President Paul Biya on Monday at the Yaounde Conference Centre presided at the official opening ceremony of the 60th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference.

The Yaounde Conference Centre was yesterday jammed full with Law Makers of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA), members of government, conference observers, members of the diplomatic corps and other top ranking officials to witness the official opening of the 60th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference (CPC). The ceremony presided at by the Head of State, President Paul Biya in his capacity as President of the host country and Vice Patron of the CPA was marked essentially by speeches, presentation of the 54 member countries whose flags were solemnly hoisted at the conference hall and general animation by a medley of traditional dance groups from the four corners of Cameroon. Equally on hand to animate the event in the hall was the young talented choral group from the University of Buea.

The opening ceremony carried with it significant marks of the specificities of the Cameroon nation. As a bilingual country, the agenda of the conference was presented in both English and French and some heads of institutions kick started their speeches in French. The Anthem itself was ably sung by the UB Choir in English ending the chorus in French. As stated by one of the orators, Hon. Monjowa Lifaka Emilia, Conference Coordinator, all the nine regions of the CPA are represented in the confab. From every indication all the delegates and other conference participants were exited to participate in the Yaounde conference as many openly expressed their happiness by dancing to the melodious sounds of the UB Choir.

Convergence of views

Even though many participants left the hall elated by the hospitality of the Cameroonian people and the general ambiance that marked the event, the most import element of the conference was certainly the speeches presented at the occasion. From all the speeches, one could gather one thing; that each conference is a challenge for the CPA. The challenge is much more glaring for the 60th conference considering that it is the last ushering in the Post-2015 Development Agenda. President Paul Biya in his presiding speech made things clearer for law makers. In effect, the hurdles that hampered the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals of the United Nations leave much to be desired. The hopes raised by the institution of the goals in 2000 were so high that no one could imagine they would not be achieved by 2015.

According to President Paul Biya even though significant progress has been made notably in education, immunization coverage, fight against HIV and Malaria and gender promotion in schools, much remains to be done. “Hunger has not been eradicated, poverty reduction is extremely slow, unemployment especially among the youths, remains a thorny problem and health coverage remains inadequate”, he said, cautioning the international community to learn lessons from the difficulties faced over the last fifteen years. Based on these points, the President advised that new strategies be adopted to substantially improve the population’s living conditions. For this to succeed, all players will need to demonstrate a “stronger political will, greater generosity and more effective, more concrete and more active solidarity.

Other speakers threaded through the desire to see a resounding success in the implementation of the Post-2015 Development Agenda which Martin Chungong, Secretary General of the Inter-parliamentary Union referred to as Sustainable Development Goals. Mr Chungong was quick to remind law makers of the uphill task ahead urging them to go beyond the simple appellation of “gentleman’s club” and effectively contribute to legislative progress. All the speakers expressed their heartfelt condolence following the passing away of the CPA Secretary General, Dr. William F. Shija. In all, nine speakers took to the rostrum including the Hon. Alan Haselburst, Chairman of the CPA Executive Committee, and the High Commissioner of the United Kingdom to Cameroon who read the message of Queen Elizabeth II, matron of the CPA.