Nkendem Forbinake
29 October 2009
In a toast at a luncheon last night at State House, the two Presidents were full of praises for each other.
The announcement of the visit of the President of Chad to Yaounde yesterday had raised some eyebrows leaving many in the Yaounde political class and the diplomatic community with just too many issues to conjecture about.
The long, very long exchange at State House yesterday (6 pm to 8.30 pm) seemed to confirm what many had thought motivated the lightning visit. When President Deby left State House grounds at about 8.30 pm, followed by President Biya who left for his private apartments at State House, suspense grew; especially as nothing filtered to the press about the content of this exceptionally long exchange. Guests who had been ushered into the second floor banquet hall at the stipulated 8 pm waited patiently until 9.30 pm when the Chadian leader arrived following his brief return to his Yaounde Hilton apartment.
State protocol officials put the toasts of the two Heads of State at the very beginning of the banquet. And it is during this exchange of toasts that the veritable motive of the visit began to emerge. Taking the floor first, President Biya was full of praises for the fruitful cooperation ties between Chad and Cameroon, attributing the excellent state of these relations to President Deby who also received praises for the handling of the security situation in his country. From President Biya’s statement, it was very clear that security questions and ways of taking bilateral cooperation into higher gear, dominated their talks.
The phenomenon of highway robbery and the more recent growing incidence of kidnappings as well as other forms of trans-border crime were security issues over which the two statesmen compared notes and examined winning strategies that can help stem the tide of the scourge.
Chad and Cameroon celebrated the harmonious relations between its people which President Biya hoped could be extended to other countries of the Economic Community of Central African States, CEMAC. The Kome-Kribi pipeline is a veritable beacon to show for the excellence of economic relations. President Biya seized the opportunity to announce that in the near future, Chad would be able to use electricity produced in Cameroon. In the same vein, transportation difficulties faced on the Douala-N’Djamena road will soon be a thing of the past as projects are in the pipeline to make that stretch of road, one of the main transportation routes in the entire sub-region.
Along the line, Deby acknowledged a substantial financial assistance said to have been received from Cameroon in recent times to help his country beat back rebel attacks.
Cameroon’s Presidential couple saw off the Chadian President from State House grounds at about 11.15 pm. The Chadian leader was expected to leave Yaounde very early this morning for N’Djamena.
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