Editorial: Enough with CPDM perpetration of hate, tribalism.

Ironically, xenophobic violence has continued in the Head of State's political fief, which ought to set an example on "living together", even if not eating together.

Last Sunday, the convoy of Hon Osih Joshua, the National Chairman of the Social Democratic Front, SDF, was blocked in Biwung Bulu, Mvila Division of the South Region.

As The Guardian Post reported yesterday, those who accompanied the SDF National Chairman to the South Region lap of his ongoing national tour, said residents of the area made derogatory remarks and vowed to stop him from advancing.

In a statement, SDF’s Shadow Cabinet Minister for Information and the Media, Nguidjol Ngan, said those who attacked the convoy were supporters of the ruling Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement, CPDM party.

Ngan added that the residents disrupted what had been a peaceful regional tour, when the convoy got to the Akom II-Biwung Bulu lap.  

The statement indicated that “groups of individuals claiming to be supporters of the Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement, CPDM, party and clearly identified as such by their attire, erected numerous barricades on the various routes taken by our National Chairman’s delegation”.

The SDF further pointed out that the residents of the localities where the incident took place, hurled “insults, hateful and discriminatory remarks, threats and intimidation of all kinds at our comrades”.

It is not the first time such xenophobic attacks with tribal and political sensitivities have been reported in the South Region. 

In Ebolowa, a request by the Cameroon Renaissance Movement, MRC, perceived as a Bamileke party in a letter dated October 9, 2023, by Abossolo  Jules Blaise, regional secretary of the MRC for the South, indicated that the Divisional Officer, DO of Ebolowa II had cancelled their rally, due to the visit of the First Lady, Chantal Biya, for charitable activities, as well as the visit of the Secretary General of the Central Committee of the CPDM,  Jean Kuete, who was to meet the supporters of his party that same week.

The MRC grumbled that their activities, planned earlier, were strictly regulated by law and should not have interfered with the charitable actions of the First Lady or the political activities of the ruling party. 

Despite the ban, the MRC affirmed its intention to continue holding its meeting, thus accentuating political tensions in the country.

Again, in August 2023, some supporters of the MRC, were detained in Sangmelima, Dja and Lobo Division of the South Region. In a video that circulated on social media, security forces were seen arresting MRC supporters, who were attending a rally to elect their party officials in the city. 

When they were asked to halt the meeting, they protested, brandishing an acknowledgement decision from the administrative authority of the Subdivision.

A receipt of acknowledgement, dated August 22, 2023, also disseminated on social media, showed a notification filed by MRC to the Divisional Officer, DO of Sangmelima, to hold the elective meeting in his jurisdiction.

In spite of this, security forces, without warrants of arrest or explanation, observers pointed out, decided to whisk off MRC supporters, to one of the detention facilities in the city.

MRC’s National Communication Secretary, Joseph Emmanuel Ateba, later condemned the “brutality” and “arbitrary arrest” of his party’s supporters. 

“We denounce in the strongest possible terms these practices of a different kind and call on national and international opinion to witness the Yaounde regime’s desire to take the Cameroonian public arena hostage and to ostracise opposition political parties, principally the MRC,” he wrote.

The Guardian Post has on numerous occasions warned against hate speeches, tribalism and xenophobic tendencies, especially with multiple elections coming up next year, in a vast field opened to over 300 political outfits.

Various academic research works on the Cameroon political landscape indicated that multi-party politics gave renewed impetus to the antagonism between so-called “autochthons” and “allochthons” or "settlers", and led to an awakening of ethnic stereotypes. 

Sadly, the new developments are resulting to violence, perpetuated by the fanaticism of the ruling party supporters, who are not tolerant to people perceived to oppose the Biya regime.

The Guardian Post calls on the CPDM leadership in the South Region to set an example of "living together" and advise their followers to respect the democratic principles and the inalienable rights of citizens to freedom of expression, the right to peaceful assembly and choice of political party. 

Above all, Yaounde should provide security to ensure that politicians are protected during their tours and campaigns that are slated for next year, so as to stop a repeat performance of the barbaric ordeal the SDF delegation went through in the pampered South Region of President Paul Biya.