By DOH JAMES SONKEY
Members of Parliament have been tasked to champion efforts to restore peace in the North West and South West regions of Cameroon. They were given the challenge last March 28, 2018 at the Ngoa Ekelle hemicycle of the National Assembly in Yaounde during the Parliamentary Action Day on peace and Conflict Resolution that witnessed the official launching of the International Association of Parliamentarians for Peace (IAPP).
Chaired by Senior Vice Speaker, Hon Hilarion Etong in the presence of the Minister of Women Empowerment and the Family, Prof Marie Therese Abena Ondoa and South African High Commissioner to Cameroon, H.E Routh Magou and a representative of the Minister of Social Affairs, the Parliamentary Action Day for Peace and Conflict Resolution enabled MPs to renew commitments to help in the restoration of peace in Anglophone Cameroon.
The Senior Vice Speaker noted that “peace is at the centre of all human activities, it is therefore indispensable especially for our country at this challenging period, let us be peace ambassadors at all times.”
Speaking at the occasion, the Executive President of AIPP, Hon Awudu Cyprain Mbaya underlined that “Today is a great day in our nation as we are gathered here to remind ourselves of a peaceful nation that Cameroon used to be. What went wrong, what wrong did we commit to God. What is the way forward because we Parliamentarians cannot keep folding our arms and watch our society deteriorate in such a way”
Hon Awudu Cyprain insisted that “We cannot talk of peace without justice, we can’t talk peace by using guns but we must learn to apologize and move on. As leaders, we must know how to manage situations by learning from others.”
To stress the need for the return of peace in Cameroon at the moment, Hon Awudu Cyprian Mbaya recommended that “each time someone greets you or ask you a question, your lone answer must only be that, peace.”
Being an initiative of the Universal Peace Federation in collaboration with the National Assembly, the Parliamentary Action Day for Peace equally featured the award of certificates to over 20 designated Peace Ambassadors such as, Hon Hilarion Etong, Barrister Ntumfor Nico Halle, Minister Gregoire Owona, Minister Marie Therese Abena Ondoa, Hon Ayayi Rosette, Hon Ngala Esther, Justice Awarem Florence, Rev Dieudonné Massi Gams, Rev Nfor Philemon, Hon Martin Oyono etc.
Addressing Parliamentarians, the Minister of Women Empowerment and the Family, Prof Marie Therese Abena Ondoa stated that “We know that when peace is threatened, women and children are the first victims and that is why we support all peace initiatives. We will continue to sensitize families on the importance of peace.”