An international boundary exists between Chad and Cameroon but nationals in border zones live as if it didn't exist.Very good neighbours indeed.

A Douala tabloid a few weeks ago thought it had found the scoop of the year, when it "discovered" that a "Chadian" had been sitting in the Cameroon National Assembly over the years. As the search for the truth continues, it must be emphasized that Cameroonian boundary regions with neighboring countries, from east to west and from north to south abound with ethnic communities that stretch beyond international boundaries.

Chad is no exception. Chad is Cameroon's northern neighbour with which it shares a boundary of over 500 kilometres. Since Chad's independence on August 11, 1960 cooperation with Cameroon has been very steady and growing with each passing year.

The two countries share very common concerns as ascertained by their membership of the UN, the African Union, the Economic Community of Central African States, (ECCAS) as well as the Economic and Monetary community of Central Africa States (CEMAC), not to talk of their joint membership of BEAC, the Bank of Central African States. This simply means that cooperation between the two countries is very close. Though operating within distinct political systems, Chad and Cameroon share a lot in common. A good part of the 8,000,000 Chadian population shares a common origin with several Cameroonian ethnic groups, notably in the Logone and Shari and Mayo Danay Divisions of the Far-North Region.

The common belonging to economic and political groupings also calls for regular consultations. And President Deby's visit today should be inscribed in that framework.

Moreover, the Central African sub-region has lately been going though some significant events, least of which is not the death of Gabonese President Omar Bongo Ondimba and the election of his son Ali as new President of Gabon. As a veritable sage of the sub-region Omar Bongo’s demise cannot really go unnoticed on the political chessboard of the sub-region where he was a major player. It is necessary to reconstitute the harmony and leadership which his death must have caused.

President Deby Itno, who has just been elected current chairman of Heads of State of ECCAS at its summit in Kinshasa last week, has some new cloaks which enable him to speak on behalf of the wider Central African sub-region. He is certainly here to see how the sub-region can prosper and, even beyond that, ensure that Chad-Cameroon relations remain at the excellent level they have always been.

A summit of Heads of State of CEMAC is also in the works in the coming days or weeks. With the current rumpus wrecking the Banck of Central African States, BEAC, one imagines the two Heads of States concerting, during their talks in Yaounde, on how to come out of the crisis.

But over and above all considerations, the visit to Yaounde by President Deby Itno, is a sign of the good health, not only of Chad-Cameroon relations, but also of the friendship that exists between the two leaders. Chad has a population of about 8,000,000 spread on a surface area of 1,284,000 square kilometres. Administratively, it is divides into 14 provinces. The principal towns are Sarh, Moundou, Abeché, Faya Largeau, Doba and Bongar. The capital, N’Djamena is a stone’s throw from the Logone and Shari Divisional headquarters of Kuousseri, which sits on the other side of the Logone river.