Major National Dialogue : Game Changer In Local Governance

One of the activities that couldn’t go unnoticed in Cameroon in 2019 and whose fruits may span on for long is easily the Major National Dialogue convened by President Paul Biya for September 30 to October 4, 2019 and chaired by the Prime Minister, Head of Government.

In his address to the nation on September 10, 2019 during which he announced the holding of the Major National Dialogue, President Paul Biya said, “the dialogue in question will mainly concern the situation in the North-West and South-West Regions. Since it will focus on issues of national interest such as national unity, national integration and living together, it is obvious that it will not concern only the population of these two regions.” It was therefore a rare moment for Cameroonians to jointly seek concrete and pragmatic solutions, far from petty squabbles, to in-house problems squabbles. An opportunity to give sons and daughters of the restive regions what PM Dion Ngute qualified in his opening speech as “a beam of light in the dark night of this tribulation."

Wide-ranging Recommendations

The eight committees that worked through the weeklong dialogue came out with far-reaching proposals aimed at fostering peace and socio-economic development across the country. The Major National Dialogue notably proposed the enhancement of the practice of bilingualism in all segments of society through the creation and implementation of programmes starting from preschool ages. On education, the National Dialogue suggested the need to keep the two educational subsystems afloat, buoyant and futuristic, recognising the unique strengths and specificities of each subsystem, building on the strengths of each other to train well rounded and excellent Cameroonian graduates who will excel wherever they go. Meanwhile, on the judicial system, participants recommended the translation of all legal instruments into both official languages and ensure their simultaneous publication in both official languages. They equally prayed the powers that be to upgrade the Common Law Section of the Supreme Court of Cameroon into a full-fledged Legal Bench comprising all sections dealing with specific matters of Common Law.

Walking the Talk

President Biya gave Cameroonians double assurances in a tweet a few minutes to the end of the weeklong conclave of his desire to attentively consider and diligently look at the resolutions with the view to implementing them, taking into account their relevance and feasibility, as well as the capacities of the country. A day before the end of the Major National Dialogue, (On October 3, 2019), President Paul Biya ordered the discontinuance of proceedings pending before Military Tribunals against some three hundred and thirty-three (333) detainees arres...