Militants, sympathisers and lovers of peace in Menchum I Section of the CPDM party, rallied at the Wum Town Hall on November 6th 2020, not to celebrate as usual, the coming to power of Mr. Biya, but to pray for the peaceful repose of the kids that were slained in Kumba as they struggled to go to school, as well as the CPDM militants and other Cameroonians who have died as a result of natural disaster, fighting in the Far North region and those killed in the anglophone crisis.
The men of God chosen for this occasion lifted their voices to God and asked him to bless not only Wum and Menchum Division, but to also console the bereaved parents in Kumba and elsewhere in Cameroon, and fervently prayed for God's peace to dwell in our country.
Welcoming all in attendance for the special anniversary occasion, the 2nd Deputy Mayor of Wum Council, Councillor Sih Marie Zenobia, thanked the Lord Almighty for his love for his children, and called on the militants present, to use this anniversary celebration, to give thanks to God, glorify his name and pray for peace to return and for a peaceful repose of the Kumba children killed as they struggle to learn.
The Coordinator of the celebration, Mr. Buo Ephraim Amuh, also reechoed the call of the 2nd Deputy Mayor. "Before making a brief speech on today’s occasion, may I invite you all to stand up for a minute of silence in memory of our compatriots and our comrades who have passed away throughout the country and most especially our children who were victims of the recent barbaric attacks in Kumba and all other victims of the fighting in localities plagued by insecurity."
Other speakers during this anniversary celebration included Mme Fungnsen Patricia Mbi, the WCPDM Section President and Mr. Zachary Kelah Toh, YCPDM Section President of Menchum I Section. While praising the steadfastness and the clairvoyance of the Head of State, they called on him to rehabilitate the Wum-Bamenda road, and to also make the potion of the ring road Nkambe-Wum-Bamenda, a reality.
On November 6 2020, CPDM Militants of Menchum I section celebrated the New Deal at 38. This year's context was peculiar. Worldwide, people are struggling with the corona virus pandemic that has led to strict observance of restrictive measures, one of them prohibiting large gatherings. Cognizant of this situation, the Coordinator of activities marking the celebration of the 38th ascension anniversary of Paul Biya to supreme magistracy, respected the country’s barrier measures put in place to stall the spread of the pandemic.
CPDM Militants of Menchum I section also discussed ways of supporting the government, thereby contributing to the growth of the country. As it stands, with the upcoming election of regional councillors, the November 6 meeting was a forum to share with other militants, the backings of this election, which aims to foster decentralization and by extension development and the betterment of the living standards of the local population.
The anniversary of Biya's ascension to power is usually marked with colorful celebrations. Crowds of the octogenarian leader’s supporters, including members of government and militants of his ruling Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement (CPDM), clad in fabrics with the veteran leader’s smiling face printed on them, gather at anniversary rallies across the country.
In the past years, they would chant ego-massaging melodies to the one they consider their champion, and take a support walk across a distance that even the most elderly supporters can cover on foot. But this year was a peculiar one.
It was dedicated to the children who were gruesomely murdered in Kumba, as the celebration was turned into an inter-religious service where the various Spiritual Leaders drawn from the Presbyterian, the Baptist and the Muslim Churches, prayed for peace and love, Covid19 and other diseases killing Cameroonians, and above all, forgiveness and unity. They also prayed for deceased militants and those who died as a result of the stalemate in the two English speaking regions of Cameroon.
The inter-religious service ended with the reading of a motion of support in which CPDM Militants of Menchum I section pledged their unflinching support to the president before appealing to him to revamp and promote the Wum Area Development Authority (WADA) in order to create jobs for the youths and promote the welfare of the people of Menchum. They also pleaded with him to complete the construction of the ring road which is already ongoing.
Many challenges
This year would have been a joyous anniversary with exquisite eating and drinking for supporters of Mr Biya, but for the fact that the celebration is coming at a very challenging time for the leader and the country.
Besides the challenges posed by Boko Haram in the northern part of the country and a political stalemate by Maurice Kamto who claims his victory was stolen in the last presidential election, a separatist movement in the country's two English-speaking regions is threatening to tear the country apart.
Separatist violence erupted when fighters declared the independence of the Anglophone north-west and south-west regions from the majority French-speaking country. They also declared the creation of an independent English-speaking state called Ambazonia.
According to United Nations’ statistics, this declaration of independence in October 2017 was met with a heavy military crackdown that has now escalated into armed conflict, with over 3,000 people killed. Schools and other government institutions have been targeted by armed groups in the four-year-long conflict.
As Paul Biya marks 38 years in office, residents in the country's Anglophone region are struggling to come to grips with a series of brutal attacks on schools.
CPDM Militants of Menchum I section celebrated Paul Biya’s 38 years in office in the midst of a surge in violence, with unidentified assailants launching a series of attacks on schools in the past month.
It should be noted here that, gunmen have assaulted five schools in less than two weeks, subjecting children and teachers to torture and violence.
The current Anglophone crisis began in 2017 as a low-scale insurgency demanding independence for the predominately English-speaking population in the country's north and south western regions from the majority Francophone state.
But the security situation remains precarious, with more than 3,000 people killed since the beginning of the conflict.
This time, however, Central Africa’s economic giant is beset with several challenges threatening peace and the president’s grip on power.
However, a tough challenge to his rule has no doubt been post-2018 presidential elections. Prof Maurice Kamto, his former ally and now opposition leader and harshest critic, has openly called for "gigantic protests" to oust Biya. Kamto, who now heads the opposition Cameroon Renaissance Movement (MRC), says he won the 2018 vote but that his victory was stolen by Mr Biya.
The latest of Kamto’s popular protests on September 22, however, met with heavy force as government troops clamped down on his supporters. The government said they would be tried for attempting to destabilize the country.
Another challenge for Mr Biya is a separatist movement in the country's two English-speaking regions that is threatening to tear the country apart. Separatist violence erupted when fighters declared the independence of the Anglophone Northwest and Southwest regions from the majority French-speaking country. They also declared the creation of an independent English speaking state called Ambazonia.
Schools and other government institutions have been targeted by armed men in the four-year-long conflict.
Boko Haram
Along with the internal pressures the Man of November 6 1982 f a c e s, another security challenge is the Nigeria-based jihadist group Boko Haram, which continues to carry out attacks against civilian and military in Cameroon’s Far North region, an indication that there are cracks on the wall the veteran has built for nearly four decades.
Mr Biya incarnated hopes for a fresh start when he took over the reins of power in 1982, christening his arrival as Le Renouveau, meaning The New Deal; which many saw as simulation of former US President, Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal that dramatically expanded the US federal government’s role in the economy in response to the Great Depression.
Thirty-eight years after, his critics think his reign has been 38 years of bruises for Cameroon, as the country continues to wade in a worrying state of disrepair.
From the smallest to the largest, in various forms, all the countries of the world are confronted with important challenges, which can be summed up in a triple Objective:
- The search for happiness,
- The thirst for justice,
- And survival.
In this context, firm in its history, Cameroon is up to the task. Not without pains off course, but the country copes in the face of the challenges.
Cameroon is facing this, because, as we are all witnesses, the Cameroonian people in their vast majority believe in themselves, they believe in their future and that of their country.
Indeed, if Cameroon knows how to maintain its foundations of cultural diversity, national unity, territorial integrity and peace, despite the traps of its enemies and the misunderstandings of certain friends and development partners, it is because the Cameroonian people have the unshakeable conviction that the destiny of Cameroon is primarily the responsibility of Cameroonians themselves.
Beyond the important results that it produced, the Major National Dialogue demonstrated in the eyes of the world, the capacity and the determination of our compatriots of good will to transcend differences, to build the national coexistence. A coexistence, authentic and true, rooted in Cameroonian diversity and representative of our unique identity in Africa and in the world.
The coordinator of Biya's ascension to power in Menchum I Section, Comrade Buo Ephraim Amuh, reiterated to militants and those in Attendance, that the Major National Dialogue could not have existed, or even be what it was, if Cameroonians did not trust the President of the Republic, His Excellency Paul Biya.
By Stephen Ojang in Wum.
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