Ban on forum on rising famine in northern regions: Biya, Cavaye on divorce path?.

The development is according to a document that leaked on social media recently. The document is attributed to the Minister of State, Secretary General at the Presidency of the Republic, Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh. 

In the note, the Presidency scribe informs the Director of Cabinet at the Secretariat of the National Assembly Speaker, that Biya has rejected the holding of such a conference. 

Originally, the meeting had been programmed to take place Wednesday in Maroua, in the Far North Region. 

“I have the honour to inform you that the President of the Republic has instructed the cancellation of the organisation of the high-level conference,” the letter ascribed to Ngoh Ngoh reads. 

The abortive meeting had been tagged: “High-level” conference. It was supposed to hold under the theme: “Actions to fight against famine in the Northern Regions of Cameroon”.  

The surfacing of the confidential document has provoked varied reactions nationwide. Conjectures on what must have informed the Head of State’s decision are now extending to the political sphere.

Unconfirmed reports hold that Cavaye had before formally requesting for Biya’s approval to hold the conference notified him about his plan on January 6. 

This is reported to have been done during their brief discussions on the sidelines of the ceremony to present New Year wishes to the Head of State.

Political undertones 

There are already interpretations that hierarchy might have been informed of the issuing of “an embarrassing memo” at the end of the confab. 

Another scenario, which is very unlikely to happen, others are saying, could be that Biya is up to something strange at the upcoming March session of parliament.

Rising food insecurity

In June 2023, the United Nations, UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, OCHA, published a report, indicating that at least three million Cameroonians were exposed to food insecurity. 

The organisation had indicated that the figure corresponds to 11 percent of the country’s population. Most of the Regions affected are said to be those mired in crises. 

The Far North Region, it should be noted, is suffering from persistent Boko Haram incursions, prolonged dry season disrupting the ecosystem and diminishing yields. Elephant invasions on farmlands have remained on the rise in recent times. 

OCHA had in another report in October 2023, indicated that the presence of refugees from the Central African Republic, CAR, was going to worsen the food security situation in Mbere Division of the Adamawa Region; Kadey, Lom and Djerem Divisions of the East Region.

The UN entity had indicated that limited access to land for refugees, coupled with high fuel and transport cost were going to drive up commodity prices, extending to the first quarter of 2024.

Still in October last year, OCHA had also warned of a decline in farm harvest in several Divisions of the Far North Region viz; Logone and Chari, Mayo-Sava and Mayo Tsanaga. 

The institution had also decried the rise in the looting of food from homes by suspected Boko Haram agents. 

The crisis-hit North West and South West Regions have also slipped into the catchment of food insecure administrative units of the country.