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Cameroon: After Social Tension - Calm And Peace Return to Country
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The Post (Buea)
2 March 2008
Posted to the web 2 March 2008
Orock Eta
Inhabitants of five of Cameroon's ten provinces are once more up and doing. These much cherished peace and tranquillity could be discerned in the faces and reactions of the people resident in the provinces of Centre, Littoral, West, Southwest and Northwest.
Social disorder crept into the aforementioned provinces when on Monday, February 25, Cameroonians in these provinces got up in the morning to embark on their daily activities, only to find the streets void of taxis.
Though a strike action by the Syndicate of Transporters had been looming, complaining about the persistent increase of the prices of petroleum products in Cameroon, reports on the state media, CRTV, on Sunday, February 24 talked of the strike actions called off by the leaders of the Syndicate of Transporters after clinching a deal with the Minister of Labour and Social Security, Prof. Robert Nkili.
The government of Cameroon and the population, especially those in the provinces earlier mentioned, were taken aback with the absence of the yellow cabs (taxis) in the streets and the inter-urban and intra-urban buses not plying the roads leading from one city to the other or from one part of the metropolis to the other.
The ensuing four days in Cameroon, February 25-28 were bizarre. The action of the Syndicate of Transporters to down their tools, quickly degenerated to other serious malaises that have been hunting the Cameroonian people and the economy of the country.
Disgruntled and mostly unemployed youths seized the opportunity and took to the streets to express their disgust to the powers that be for not creating enough avenues for employment and economic opportunities. The out come were devastating. An initial sit down strike, quickly turned violent with the rampaging and sometime marauding youths running battles with the police, gendarmes and the military officers.
It wouldn't end there, looting of public institutions and private property took centre stage, there were massive destruction of state-owned and private property, precious lives were also lost in the course of the confrontation between the men and women in uniform and the protesters. Reports talk of some twenty people shot dead.
The situation was not improving faster as expected. Cameroon was progressively plunging herself into the abyss of endless destruction. Calls for peace and calm began to surface from all nooks and crannies from the country. But the angry youths and Cameroonians in general felt that the most soothing words must come from Head of State, President Paul Biya.
Wednesday, February 27, Biya came on a 4-minute and 56 seconds televised and radio declaration, calling on the youths not to be manipulated by political and devilish forces. To the seemingly dismay of many Cameroonians and some observers, they found the tone of Biya rather too hard and "dodgy" from the issues rocking the nation.
However, Biya stated that disputes are not settled in the streets but on the dialogue table, calling on Cameroonians to respect the rule of law. He also quickly took control of his leadership role by putting it firmly that the government of Cameroon will employ all legal instruments to achieve peace at all cost.
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Since he made the declaration, calm has returned to the country, especially in the affected provinces but some lessons have to be taken home for further reflections.However, rumor has it that people where giving some time to buy enough food for the strike action will continue on Monday, March 3, 2008.
I guess that after the media black out this is the lone story the post news paper has been allowed to publish. This regime is truly repressive but the truth will always prevail.
Let us wait and see what the government has to offer this time. I actually think common sense must prevail, for how long promises should be made to the people of this great nation without fulfilling them. Let me put this right, Biya has been ruling this country for over two decade and nothing has changed in the lives of ordinary citizens so far. With all our right senses i am not convinced a penny that in fifty years he can do anything better. It is no surprise to hear that POWER IS CONTAGIOUS. He has been infected big time... [Read Full Text]
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