The Speaker of the National Assembly, Hon. Cavaye Yeguie Djibril condemned violence and called for dialogue and consultation.
The Speaker of the National Assembly, Hon. Cavaye Yeguie Djibril opened the November 2017 ordinary budgetary session of the House yesterday, Tuesday, November 14, 2017 sounding hopeful and upbeat that all the 10 regions of Cameroon will soon witness peace and see Cameroonians more united and living together harmoniously.
His speech took into account the recent appeasement mission the Head of State, Paul Biya instructed, headed by the Prime Minister, Philemon Yang to the restive North West and South West regions in order to find solutions to problems raised. While remaining on a hopeful note, the House Speaker condemned all forms of violence one of whose recent manifestations was the killing of three Gendarmes in the North West and the continuous burning down of institutional establishments. He stated, “Cameroon is our country. None of us would ever like it to be destroyed whatever the reason.” Stating the general perceptible desire of maintaining the present form of Cameroon which is a unitary, decentralised and indivisible State, Hon. Cavaye urged, “Let us work together for the peace, the cohesion and the unity of our beloved country.”
Chairing the opening plenary sitting in the presence of the Senate President, Marcel Niat Njifenji and Prime Minister, Head of Government, Philemon Yang, the House Speaker talked much on the context within which it is holding. He said the people’s representatives would be examining and adopting the 2018 State budget in a difficult economic situation characterised by a drop in the world prices of fuel and other main raw materials such as cocoa and coffee. The budget would also be voted during the heat of preparations to host the Africa Cup of Nations 2019 and preparations for 2018 elections. He called on the Prime Minister to ensure that all efforts are put in place to build the infrastructure to host the AFCON 2019. Taking all these into consideration, he said the budget must be realistic in order to meet the aspirations of the population.
The leading opposition Social Democratic Front (SDF) MPs boycotted the plenary sitting. As such, they could not join others to celebrate the election of many Cameroonian MPs to head important international organisations. The House Speaker cited the election of Hon. Emilia Monjowa Lifaka as the chair of the Executive Committee of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) International, double election of Hon. Owona Kono Joseph as President of ACP Parliamentary Assembly and co-chair of ACP-European Union Parity Parliamentary Assembly, among others.