Is such a defiance from the North the beginning of nightmares for Mr. Biya or is it the usual empty noise that Cameroonians are gifted at making? Bamenda is all eyes and ears.
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CameroonJournal, Yaounde, January 30 – Following government's ban on the Garoua conference that was to reflect on the life and times of late President Amadou Ahidjo, the Convener, Abubakar Ousmane Mey, has come out vehemently stating that no one will be able to prevent the conference from holding.
Billed for February 7-8, the forum was banned by Ali Saidouna, Sub Divisional Officer for Garoua I last week on grounds that the organisers were ambiguous in their letter of authorization. He had also invoked timing of the colloquium as not being the best visa-vis the present political atmosphere in the country.
A decision Ousmane told L'Oeil du Sahel newspaper in an interview will have serious consequences for those who in the shadows are torpedoing the initiative. Without chewing words, he went further naming them: "I mean the Minister of Territorial Administration, René Sadi, the Governor of the North Region, Otto Joseph Wilson, and the Divisional Officer for Garoua I, Sardouna Ali. These three officials have banned our association 'Justice Plus' from holding meetings to discuss, among compatriots, a common concern."
Describing the ban as an irresponsible deliberate act which blatantly violates the law and muzzles Cameroonians who wish to express themselves, Ousmane stated that "I can tell you here that the cause is far from lost! We will continue to lead the fight it takes to reach our goals. They will delay the meeting, but no one can stop it."
He said in the meantime, their Committees in the USA, Canada and European Union are putting in place a communication strategy to explain their next approach. "We are also in contact with Mr. Demba Bathily of Amnesty International. We will ensure that the D.O. of Garoua I do not easily forget that decision," he added.
Why the Forum? Why Garoua?
In 2007, President Paul Biya made known his stand on French TV Channel, France 24, about the repatriation of the remains of Amadou Ahidjo, buried in Dakar, Senegal. Biya had stated then that it is the responsibility of Ahijo's family. But the family championed by Germaine Ahijo, on the other hand, is expecting the State of Cameroon to shoulder its responsibilities and give honour to the country's pioneer president through a befitted state funeral.
"Very few Cameroonians share the position of President Paul Biya, and I 'm one of them! Already at this level, I see that there is divergence on the issue at the highest level of the Republic," affirmed Abubakar Ousmane before adding that it's time for reconciliation, and that it will be in the interest of Cameroon to join the race-reason for the conference.
Ousmane claims Governor Wilson told him to go and organise the conference in Yaounde where there are intellectuals. "…his (Ahijo's) family is in Garoua, but since the governor suggested that Yaoundé is the best venue for such initiatives, we will think about it. We selected Garoua based on the wish of the former President to be buried in the family vault at Nassarao." Ousmane concluded.
The Garoua Conference that was to reflect on the theme: "Beyond the pains and misfortunes linked to the exercise of power, how the nation can recognize Amadou Ahidjo," was to regroup some of Cameroon's celebrated intellectuals in the likes of Christopher Fomunyoh of the National Democratic Institute in the USA, Maurice Kamto, Cardinal Christian Tumi, Matthias Owona Nguini, Bernard Muna among others.
Pateh
A nation is known not by how it treats its highest citizens but how it treats its lowest citizens. Madiba Nelson Mandela
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