As 2025 presidentials gathers momentum: Panicky regime issues riot act to gag opposition!.

The latest of such actions comes days after the Governor’s conference in Yaounde for the first half of 2024, during which the Minister of Territorial Administration, Paul Atanga Nji, said there will be no room for anyone to disturb public order before, during and after the election.

On Tuesday July 16, the Senior Divisional Officer, SDO, of Mfoundi Division in the Centre Region, Djikdent Emmanuel Mariel, issued a prefectural fiat threatening to banish certain persons out of his administrative unit!

Mfoundi Division, it should be said, covers the seven Subdivisions of Yaounde.

The SDO in the order, spelled out conditions under which certain persons will not be allowed to live in Mfoundi Division. 

Among other things, the SDO indicated that those who risk being chased out of the country’s seat of power are those “calling for uprising against the institutions of the Republic; dangerously offend the institutions or the person who embodies them by any means of communication used in Mfoundi Division and undertake maneuvers likely to cause serious disturbance to public order”.

Djikdent’s order has sparked mixed reactions nationwide. It has been described as the implementation of instructions from hierarchy, to tame persons mobilising to strengthen the opposition. 

For others, it is a clear riot act to gag key opposition actors who may trigger a ruckus. Cameroonians will be going to the poll less than 20 months from now to choose a new president.

For some, the order is also an abuse of political liberty and freedom of speech.

Keeping seat of power safe at all cost

Pundits say the SDO’s decision goes beyond a mere prefectural order. They see it as a desperate attempt by the Biya regime to keep at bay any moves from the opposition that could result in a popular uprising or disruption of public order.

At a time such as this, it is no secret that some opposition party leaders have been threatening fire and brimstone in their quest for a change of leadership in Cameroon. 

With the order now in force, many say Cameroonians may live an era when opposition party leaders and others who function in like manner are simply asked to live Yaounde or denied access to same.

Maurice Kamto, Cabral Libii primary targets?

Prof Maurice Kamto of the opposition Cameroon Renaissance Movement, MRC; Hon Cabral Libii of the Cameroonian Party for National Reconciliation, PCRN, are already being pictured as the primary targets.

Both politicians are those assessed to have the political cloud weighty enough to give the ruling CPDM party a run for its money in next year’s presidential election. 

Kamto and Cabral have been using the media, but more especially the social media, to stage their outings, sometimes criticising the Head of State President Paul Biya, in the process.

Erstwhile Social Democratic Front, SDF, Member of Parliament, MP, Hon Jean Michel Nintcheu, is another vocal politician who has been on the balls of the Biya regime. 

It is being analysed within some quarters that he too is not outside the range of those who can also be victims of the Mfoundi SDO's administrative act.

Irrespective of immunity, in the case of MPs, many are already arguing that the SDO of Mfoundi can, under the guise of his new order, banish them from Yaounde.

Akere Muna slams order

International lawyer, Barrister Akere Muna, in a statement on his X, formerly Twitter handle, wrote: “If authentic, this document is deeply concerning for our country. The Prefect claims the authority to determine offenses, judge individuals, and impose bans on them from residing in Yaounde, the capital city, for an unspecified period”. 

Akere Muna then questioned: “How can one person claim to wield such power, disregarding the constitution and international agreements, tarnishing our nation's reputation? Are we regressing to a time when citizens needed a ‘Laisser Passer’ to travel within our own borders?” 

He further averred that the decision exempts only person in detention within Mfoundi, further questioning: “Does this mean that individuals judged by the Prefect will be deported, regardless of their residency status?”.

The respected lawyer insisted that the “situation is alarming, and reflects a breakdown of our society's values of unity”.

Cabral Libii says order “unacceptable authoritarian” move

For his part, PCRNMP, Hon Cabral Libii, has rubbished the SDO's decision, describing it as an unacceptable shift towards authoritarian rule.

“Assuming that the document bearing the signature of the Prefect of Mfoundi is not a fake, it seems absolutely necessary to denounce this striking and unacceptable authoritarian drift,” the MP wrote.

He added: “Neither the law of 1990 on the maintenance of order, nor the decree of 2008 fixing the duties of the heads of administrative units...give the Prefect the power to prohibit a citizen from a temporary stay in a division in Cameroon. This power doesn't exist even in a state of emergency”.

Cabral Libii also described it as “a violation of the constitution from which citizens get the right to live normal lives. 

He also argued that it is “a serious violation of all Cameroon's international commitments devoted to freedom of expression and opinion”.

On the disrespect of certain public office holders, he said such “is already included in the Criminal Procedure Code”, before maintaining that the order, if it is not fake, represents “a historical democratic regression”.

Order ties with MINAT boss’ warning 

Political analysts are unanimous that the decision of the Mfoundi SDO has the bearing of declarations, which the Minister of Territorial Administration, Paul Atanga Nji, made on July 3, 2024, during the governors’ conference in Yaounde.

He had warned about repeated attacks on the person of President Paul Biya. 

Atanga Nji was categorical that Biya “remains the Head of State and incarnates all State institutions. Unscrupulous politicians have taken upon themselves to address the Head of State as if they are talking to a layman”. 

Minister Atanga Nji had assured that: “Henceforth, such utterances shall not be tolerated”.

The MINAT boss had also assured that “no political activity shall be carried out nationwide without the clearance from administrative authorities”. 

The minister then also warned that: “Any attempt to disrupt the electoral process today or tomorrow shall be dealt with squarely”.

The MINAT boss had also warned the media, especially those who organise interactive programs. He said such programs have “become a kind of one-man show, where people exhibit their ignorance, and where hate speech and defying State authority have become the order of the day”.

The SDO’s order touches on this too, further indicating that there will be a crackdown on such actions.

This story was first published in The Guardian Post issue N0:3172 of Thursday July 18, 2024