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O 281156Z FEB 08
FM AMEMBASSY YAOUNDE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 8628
INFO RUEHUJA/AMEMBASSY ABUJA 1362
RUEHLC/AMEMBASSY LIBREVILLE 1609
RUEHMA/AMEMBASSY MALABO 0271
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 YAOUNDE 000193 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
NDJAMENA PLEASE PASS TO DAS SWAN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PHUM ELAB PINR PGOV KPAO ASEC CM
SUBJECT:  CAMEROON: BIYA'S SPEECH OUT OF TOUCH AND UNHELPFUL 
 
REF: (A) YAOUNDE 0191 (B) YAOUNDE 0190(C) YAOUNDE 0121 (D) YAOUNDE 
0182 
 
¶1. (SBU) President Paul Biya addressed the Cameroonian people 
February 27 on the recent violence in Cameroon.  He minced no words, 
blaming opposition politicians (whom he labeled "demons") for 
manipulating the country's youth to "obtain through violence what 
they were unable to obtain through the ballot box."  He warned he 
would use "all legal means" to restore law and order. 
 
¶2. (U) The text of Biya's speech follows: 
Our country is witnessing a situation which brings back unpleasant 
memories of a period we thought was long gone. 
While it may be understandable that when negotiations fail, the 
demands of a group are sometimes expressed through strikes, it is 
unacceptable that such action should serve as a pretext for the 
outpourings of violence against people and property. Besides, it is 
now established that any industrial dispute can always be resolved 
through negotiation. 
In actual fact, that is not the problem. What is at issue is the 
use, not to say exploitation of the transporters' strike for 
political ends. For some people, who by the way, did not hide their 
intentions, the objective is to obtain through violence what they 
were unable to obtain through the ballot box, that is to say, 
through the normal functioning of democracy. 
They therefore did not hesitate to throw into the streets bands of 
youths who were joined by delinquents lured by the possibility of 
looting.  The results are there: public buildings destroyed or burnt 
down, shops and businesses looted or devastated. 
Be it State property, I mean our common heritage, or private 
premises; these are years of efforts thus reduced to nothing. 
The demons, who manipulated these youths behind the scenes, were not 
bothered about the risks by exposing them to confrontations with the 
forces of law and order. As a result, several of them lost their 
lives, which, of course, cannot but be deplored. 
When the human and material toll of these dark days will be taken, 
it will probably be very heavy. Those behind these manipulations 
definitely did not have the good of our people in their mind. A 
country cannot be built through destruction. 
It should therefore be made absolutely clear that Cameroon is a 
Constitutional State and intends to remain so. 
It has democratic institutions which are functioning normally. It is 
within this framework that the nation's problems are addressed. It 
is not in the street that they are resolved. 
The vast majority of our people long for peace and stability. The 
last elections proved this. Cameroonians know that disorder can only 
bring about calamity and misery. We cannot allow that to happen. 
To those who are responsible for manipulating the youth to achieve 
their aims, I want to tell them that their attempts are doomed to 
failure. All legal means available to Government will be brought 
into play to ensure the rule of law. 
End of Text 
Fear and Defiance 
----------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU)   The President's speech appears to have been designed to 
intimidate the people from joining demonstrations, whether their 
motivation is economic (cost of living) or political (extension of 
his tenure in office), or both.  The general population is fearful 
of the repercussions of the speech.  Biya stated that there would be 
zero tolerance.  The army has been deployed in five of the ten 
provinces of Cameroon that are experiencing violence (Littoral, 
West, Southwest, Northwest, and Center).  This is the first time 
that the army has been deployed to quell civil disturbances since 
the turbulent 1990s.  The army is a third category force of 
maintaining law and order, meaning that only the President can call 
them into action.  Observers note that the current situation has 
escalated much faster than in the 1990s. 
 
 
Opposition Parties 
------------------ 
 
¶4. (SBU) In addition to fear, the speech may have produced another 
effect: defiance.  Poloff spoke with John Fru Ndi, leader of the 
opposition Social Democratic Front (SDF), who stated that the 
President's speech was a "declaration of war."  The President, Fru 
Ndi added, called the people "vandals" and did not address the real 
issues underlying the people's grievances.  Instead of calming the 
people, Fru Ndi said, the President's remarks inflamed them.  Biya 
was trying to appeal to rioters to stop looting, but Fru Ndi 
reported that even he had been a victim as vandals attempted to 
 
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break into the SDF building in Bamenda.  He said he had heard that 
the army is under orders to "shoot to kill."  Fru Ndi said that he 
did not expect the situation to improve anytime soon, and urged the 
international community to pressure Biya to negotiate. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Poloff spoke with Anicet Ekane, President of the African 
Movement for New Independence and Democracy (MANIDEM) political 
party based in Douala.  He stated that the President's speech had 
completely closed the door to negotiations.  Ekane said that the 
President has made it appear as if there were no problems and these 
were isolated incidents that have no basis in political reality. 
Furthermore, Ekane views the President as implying that the 
political parties that lost the elections were the ones 
orchestrating the violence.  Ekane commented that people were 
"shocked" that the President did not attempt to calm the people but 
instead issued threats.  He added that people had hoped that the 
President would attempt to open the door to negotiations, but now, 
has made the "door to shut threefold." 
 
 
GARVEY