After the great meeting with all the active forces of the North-West Region last Wednesday, the Head of State reserved most of his activities of yesterday exclusively for the military. But with the great come together with the people last Wednesday and the many promises he made, with the creation of the University of Bamenda as the most significant, Bamenda streets were once more full with cheering people. Many from far-off destinations had spent the night in Bamenda with the hope of catching a glimpse of the President; and even more, that of Mrs Chantal Biya who is coming to Bamenda for the first time in her 16 years as first lady. The 18 kilometre-or-so route from the Up Station Regional State House to the Bamenda-Bafut airport was thick with people who lined up from as early as 10 am for the presidential couple that arrived at the airport at 12 noon. Even at 4.30 pm when airport military events ended, they were still faithfully waiting under the hot sun.
The nearly-five hours the Presidential Couple spent at the airport were packed-full. Shortly on arrival, the President was welcomed by Mr. Edgar Alain Mebe Ngo’o, the Defence Minister, before inspecting a military guard of honour. The President and Mrs Chantal Biya then took the steps to the second floor of the main airport building, taking their seats on the balcony of the building where several senior administrative officials, including Prime Minister Philemon Yang, top military personalities and Defence Counsellors of some friendly countries had already taken their seats.
The Chief of Defence Staff, Major General René Claude Meka, then took the floor to thank the President of the Republic for his personal involvement in the commemorative activities of the 50 years of the Cameroon armed forces. Major General Meka traced the history of the Cameroonian armed forces from its very beginnings to the 2001 reforms aimed at improving on operational capacity. He said heavy inputs on training have made the Cameroonian army a very modern one, reason why it is solicited in numerous peace-keeping endeavours around the world - Cambodia , Darfour, DRC for example. The Defence Chief urged Cameroonians to learn to know their army and understand that the army is there to serve them. “People serving therein are Cameroonians……Moreover, apart from defending the nation, Cameroon ’s army is also a promoter of development”
As if to give practical meaning to this new modern posture of the army, General Meka handed the microphone to the Assistant Chief of Staff, Operations, Colonel Hippolyte Epaka who explained the substance of a scenario imagined by the military involving the hijacking of a plane to the Bamenda airport by pirates who retain hostages in exchange for a ransom of 10,000 Euros and 20,000 litres of kerosene as well as the release of some of their friends-in-crime arrested and held at Ndop. The hostages, 115 in all, include two senior diplomats from the African Union, one pregnant women and a sick person. The Governor of the NW Region is still in negotiations when the military high command orders the release of the hostages. Brigadier General Saly Mohamadou, the area commander, puts in place a strategy which ends with the release of the hostages unhurt.
The whole scenario of some 30 minutes was organised in real time before the Head of State. Activities going on inside the “hijacked” plane, stationed some 200 metres off the airport building on the run-way, were reproduced on two giant screens at the airport, enabling the Presidential guests to follow the whole show to the end.
With this display ended, President Biya, for some two hours, painstakingly inspected stands of the various formations of the armed forces. As he made his rounds, he received explanations on the functioning of the various services under the watchful eyes of the Chiefs of Staff. In all, he visited the installations of the Navy, Air-force, National Gendarmerie, the Fire Brigade, the Headquarters brigade, the Airborne Battalion, the Amphibious Battalion, the Rapid Intervention Brigade, the Ground-to-ground Battalion, the Ground-to-air Battalion and the Directorate of Military Health.
After the energy-consuming tour, the Chief of the Defence Forces and Mrs. Biya joined hundreds of senior officials, senior military personnel and rank-and-file for a meal in the main hall of the airport.
The journey back to the presidential residence was as hilarious as the one to the airport. People seemed to have profited from the cool afternoon to turnout even more massively to acclaim the presidential couple as their motorcade drove past.
