Cameroonians in the Diaspora have been craving for an opportunity to express their concerns regarding various stumbling blocks standing in the way of getting directly involved in the development strategies in Cameroon either through micro and macro development projects, charities, making available their expertise in the various fields if only on an advisory basis and more.
Those concerns may in the near future become issues of history as a special technical delegation from the Presidency of the Republic in Cameroon is currently en route to 8 western countries visiting around 20 cities to meet and dialogue with Cameroonians in the Diaspora in a bid to find common ground for effective involvement in the development process in Cameroon.
After their first stop in Belgium, the delegation made up of an official in charge of special duties at the Presidency, an adviser to the Prime Minister, the Head of Division in charge of Cameroonians abroad at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and an Inspector General in the Ministry of Communication, was in the United Kingdom over the weekend holding talks with leaders of various Cameroonian groups in London, Manchester and Birmingham.
During the various meetings introduced by the High Commissioner of Cameroon to the UK, H.E. Nkwelle Ekaney, members of the four-man delegation briefed the leaders of Cameroonian groups invited to the meeting on the status of earlier concerns such as dual nationality, right to vote, creating and running businesses in Cameroon, investment opportunities in various sectors of the economy – agriculture and forestry, banking and finance, communications infrastructure, the mining sector, water and energy, sports and the media environment in the country among others.
Speaking on the Diaspora, the head of Division in charge of Cameroonians abroad, Mr Thomas Fozein Kwanke brought out some revealing statistics (for example, over 4,000 Cameroonian medical doctors abroad against only 800 at home – 1 doctor/20,000 in the cities and 1 doctor/40,000 in the rural areas, 167 million US dollars (0.8% of GDP) in remittance from the Diaspora in 2008).
He called on all Cameroonians to register at the Cameroon High Commission, regardless of their residential status, pointing out that there is no exact figure on the number of Cameroonians living outside the country. Mr Fozein Kwanke said the High Commission is there to serve the interest of all Cameroonians and should in fact serve as an administrative facilitator for all Diasporan initiatives, be they of an economic or charitable nature geared towards the development of the country. .
On the specific issue of dual nationality, the delegation revealed that technically everything had been completed and the document will have to be tabled before the National Assembly before it becomes effective.
Concerning the right to vote, they also said that with regards to Presidential elections or a referendum it could also be possible for Diasporans to exercise their civil duty in the near future as promised by the President when he addressed the Cameroonian community during his visit to France last year, though the problem of under which constituency to classify the Diaspora will arise when it comes to parliamentary or municipal elections.
In Birmingham, members of a group calling themselves ‘Collectif des Organisations Democratiques et Patriotques des Camerounais de la Diaspora (CODE)’ obstructed the meeting for some 30 minutes to express their discontent with the powers that be in Yaounde, accusing them of embezzling state funds, corruption and human rights abuse, brandishing photographs of the famous Cameroonian musician Lapiro de Mbanga, who is currently in prison, and Germain S. Ngota Ngota editor of a private newspaper, Cameroon Express, who died in prison recently. It was thanks to the intervention of the police that the meeting went on undisturbed.
In fact, the head of the delegation, Dr Emmanuel S. Wonyu admitted that, of the three meetings held in the United Kingdom, that of Birmingham stood out as the most constructive and enriching with regards to the expressed concerns of Cameroonians in the Diaspora.
In a comment following the dialogue, which at times was near virulent but passionate, the High Commissioner called on Cameroonians in the Diaspora to have faith in the leadership, whom he said, is striving to take the modernisation process of the country forward and to demonstrate maturity in matters relating to the image of the country abroad.
Steve Nfor
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