Southern Cameroons Crisis: Commonwealth Secretary General meets Biya 0

On the second day of her official visit to Cameroon, the Commonwealth Secretary General Patricia Scotland was received in audience by the French Cameroun dictator, Paul BIYA at the so-called Unity Palace on Tuesday, 19 December 2017.

Nothing has filtered from their conversation but some sources have said it was cordial. Mr. Biya and his guest reviewed cooperation between Cameroon and the Commonwealth that started in 1995. Patricia Scotland was elevated by the Paul Biya to the dignity of Grand Officer of the Order of Valor, the highest honor awarded to a foreign dignitary.

Biya reportedly discussed the socio-political and economic situation of the country marked notably by the war against the terrorist group Boko Haram, corporatist agitation in the North-West and South-West regions and blamed the killings of Cameroon defense forces on the Southern Cameroons Diaspora.

The 84-year-old enlisted all the measures taken by his government to appease the Anglophone community which Cameroon Concord News understands are not genuine. Biya also reiterated his willingness to dialogue, but observed that he was determine to “restore order and (to) punish the guilty of these murders”.

For her part, the Secretary General of the Commonwealth expressed “great sadness” in the face of the difficulties currently facing Cameroon, a country known as a haven of peace and stability. She urged Cameroonians to preserve peace and unity; to encourage in all circumstances genuine dialogue. According to Scotland, “a prosperous Cameroon is a prosperous Africa and a prosperous Commonwealth.”

By Rita Akana