Truth: Cry our beloved Cameroon!.

Voters, who had returned to get the results on the spot as required by law, legally resisted. Force was used. Blame the opposition or manipulation?

In Batibo, one of the hottest spots of separatist activities, there were reports that nearly 6,000 people voted for "Real Madrid", a coinage brought into the political terrain by Minister Atanga Nji, to question what soccer fans can expect when the leading Spanish team has a match with lame duck Coton Sports of Garoua.

But what he didn't mention is that the match could be like that pitting David and Goliath, especially played in Cameroon, which is the "only country that is slippery in the dry season", to quote the minister again.

While the nation awaits the results of the Constitutional Council, which could go either for Tchiroma or Paul Biya, violent clashes have emerged in Douala, Dschang, Garoua, Limbe etc over votes counting.

At the weekend, I read a post by Dr Jean De Dieu Momo, Minister Delegate to the Ministry of Justice, who, like my father of blessed memory, hails from Menoua, West Region, crying for our beloved Divisional headquarters, Dschang. 

"I cry when I see what our beloved city of Dschang has become. Why, out of Cameroon's 360 municipalities, did Dschang have to be the one to stand out negatively? Why didn't the youth of Menoua lift a finger to protect what belongs to them? Why did they allow vandals from elsewhere to destroy an entire part of their own history before their eyes?" Jean De Dieu Momo questioned and explained.

"On October 12, while the country had just experienced a new presidential election, a tragic event came to tarnish the dignity of our city: the Dschang Court House was set on fire on the evening of October 15, 2025!" Momo wrote. 

He added that "...young people, clearly manipulated, chose violence to express their frustration at what they called ‘electoral fraud’. How did it come to this? Why did they choose to destroy what generations had spent nearly a century building?"

The opposition leader-turned CPDM supporter, claiming his "heart bleeds and my tears flow", didn't bother to explain the root cause but apportioned blame on non-indigenes - " the youth of Dschang stood by, powerless or indifferent. They allowed arsonists- without faith or law, to reduce a common good to ashes".

He then questioned again, "Was it a lack of vigilance? Tacit complicity? Or simply collective abandonment? Why Dschang? Why, of Cameroon's 360 municipalities, did it have to be Dschang that stood out negatively? Why didn't the youth of Menoua lift a finger to protect what belonged to them? Why did they allow vandals from elsewhere to destroy an entire part of their own history before their very eyes?"

His questions are stinking of xenophobic rantings. But he did not address the issue of allegations of attempts to falsify election results. History and research explain that spontaneous uprisings are not planned, they are reactions to injustice and resistance to change, especially in rigged elections.

While my "Bami Kontri man", Minister Momo, cries for our historic Dschang, capital of the Bamilekes under French control in 1920, I paraphrase author, Alan Paton, to Cry My Beloved Country.

Even though I went to church yesterday, I do not believe God to answer prayers from hypocritic politicians who deny truth, just to sell their soul for a seat in the corridor of the kitchen.

Postscript: Only the truth can defuse tensions. Respect for the sovereign will of the people is an obligation for all - Léon Theiller Onana

This story was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3600 of Monday October 20, 2025