In an age-old diplomatic tradition, the Head of State is meetings heads of diplomatic services and heads of the principal corps of the State.

State protocol officials will put themselves to a veritable organizational test as hundreds of high-level diplomats as well as the principal State dignitaries will be at State House today, each wanting to have as much time as possible with the Head of State in the annual “New Year Wishes” ceremony. It is a yearly event which brings together all those who matter in the political, economic and social glitterati of the nation as the various leaders come saying “Happy New Year, Mr President of the Republic”. No one in this category would like to miss this opportunity; little wonder beauty shops in Yaounde were awash yesterday with the female members of possible entourages today, attempting to have the best look before they meet the President of the Republic. What may appear to be a fuss is actually an attempt to look good and, eventually fit into the importance of the event. These activities further emphasize the importance attached to the occasion which, though not statutory as per the rules and regulations of the country, has become an important republican tradition.

As from 10 a.m. and as per indications from the Minister-Director of the Civil Cabinet of the Presidency of the Republic, Ambassadors, High Commissioners and Chargés d’Affaires as well as representatives of international organizations will be at State House grounds for the ceremony expected to start, in earnest, at 11 a.m. when the Dean of the Diplomatic corps is expected to take the floor, not only to extend New Year wishes to the President of the Republic, but to also make an appraisal of the view of the diplomatic community on the way they perceived the conduct of affairs in Cameroon in 2010. The Head of State is expected to respond to the wishes of the diplomats, if tradition is respected to the full.

In his address to the diplomatic community last year and at about the same time, the Head of State was emphasizing on greater international solidarity with special attention on Africa’s position on climate change after having attended the climate change summit in Copenhagen in December and during which he insisted on the fact that we were not responsible but which needed us to “protect our forests without the proposed compensation being commensurate to our export losses”.

The President of the Republic will be speaking to the international community with some diplomatic victories or breakthroughs to show least of which were not his ground-breaking visits to Brazil and Libya. Even then, the President was always on the move as he made it a point of duty, whenever possible, to be at the various decision-making centres of the world as attested by his presence at the UN general assembly in New York or at the Francophonie summit at Montreux in Switzerand. At the home front, the President of the Republic is almost certainly going to talk about the success of the 50th anniversary celebrations of the independence of Cameroon and the very successful organization of the international colloquium on Africa’s future dubbed “Africa 21” which drew experts from all corners of the globe and who addressed wide-ranging developmental issues.

Today’s event will see some new figures, especially among the diplomats. There is expected to be a new Doyen of the diplomatic corps replacing Monsignor Eliseo Antonio Ariotti who left the country for his new posting in Asuncion, Paraguay. Other new faces will include, among others, four new Ambassadors who presented their credentials to President Paul Biya last October and who include the U S Ambassador Robert P. Jackson, the Papal Nuncio Monsignor Piero Pioppo, the Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany Reinhard Buchholz and the Ambassador of Italy Stefano Pontesilli.

In fact, the event of this morning is a great moment during which the active forces of the nation will meet in some moments, short as they may be, to share some common thoughts and feelings.