The Defence Chief of Staff received New Year wishes on January 18, 2016 in Yaounde.

“The brave fight against the terrorist sect, Boko Haram, will be our priority in 2016. So, we must put all our resources into use to bring an end to the terrorist sect.” This was the major instruction given by the Defence Chief of Staff, Lieutenant General René Claude Meka while receiving New Year Wishes yesterday January 18, 2016 in the courtyard of the Defence Headquarters High Command.

The Defence Chief of Staff said although Boko Haram had considerably been weakened, repeated suicide bombings make it uncertain when the war will stop. To the audience comprising general officers, officers, sub-officers and soldiers of rank and file from various corps, Lieutenant General René Claude Meka however cautioned that Cameroon’s Defence Forces should first count on themselves before counting on foreign military assistance. He decried indiscipline that is gaining grounds in the army, saying it is inadmissible as avenues exist for grievances to be managed.

Speaking earlier, the Deputy Defence Chief of Staff, Major General Pierre Samabo, had  decried the public reclamation of dues in September 2015 by some soldiers returning from MINUSCA’s peacekeeping forces in the Central African Republic. In the fight against Boko Haram, Major General Samabo hailed the success scored by “Operation Logone 2015” whereby Cameroonian and Chadian forces considerably weakened Boko Haram. He also underscored the successful equipment of soldiers with more logistics at the battlefront, the contribution of over 2,450 soldiers to Lake Chad Basin Commission’s Multinational Joint Task Force while emphasising the need for more human and material resources for Cameroon’s Defence Forces.