. But we in this Newspaper cannot hide our disappointment that even though the head of state was addressing the nation on the occasion of the National Day, which is purported to bear the emblem of a now fragile unity, the president made no mention of the real issue that is relevant to the Day being commemorated as a day that is expected to pin us down to our unity.
We are talking here of the Anglophone crisis, which has completely tarnished the image of a once peaceful, prosperous and united country. A crisis that has brought shame, instead of honour, to the people of this country who have now resorted to killing themselves, because those who are expected to manage this crisis situation, allow themselves to be guided by arrogance, selfishness, and a careless attitude toward handling a crisis which didn’t need to have gone this far.
What is clearly discernable here is that, there is little or no justification at all, for the president to have appealed for what he called “Union Sacre” in his speech, when in fact, part of those who could have responded to his call, are still not being thought of, or considered to be part of the whole. If the silence over the current crisis is intended to give the impression that the situation in the two Anglophone regions has been brought under control, then, what can be said about the killings that have continued to crush all hopes for a genuine and lasting solution for peace to reign.
Take for example, even on the day the president was addressing the nation on Television, gun shots were being head in Muyuka, Kumba and several other parts of the South West region. What of the killing of the Mayor of Mamfe, what of similar bloody incidents reported in many parts of the North West region? Are these signs of peace? The answer is certainly No! Again we reiterate our appreciation for the president’s concern for the welfare of the people as concerns the war against the invading Coronavirus, but this should not eclipse other devastating issues that beckon for similar attention.
The Coronavirus is not likely to live forever. Neither will it consume an entire humanity. When it shall have been fought to finish, or brought under control, like many others before it, it shall only form part of the history of pandemics for future generations. But the blood of innocent people, who were targeted and slaughtered in a senseless war, will continue to remind survivors of the carnage, that the journey towards peace is still long and the tears of suffering will tell the whole story.

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The Tiko Port Palavar

Steve — Wed, 20 May 2020 10:56:38 +0000

In one of our recent issues, precisely our Tuesday May 5, issue, we carried a front page story captioned, TIKO PORT GOING? which our reporter gathered from an exclusive investigative beat. Our investigations, as the story reported have revealed a behind-the scenes proposed deal which is tending to dent the relationship between port authorities of the Douala Autonomous Port, the Limbe Port subdivision on the one hand, and the Special Amphibious Battalion, on the other, currently stationed within the premises of the Tiko Port, popularly known as Tiko Wharf.
The crux of the matter is that, the Special Amphibious Battalion, which had all along occupied this space within the premises of the Tiko Wharf on certain terms, notably based on an authorisation allowing the BSA to occupy the space for a period of three years, now seems to have fallen in love with the site and badly wants to own it and turn it into a permanent military base. That in the proposal by the Special Amphibious Battalion, out of the 19 Hectares of land belonging to Tiko Wharf, they are asking to be given 17 Hectares, leaving the port with only two Hectares. We are reluctant to share the view that what this clearly suggests is that, behind this proposal lies a secret agenda to put the Tiko Wharf completely out of business.
It would be pertinent to remind those behind this project to take a look back at the past three years of the explosion of the Anglophone crisis to discover how high the desire for a comprehensive peace plan has engaged the minds of right-thinking Cameroonians, including even our well-wishers of the international community. History is ready to cease every opportunity to remind Cameroonians on both sides of the Mongo, in case we have forgotten, that the Tiko wharf, side by side the Victoria, now Limbe seaport, played a major role in the economy of the erstwhile Federal Republic of Cameroon in general, and the then state of West Cameroon in particular. We believe it still has the potentials to do even more if given the chance in the proper frame of mind by our leaders.
It is unfortunate that what seemed to have come out loudly and forcefully from what history has already absorbed: The Major National Dialogue, and we are referring here to THE SPECIAL STATUS, prescribed for the two English speaking regions of Cameroon, we in this Newspaper strongly believe the logic of the special status missed the point. For example, the protection of such historical establishments as the Tiko wharf, which is part and parcel of the experiences of the people of this part of the country, ought to have been listed out as an item that constitute the body of the special status and recognised as such.
That, the Special Amphibious Battalion of the Cameroon Army has decided to set its eyes and mind on this particular site does not appear to have stemmed on good faith. The highest their wish for this space of land can produce, is for the people of these two regions to reaffirm their already in-built-belief, that their marginalisation continues unaddressed. We are however comforted by the fact that, the Prime Minister, Chief Dion Ngute, instructed the coordination of a meeting in which serious arguments against the BSA request were raised.
For instance, the Ports Authorities at the meeting argued, frantically in favour of the BSA being relocated elsewhere permanently, while only the technical services of BSA are allowed to remain within the port. We think this is a laudable option, which we hope the government, represented by the prime minister, himself an Anglophone, will look seriously into, particularly as the Port’s Authorities revealed that, it has a number of infrastructural rehabilitation projects with a couple of partners, in view of creating employment and reducing poverty. This is important.
It should however be noted that the Tiko port has been in existence for many years and has all along been giving locals of the area not only a feeling of pride and a sense of belonging, but has continued to provide a veritable source of survival. To deprive them of this opportunity to live like a people who deserve a share in the national cake, is indeed a true version of marginalistion, and Anglophones have for too long been singing this song!

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War against COVID-19: Where exactly are we?

Steve — Thu, 07 May 2020 08:54:19 +0000

It is over three months now since the world was thrown off balance by a strange pandemic which has taken millions of lives even among the big and powerful nations of the world, powerful nations who are, under normal circumstances expected to provide the impetus to encourage the weaker and smaller ones, particularly in Africa. Such big nations in which science and technology abound are even more devastated. This is where our misery and fear of the unknown begins to manifest, with our health services barely managing to face the challenge with the scarce means at our disposal, in the face of such an emergency situation.
We however appreciate Government for the measures and efforts so far put in place, but we think such measures should equally be accompanied by direct action on the ground. One of such government measures is an instruction from the Minister of Public Health, Manaouda Malachie, that, suspected patients should not be taken to public or private Hospitals, only to specialised centres recommended by government. The irony of it all is that, in these specialised centres, the necessary equipment and even services are either not available or are in adequate. A typical example is a case that was discovered at the Middle Farms Hospital in Limbe recently, and there was little that could be done to save the situation.
Besides, as it has always been the case, particularly in public medical services, the attitude of most medical staff has always been, in terms of reception and services, a contrast to their sworn commitment to the welfare of the patient. It is only, by the Will of God that, the situation of this invading epidemic has not, as we are being informed by government, done much damage, and that, we are making some progress.
Recently the Prime Minister announced that government has relaxed some measures earlier taken that were counter-productive on the economy. One can therefore easily be tempted to believe that this could well mean that, the pandemic has been put under some measure of control, and that, Government’s claim that we are making progress in the war against COVID-19 is credible. The truth is that government itself does not seem to be standing on solid ground to determine where exactly we now find ourselves in this struggle. There is obviously still much to be done, and one with all openness, and no effort should be spared towards this goal. This means that, no pretext, no pride or prejudices should be given a place on this battle-front.
This is therefore where we think the news about the Archbishop of Douala’s announcement of a likely cure for the pandemic is good news. It is even more consoling that the Archbishop’s initiative is already attracting government’s attention so abruptly. To cynics, most of whom have never entertained any credibility on traditional herbal cure, this is not the time to claim monopoly of wisdom. Such should hold their peace. The Archbishop states that within the last three decades he has discovered herbal treatment for ailments affecting the human respiratory system. With fever, cough, shortness of breath, or difficulty in breathing, among other symptoms of the novel coronavirus . The Priest has taken time to explain the process of his experiment, based on the fact that he already knew the plants according to the symptoms of COVID-19, he simply had to put together these combinations, prepare them and give to persons with the symptoms and they were relieved. It would be unfair therefore to doubt a man offering contribution freely towards a major project such as this involving human life. We salute government for having been pricked by this offer.
We certainly believe that there may be other Cameroonians of good will out there, who may have one or two things to offer. Our wish is that let politics and sentiments be left out of this. We regret the case of Professor Maurice Kamto, whose donation was turned down by the minister of public health under whose ministry the war command responsibility lies. We can clearly see the dirty hand of politics at play here.

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VTC relaunches SIMS® to foster e-learning amid COVID-19

thesuncameroon — Fri, 24 Apr 2020 08:59:19 +0000

A Cameroonian tech startup, Visionary Technologies Company, VTC, has relaunched its
innovative solution dubbed Scholar Information Management System, SIMS®, a learning and
school management app built to enable distant learning, accessible 24/7 anytime, anywhere.
The relaunching of this e-learning app is in response to one of the 13 measures published by
the Cameroon Government, March 27, 2020, to fight against coronavirus (COVID-19); the
promotion of the use of Education Technology as a means of education. The outbreak of the
pandemic has undoubtedly changed the operating system of countries the world over, with
businesses, churches and even schools shut down, leaving over half a billion learners out of
school for the first time ever in an attempt to reduce the spread of the virus.
Though the first time the Cameroon Government is openly encouraging the use of e-learning,
this learning method has so far proven itself as stable and effective in countries already
applying it, with the help of newly developed tech learning platforms.
Inspired by the challenges faced by school in Cameroon, SIMS was conceived with an
objective to combine a multitude of solutions to tackle the problems facing the education
system in Africa.

SIMS® App Logo

SIMS® (Scholar Information Management System) an AI-powered innovative learning and school management app designed to provide learners , educators and administrators with a single robust, secure and integrated system to create blended or personalized and remote learning accessible 24/7 anytime anywhere.

The app currently comprises two major features, with dozens of
functionalities in each. SIMS® simulates a real-world class room, where students can login
and get classes and lectures, and teachers upload videos and lectures so that students in
every classes can study and be promoted to the next class, just like it is done in a normal
classroom scenario.

The SIMS® Learner simulates the traditional classroom with features built to enable the same
teacher-student exchange. Here, learners login and get access to lectures through videos
and notes uploaded by teacher; get evaluated and promoted to the next class.
Providing school programmes like Cameroon General Education Exams( G.C.E), Baccalaureate, University Degree programs in rich content, a built-in networking for teacher-student interactions, file
sharing and assignment grading has been ensured, with a live chat room.
The SIMS® Manager, on its part, is a secure efficient management portal for schools to
manage invoices and auto reconcile fees payment, with other operations like timetables and
report card generations, fees collection, a database of all teachers and students, also including
communication facilities. The App has been tested, and is currently being used by two schools
with proof of efficiency. The SIMS project will improve on education for learners, as well as
support and develop teachers. It will also collect the definitive data set on education in Africa
for better policies.
The first version of the learning platform (SIMS®) was launched in 2017 in an effort to lend an
intervening arm in the education problem caused by the Anglophone crisis in the Northwest
and Southwest regions. It was however, put on hold due to insufficient funding and the lack of
qualified human resource, which unfortunately is still the case.

VTC Managing Director FRANCIS FON TEBOH

It is to be noted that the SIMS® project is a community project and flagship product of VTC
which recently won a 5000 USD in seed funding from Tony Elumelu Foundation 2019, and also won West Africa’s Innovation Awards 2019; AWARD CATEGORY: Most Customer- Focused Digital Marketing Company of the Year, ICT Leadership Category.

As we fight the coronavirus pandemic, it is there-for open for every interested party; be it volunteers, angel investors or goodwill ambassadors to join the already existing team, who are doing everything possible not to only beat the current crisis by bringing education beyond
walls through SIMS®, but also contributing in achieving United Nation’s SDG4 (Sustainable Development Goal four): Quality Education, not only for Cameroon but Africa and beyond.

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BEAC and Cameroon’s Bilingualism

Steve — Wed, 22 Apr 2020 10:57:41 +0000

It is on record that, the last straw that broke the camel’s back about four years ago, over the issue of the marginalisation of the English speaking people of Cameroon, was the annoying issue of having only the French version of the OHADA Law in operation in a bilingual country. This, it would be remembered, seriously angered Common Law Lawyers of English speaking expression. The Lawyers peacefully took to the streets, to democratically express their grievances. The reaction of the Government to this is needless to recount. The entire world knows. It was a nasty and humiliating confrontation of armed security agents against Lawyers in their robes and wigs.
It however seems to have become history today. But in the course of time, the Lawyers continued to press on, until government later reasoned with them in their demand and ultimately redressed the situation, which simply required a translation of the Law into English. We think this was normal and reasonable enough in any bilingual or multilingual set-up, such as the group of states of the Central African Region.
However, as if this was not enough to serve as a good lesson, with our status as a bilingual country, which deserve the right and pride to be respected as such in any given assembly of nations, another shock came up a fortnight ago, when BEAC, the central bank of a number of countries of the Central African sub region, is reported to have rejected an application from the Cameroon Postal Services, CAMPOST, for the simple reason that the said application was addressed in English. Unfortunately for BEAC, the document rejecting the CAMPOST request which was signed by the Governor of BEAC, Abbas Mahamat Tolli, found its way on social media on April 18, 2020, which reports stated that the bank had rejected the application for being irregular in form, as it was written in English and not in French.
However in a press release issued by the bank and signed by the Governor, April 20, he insists that the purpose of the letter from the Governor to the director General of CAMPOST, was precisely to point out some irregularities in accordance with CEMAC applicable laws. As if intending to lay blame on the social media for distorting the true content of the letter, the Governor simply deplored the fact that the above mentioned letter which ought to be read, taking into account the usual context of the examination of technical files, ended up in the social media. So, one may ask: what damage has the social media done to the real context of that letter?
Take for example, where the Governor states categorically that, “in accordance with the common use of French as a working language in BEAC, and for reasons of efficiency and speed in the examination of the submitted technical file, CAMPOST was requested to provide a French language version of the file.”
Looking closely at the Governor’s argument above, it simply implies that, in accordance with the common use of French as a working language, it has become instutionalised and that French has become the official language of a group that has more than one language such as CEMAC. So one may also ask, if CAMPOST does not go back to its translation desk to do the bidding of BEAC, what will be the outcome of their request?
However, having arrived at this point of our argument, it is necessary to examine the stature of Cameroon in the CEMAC zone. Cameroon is by right a giant in that sub region and it deserves the right to pool its weight and impress on other members of the body within CEMAC that she is a bilingual country and must be accorded that status by making CEMAC a gathering of countries operating on a multilingual structure. But on the contrary, it is not surprising that Cameroon should be a country within CEMAC to be treated with such disdain.
The issue of bilingualism has caused English speaking people of Cameroon so much marginalisation and humiliation, ending up in a bloody crisis still far from a solution. If today this same humiliation is finding expression outside our borders in organisations such as CEMAC, because those who singed treaties that link us up with such bodies seem not to be ready to compromise their positions on home-base problems such is the bilingualism issue in Cameroon. It is now more than obvious that CEMAC, as well as many other organisations linked up to CEMAC are the brain-child of France. The BEAC case is unfortunate. Too difficult to explain why Cameroon should find her selve facing such humiliation.

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What patriotism demands in the war against Coronavirus

Steve — Wed, 25 Mar 2020 10:09:53 +0000

A certain disease that has come to be known as Coronavirus and codenamed COVID 19, has killed thousands of people throughout the world, according to the World Health Organisation. Never has a single pandemic shaken the entire world so horribly, to the extent that, humanity no longer seems able to believe that the world could be entangled in such a state of panic and loss of self assurance, all of a sudden.
It all started in China, which has already recorded a death toll of more than Three Thousand Five Hundred, spreading fast to other countries, including France, Italy, Belgium and other European countries, most of them badly hit. The situation is such that, not a single country in the world is at the moment able to speculate where next. It has crossed over to the Americas and even the Arab world. The consoling development is that drastic measures are being taken to at least check the rate at which it is spreading.
Perhaps the most effective of these measures being adopted by almost every country for now, is the closure of borders, air, sea and land borders. We consider this measure as being effective for the fact that this disease is exported from its country of origin being China, and that for other countries to prevent it from entering their territories through people traveling from affected countries, it is better for borders to be closed.
It is obvious that the gravity of the situation is evident enough. Looking at it from any angle, the conclusion is that humanity is facing a strange threat to life. Much more needs to be done at the level of individual countries to save humanity from this calamity. Fortunately Cameroon has joined other countries in putting in place certain measures which include border closure.
But while we strongly appreciate government’s move in taking a series of measures aimed at preventing the spread of the pandemic, we think it acted a little sluggishly in addressing the situation. We are saying this with certainty because the first case was detected on a passenger from France at the Yaounde Nsimalen international airport nearly two weeks ago. The number of cases continued to rise progressively, while the borders remained open and flights continued to bring in passengers, most of whom were detected with Coronavirus.
As at the time of our going to press, there were already over 40 detected cases as tweeted by Cameroon’s health minister, Manaouda. Our regret here is therefore that, government did not apply the necessary prompt action. We strongly believe that if the borders had been closed early enough, after the first case was detected, and even after our closest neighbour Nigeria had announced one or two cases, we could not have found ourselves in the situation in which we are presently.
All said, we think the minister of public health should be given a part on the back for his solo initiative in prescribing for the public consumption certain basic ad conventional sanitary rules, such as constant washing of the hands and avoiding close contacts with people, avoiding handshakes etc. He also prescribed quarantine measure for people entering the country through the borders. It was not until towards the end of last week that the Prime Minister, Dr. Dione Ngute, on the instructions of the head of state, announced a series of measures which included the closure of all borders.
Some of the thirteen items on the list of measures seemed difficult and debasing no doubt, but they stood as necessary weapons for the war against a common enemy. It only required that Cameroonians put in a spirit of patriotism by simply respecting the measures, so to save the country from a looming danger. It also required that we throw overboard our pride and personal justification. The issue of subjecting in- coming passengers under the process of Quarantine is one that ought not to annoy anyone, or humiliate anyone, no matter his or her position in society. Yet this is exactly what happened!
Regrettably enough, a prominent member of society, in the person of the Speaker of the national assembly, who was on board an Air France plane carrying about one hundred and forty passengers from France, a major affected country decided to ignore this measure of being subjected to a process of Quarantine for a prescribed period of fourteen days. The truth is that we are in the middle of a national emergency in which, humility counts in our approach to the situation. This is not the best of time for politics. It is a question of saving our beloved country from doom. We must therefore rally behind government. And all that is required of us is to respect the measures taken. There is much hope we shall survive the storm.

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The vacuity of sovereignty

Steve — Tue, 10 Mar 2020 10:48:17 +0000

The past two weeks or so have sounded stormy in the relationship between Cameroon and France, on account of the French President’s recent outing on Cameroon. President Emmanuel Macron, no doubt declared that he indeed, did put pressure on President Biya to release Professor Maurice Kamto along with other political prisoners. There is no doubt that President Macron’s declaration has simply rekindled a recycling puzzle, which is now being put in a straight forward question: Is France actually remotely controlling Cameroon?
To quote the French President in his declaration to a Cameroonian Activist, Calibri Calibro, “I put pressure on Paul Biya to deal with the subject of the English Speaking area and its opponents. I told him that I did not want to receive him in Lyon until Maurice Kamto was released.” Every curious mind will want to know what was so urgent for the Cameroonian President to be so keen to meet Macron, to the extent that, such hard conditions had to be put to enable President Biya to meet with his French counterpart.
At the end of the day, Kamto was released and Macron finally received Biya in Lyon. At this point, it becomes pertinent to ask those who frantically insist on the sovereignty of the Cameroonian state to define the character of that sovereignty in the face of circumstances under which we tend to loss control of our dignity as a nation that must reduce its leanings on bigger powers. The recent reaction of the Cameroonian authorities to the Macron’s outing simply explains how much we labour in vain to redress the vacuity of the sovereignty of our nation. Either we simply refuse to give serious thought to the purpose for which sovereignty, especially of a people stands for, or we are simply determined to play lackeys to the big powers at will. We are certainly playing the latter.
It is true that in diplomacy, like in any other calling, there are ethics or certain norms that must be respected. We agree that Macron must have crossed the red line here in defiance of diplomatic culture. But under the dark cover of diplomacy, the reality is usually eclipsed for the simple pride of protecting the dignity of the discipline. But this is in most cases injurious at certain levels in the quality of relations between some countries, for example the relationship between France and Cameroon. This is a case which is bound by a number of intricacies, such that, with time, are likely to produce sparks.
It is on record that at the time of the independence of the former French Cameroun, a number of now outdated pacts were agreed upon between France and Cameroun, relating to military, monetary, and cooperation, commerce, maritime, you name it, which have neither been reviewed nor revoked. Today, most of these bilateral agreements represent veritable conduit pipes through which France’s exploitation in Cameroon manifests itself. Unfortunately the French Ambassador to Cameroon, Christophe Guilhou, is quoted to have said that Cameroon is the third highest recipient of French support and that France spends hundreds of millions of Euros a year on Cameroon and he maintains that this cannot be an act of exploitation.
The Diplomat may be right depending also on the terms under which Cameroon receives this money. On the other hand, one may also ask if this cannot equally be used as an incentive through which France bulldozes her way into various sectors of the country’s economy, for instance in the oil sector and even politics? We think the issue of our sovereignty is a long debate that is only likely to pin us to the wall. We have already noted that under the dark cover of diplomacy the hard issues are eclipsed to create the false impression that all is well. But there becomes a time when open reproaches such as Macron just displayed become necessary for the purpose of a new dispensation.
We in this Newspaper strongly believe that Macron has certainly not wronged any right thinking Cameroonian who has this country at heart. We are talking here of the sovereignty of our nation and people. Macron’s outburst must therefore be seen to serve as an opportunity for us to open up a new chapter in our bilateral diplomacy and cooperation. This should also pass the message over to such fanatical regime supporters, that dogmatic diplomacy could as well turn out to be a source of evil, by facilitating the concealment of the truth under the cover of diplomatic courtesy. Let us be bold and hide our pride. The truth is that we are not altogether a sovereign people. We failed to negotiate it from the very beginning through bilateral engagements which are today haunting us.

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