Opinions of Tuesday, 27 May 2014

Auteur: Richard Kwang Kometa

US recognition of Cameroon on National Day was meritorious

The message by US President to his Cameroonian counterpart on the 42nd National Day in Cameroon is timely.

Most, if not all keen observers to the recent happenings on the Cameroon borders must be wondering at what is wrong with the countries neighbours, or better still, asking questions to know how far Cameroon can go in carrying the yoke resulting from trans-border strife.

In the midst of such uncertainty, no offer of support of friendship and any pat on the back can be neglected, least of all when coming from a Super Power, like the United States of America.

Thus, the influx of goodwill messages to President Paul Biya on the occasion of the 42nd National Day in the country has been salutary, looking at the wordings and contextual correctness of the congratulatory texts.

That of President Barack Obama has sounded a particular note in terms of its insistence on the topical challenges that Cameroon has been facing and the projection that it makes into the future of relations between Cameroon and the U.S.A. definitely strikes an attractive note.

By stating that; “Cameroon is a valued partner of the United States, particularly as we work together to address regional peace and stability, bolster our mutual efforts in environmental protection, and promote greater trade and economic connections between our two nations,” Barack Obama is surely making reference to the upheavals in the Central African Republic where sectarian crisis is creating untold influx of refugees into Cameroon, other countries of the sub-region as well as the Boko Haram sect in the Federal Republic of Nigeria, that is fast becoming a continental scourge.

President Paul Biya has in each of the hot spots ensured that Cameroon offers the most valuable and strategic partnership that the world needs in stemming the tides. Cameroon has not only willingly accepted the command position in the African Union-led MISCA forces that make up the peacekeeping forces in the CAR, but equally contributed a good fraction of the troops in that country.

Present at the last Africa-Europe Summit in Brussels, President Paul Biya received in audience the transitional President of the CAR, Catherine Samba-Panza to assure her of Cameroon’s support. The Head of State equally took an active part in Paris on 17 May for another security summit on the regional threats that Boko Haram poses and ensured a follow-up to the meeting on 22-23 May in Yaounde by inviting Chadian President, Idriss Deby Itno to talk security as well.

Consequently, receiving such a praiseworthy message from the US President Barack Obama, says volumes for the recognition and esteem that the world has for the resolve that President Biya has in making Cameroon stand tall within the concert of nations.