Reconciliation, dialogue not signs of weakness!.

That explains why countries have diplomatic missions and even contract expensive lobby firms to sell their national images to attract foreign investors to help in job creation and boost local economies.

The post-October 12 presidential election crackdown on protesters leading to deaths, has sullied the image of the country abroad with vitriolic criticism of the "excessive use of force", destruction and killings, after the October 12 poll.

France and international organisations like the African Union, European Union, the United Nations, some members of the US Congress and Amnesty International, have been on the forefront, denouncing the violation of human rights and killings after the results were pronounced.

The CPDM government has had its bitter bile pricked by such criticisms, thus compelling the Minister of Communication and Government Spokesman, Rene Emmanuel Sadi, to speak out. 

In an interview with Radio France International yesterday in the shadow of a three-day ghost town, declared by Issa Tchiroma Bakary, to draw national and global attention to his self-proclaimed victory, Minister Sadi hit back at international partners. 

“There was no disproportionate use of public force, as some have seen fit to denounce, here and there, particularly through certain embassies of friendly countries. Moreover, this is also an opportunity to appeal to the objectivity of friendly countries and other international partners in their assessment of the challenges we face and their positions on our structural and situational realities," Sadi said.

He schooled the friendly countries and organisations, stating: "The government wishes to reiterate that their primary purpose is to work towards strengthening relations between their respective countries and Cameroon. They should, under no circumstances, become self-appointed arbiters.”

Since human rights issues are not exclusively "internal affairs" of any country, do the "friendly" countries and organisations not have the right to raise alarm if those rights are trampled upon to the extent that people are being killed?

Does an African proverb not say "it is a good friend who says your mouth smells"?

Isn't it a democratic right to protest peacefully as Tchiroma has ordered his supporters to stay at home for three days? Will staying at home cause any violence?

There is no doubt that the "ghost days" will inflict horrendous damage on the economy. 

As Radio France International reported during its interview with Minister Sadi, with the "ghost" peaceful protest, "in Douala, the country's economic capital and the epicentre of last week's demonstrations along with Garoua in the North, the situation once again is being closely watched.

Yesterday, a shop owner in Yaounde, identified simply as Maurice, explained why he decided not to open. 'I'm not opening for my own safety, first of all, and also because of the tension between the two sides. I'm going to stay home and observe for a week,'" he explained.

Another trader with a shop located in Akwa, Douala, told RFI that he closed his business premises yesterday, more out of support for the "ghost town" protest than out of simple fear.

"A call to action has been issued. Meanwhile, the authorities aren't giving us any guarantees. So, we're deciding to go along with what the majority has decided, which is that businesses should be closed. I am siding with the majority: staying home and keeping the shops closed until further notice," he explained.

The three-day protest, which ends tomorrow, targets the swearing in ceremony of President Biya, for an eighth historic term. 

It is an identical protest people of the North West and South West Regions have found themselves in for the past eight years, where every Monday, socio-economic and educational activities are grounded.

Such protests, peaceful as they are, strike the government more than bullets. They destroy the economy, spike the rate of poverty, cost of living and unemployment.

They are, however, not a solution. It is a call to listen to the voices of friendly countries and organisations who speak truth to power.

It is dialogue, reconciliation and justice that can prevent street protests that often equate to a relentless waltz with death or confrontation with the defence and security forces whose "professionalism" government apologists have never failed to praise.

Tchiroma and his supporters are tenaciously claiming victory in a race President Biya scraped through with some 53.6 percent as proclaimed by the Constitutional Council. 

The law has been applied, but as Charles Dickens writes in Oliver Twist, "...at times, the law is an ass devoid of any justice."

In this situation, it requires the magnanimity of the winner to offer reconciliation, appeasement and forgiveness, as sign of strength.

It shouldn't be a show of force that can't solve a political problem or play a blame game with foreign friends, which is a losing strategy.

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3615 of Tuesday November 04, 2025