Traditional rulers and customary authorities in Cameroon have made their voices heard concerning the sociopolitical crisis plaguing the country for over several years now. They did so during a press conference organized last week in Yaoundé lasy week. The press conference, organized by the Pan-African Council of Traditional and Customary Authorities, a body that brings together all the traditional and customary authorities in Cameroon, took place at the reunification monument, symbol of national unity.
The custodians of tradition began the conference with traditional rite in which chiefs, fons, lamidos walked around the monument making incantations in the Ewondo dialect.
After the brief rite ceremony, the traditional rulers through their national coordinator, Mbassi Bessala Prosper, announced the launching of a caravan of traditional and customary authorities for peace and living together in Cameroon. The caravan was launched on June 22, 2019 in Batchenga in the Lekie Division of the Center Region during a meeting of all traditional rulers of Cameroon. The objective of the caravan, they said, is to contribute to the resolution of the conflicts and crisis currently rocking Cameroon.
The caravan to run until September 22, 2019 will take the traditional rulers to all the ten regions of the country. They are equally to organize a royal procession in the first eight days of the month of September where chiefs and fons in the two English-speaking regions will take their children to school. This will be followed by a symposium from September 17-20, 2019 on the theme “Peaceful resolution of conflict, living together and develop Africa from chiefdoms.”
In a declaration, the chiefs said “enough is enough” and as such called for a stop to barbarism, hatred and killings.
They said under the pretext of conquering power, conserving power or the quest for autonomy, some fellow compatriots have hesitated to use violence to cause the destruction and desolation while causing blood to flow. As such they call on politicians to be men of service, serve the people than serving themselves. The custodians of the tradition exhorted politicians to debate than fight reminding them that their tribes should not be instrumentalized for political gains. While calling for schools to resume in the North-West and South West regions come September, they promised “to will use all that is in their traditional ability to bring peace to Cameroon”. They equally invited Cameroonians to be mobilized for the return of peace in the country.
Responding to questions from the press, the traditional rulers said their silence was not in vain. While expecting politicians to come back to reason, they took time to analyze the problem in order to find solution. They also insisted on the fact that their action is apolitical and therefore they will not allow any political group to interfere in their action.
At a time when the call for dialogue increases everyday as the only true means to solve the crisis in the English-speaking regions, the voice of the traditional and customary authorities may just be another catalyst at the service of peace but that remains questionable as it is not a hidden fact in Cameroon that actions like this have the same source. It is known that the most powerful traditional rulers in the country are politicians belong to the ruling party and that such a move may die even before its conception if they refused not to buy it.