By DOH JAMES SONKEY
The Special envoy of US President, Donald Trump is in Cameroon since the late hours of March 16, 2019 to meet Cameroon authorities over the detention of the President of the Cameroon Renaissance Movement, CRM, Prof Maurice Kamto and his close to 200 militants and the deteriorating Anglophone crisis.
The US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Tibor Peter Nagy who arrived the country via the Douala International Airport and was welcomed by the SDO of Wouri and US Ambassador to Cameroon had indicated his intention to meet with the President of the Republic of Cameroon, Paul Biya during his visit for a tete-a-tete over these burning issues.
President Trump’s Special Envoy who did not say anything to the media upon his arrival in Douala had given a gist on his visit to Cameroon at a radio briefing in South Africa last March 12, 2019 declaring that measures taken by the Cameroon government to solve the Anglophone crisis have been ineffective, “it is perhaps time for the crisis rocking the English speaking regions to be taken to an international forum where ways forward will be discussed because my heart bleeds over the humanitarian crisis in the two Anglophone regions.”
Blaming the government earlier this month over France 24 for not being proactive in handling the Anglophone crisis, the US Diplomat wondered aloud why the crisis was first allowed to reach such disturbing proportions.
While indicating his intention to take the Anglophone problem to the international level if the Yaoundé regime does not solve it immediately, he proposed that an all-inclusive dialogue is primordial to get out of the current stalemate.
Tibor Peter Nagy equally called on Cameroon authorities to free Prof Maurice Kamto and all the CRM militants.
Corporation ties
In a press release titled “Assistant Secretary Nagy’s Visit to Crelicam Factory Highlights: U.S.-Cameroon Trade and Investment”, the United States Embassy in Yaounde writes:
March 17, 2019, Yaoundé: Assisistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Tibor Nagy and U.S. Ambassador to Cameroon Peter Henry Barlerin visited U.S.-owned ebony factory Crelicam to view firsthand the results of American investments in Cameroon. The United States aims to increase trade and commerce that creates more jobs and opportunity in Cameroon as well as in the United States. Corporate social responsibility is a hallmark characterstic of U.S. companies, and Crelicam is the embodiment of this.
Assistant Secretary Nagy said: “Taylor Guitars’ investment in Crelicam is an excellent example of how U.S. investment can improve the lives of ordinary Cameroonians while also helping U.S. businesses grow. We believe real partnerships, like Crelicam and Taylor Guitars, can ensure mutual progress for our two countries.”
The Crelicam processing plant, which employs 60 Cameroonians, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Taylor Guitars, one of the leading manufacturers of acoustic guitars in America. During the visit, Assistant Secretary Nagy and Ambassador Barlerin toured the company’s state-of-the-art ebony processing machinery, operated and maintained by Cameroonian employees. They saw a suite of final products that contain Cameroonian ebony, including the famous Taylor guitars, but also knives, cutting boards, and violins. Finally, they took a tour of Crelicam’s nursery, where the company is working to replenish the Cameroonian forest with ebony saplings and other, faster growing trees.
In 2014, Taylor Guitars won the Secretary of State’s Award for Corporate Excellence in large part because of the company’s transformative work in the ebony trade and in the lives of its employees at Crelicam. The annual award recognizes U.S.-owned businesses that play vital roles around the world as good corporate citizens in supporting sustainable development, respect for human and labor rights, environmental protection, open markets, transparency, and other democratic values.