Response to natural disasters: Biya regime charity that begins abroad!.

Government’s tackling of natural disasters that have become more common in relation to its posture when same happens elsewhere, observers say, cuts the exact picture of what many often refer to as charity that begins abroad. 

The Biya regime, critics say, has often presented itself as an angel of sorts in assisting friendly nations going through tough times related to natural disasters, but fails to act on the same wavelength when Cameroonian citizens go through pain from natural disasters.

Recollecting the number of natural disasters that have occurred in recent times, the attachment of government to survivors and other victims, analysts say, gives the impression that authorities prefer throwing dust into the eyes of those they govern.

Others say they are left with the sad and vexing realities that once a natural disaster occurs, government ministers rush to the scene solely for the cameras, talking big, but not offering the expected assistance needed to succor victims. 

Some say they are more perplexed that in such circumstances, ministers will surface with “cheap” items telling whoever cares to listen that they are gifts from President Paul Biya to succour their pain.

Response to Mbankolo disaster provokes nostalgia

On the heels of the Sunday October 9 landslide in the Mbankolo vicinity of Yaounde, that claimed 30 lives, a cross section of citizens has been nostalgic in relation to government’s support to victims. 

Critics say actions such as offering matrasses, tablets of soap, cubes of ‘Maggi’ and a litre of vegetable oil, blanket, mattresses to people who lost homes and relatives in the name of support, is nothing short of provocation.  

For some, government is rather adding salt to injury, instead of helping to improve a bad situation.

Buckets, sardine, blankets and washing soap for Mbankolo landslide victims put to question

Charity that begins abroad

What has left many perplexed is what they say is the immeasurable difference in government’s support to victims of the February 6, 2023, earthquake that hit Southern Turkiye, compared to what is given natural disaster victims back home. 

The trail of destruction from the disaster in Turkiye, it should be recalled, flattened about 60,000 buildings, leaving an estimated 13 million people displaced.

In the form of a Father Christmas of sorts, President Paul Biya hurriedly dispatched Territorial Administration Minister, Paul Atanga Nji, with an assistance package of 600 million FCFA (one million US dollars), to Turkiye, in April this year.

There is also the offer of humanitarian support to Equatorial Guinea, after an explosion at a munitions dump at the Bata Military Base on March 7, 2021. 

The team, which was led by two members of government viz; Atanga Nji of Territorial Administration and Beti Assomo of Defence, delivered a huge consignment of support to the neighbouring nation on March 15, 2021. 

Comparing the Presidential offers to friendly nations to the support given to compatriots, analysts say, the situation is synonymous to charity beginning abroad. 

To people who hold this opinion, showing more concern to citizens in different nations and offering mere palliatives to citizens whom those in authority are called to look after, is laughable and hard to understand.

To some, there is no justification, even from a diplomatic perspective, that a broke government like that of Cameroon, can afford the luxury of offering hundreds of millions to disaster victims outside Cameroon, yet fails to provide decent housing (even if temporal) for disaster victims across towns and cities nationwide.

Atanga Nji on mission to deliver 600 MFCFA to Turkiye earthquake victims in April this year

Talking big & acting small

Government communication and declarations from Biya apologists after every disaster, many citizens say, always give the impression that victims are given the best in terms of relief aid.

The reverse, they say, is true. Biya’s ministers in all these years, critics argue, have rather developed a culture of always talking big and acting small when it comes to handling disasters and offering assistance to survivors. 

Watchers say when a natural disaster occurs, ministers always promise government’s determination to stand by victims till the end. Some ministers, they hold, oftentimes promise psychosocial support and the provision of decent accommodation that never see the light of day.

Government’s traditional therapy of offering cups of rice, Maggi cubes, tablets of soap, vegetable oil, bathing buckets, blankets and mattresses, pundits say, has become more of a drama than an aspect of governance.

Items to victims of catastrophes no match to Turkiye aid package 

In the bubble and dissatisfaction of what government has been doing to victims of natural disasters back home in recent times, there are those who argue that the aggregate is no match to the 600 million FCFA offered to Turkiye, a few months ago.

In the case of the recent Mbankolo landslide in Yaounde, over two weeks since the incident, victims are still floundering in the CPDM party house in Nkomkana. 

Others say it is shocking that in the heart of the country’s seat of power, victims of a natural disaster are “under supported” by the government.

As the tradition has been, they have so far received buckets, mattresses, rice, sardine and vegetable oil! All these put together, many are arguing, rather makes a mockery of the governance ability of the Biya regime.

The story is told of a lady who lost seven relatives in the disaster, but was given a matrass, vegetable oil and a bucket. Even psychosocial support, sources say, the lady has not received.

Buea flood victims pose with basic items from government which observers say were a mockery

Other natural disasters where the regime’s response has been rated as nothing short of a joke are; the Monday October 28, 2019, landslide in Gouache, Bafoussam III Subdivision, Mifi Division of the West Region, that claimed at least 40 lives.  Nothing, critics say, has been heard of actions taken to better the lot of those who survived the incident.

In the month of March this year, floods killed two persons in Buea, bringing down several buildings and leaving many homeless. Government talked tough, offered its usual basic items and the story has ended.

When a four-storey building collapsed in Douala in March this year and claimed at least 40 lives, government’s handling of the situation was also brought to question. 

First, some relatives of those who died said they were taxed to pay the mortuary bills of their loved ones. 
Survivors who were admitted across different health facilities also argued that they were asked to clear the bills, despite declarations from members of government that their treatment was for free. Other victims of the incident said they were left to sleep in the cold, having lost everything to the building collapse.

Post-natural disaster niceties missing

In all the criticisms, many say what is clear is that the Biya regime needs to revisit its handling of natural disasters. 

Offering citizens psychosocial support, basic decent accommodation and financial support to start life all over again, analysts say, are among areas where authorities must address to give meaning to the type of governance that gives priority to citizens’ wellbeing. 

Even in communicating vital details, experts say, the Biya regime needs to step up its game and stop acting ‘suspicious’ all the time.