No Room For Impunity

The measure taken by the Head of State, President Paul Biya to end legal proceedings at the Yaounde Military Tribunal against Barrister Nkongho Felix Agbor, Fontem Aforteka’a Neba, Paul Ayah Abine and others accused of violence recorded in the North West and South West Regions of late is unquestionably laudable. For months now, the social climate in the two regions has been, to say the least, delirious.   
Acts of arsons, destruction of public property, physical and social media threats, and more have combined with the shutdown in schools and ghost towns to make the population jittery and uncertain about the future. Although some of the perpetrators of such violence remained under cover, there were arrests that added to those who articulated the concerns regarding the practice of the Common Law and educational woes of the English sub-system in the country.    
Thus, in declaring the Presidential clemency, the press statement by the Minister, Secretary General of the Presidency issued yesterday 30 August, 2017 pointed out that; “The Head of State, however, reaffirms his determination to relentlessly combat all enemies of peace and progress, champions of division and criminals of all kinds who, under the guise of political demands, attempt to jeopardize the future of our country and especially that of our youths. They will be brought before the courts.” Consequently, persistent calls for school boycott and intimidations against those who simply want to open their shops in search of daily bread are not only to be condemned, but do constitute criminal acts which must not be tolerated.   
Those who may commit the error of taking such “virtues of tolerance, dialogue and humanism” expressed by the Head of State for a weakness may be surprised at the consequences. Within the months of social unrest in the North West and South West Regions, those who sought to make political capital out of the situation found out that there are certain values of nationhood that the Head of State could not trifle. National unity, symbols of State, peace, stability and others remain sacrosanct.
It would as such be dangerous for anyone to take the present measure to ease tension as a licence of impunity. It is within the constitutional prerogatives of the President of the Republic to intervene or intercept legal pursuit against any citizen depending on the national values that are at stake. Besides the individuals cited in the clemency decision, the statement makes it clear that not all those arrested in relation t...