“We Shall Release The Ex-fighters In Bulk When Peace Finally Returns”

The President of the Republic Paul Biya during his New Year message to the nation talked about the work of the DDR. How do you react to the recognition?
It was a very great pleasure for us in the DDR when the Head of State, President Paul Biya reiterated his offer of peace, his hand of peace stretched to those children who decided after indoctrination to take up arms against the State. It was a very great pleasure for us as after reiterating it, he brought out clearly the efforts that have been done in the Far North, North West and South West Regions.  He said clearly the determination which is still his and ours to continue to sensitise these children so that they can come out of the bushes.

What were the major achievements of the DDR in the just-ended year 2021?
First of all, I will start from the last which is the reception of the Tiko Multifunctional Centre. This comes after the one of Bamenda a year earlier. I will also cite the laying of the foundation stone for the construction of the centre in Meme in the Far North Region.  These are centres in which these children will be trained, made to learn a trade and for those who already have trades will make them improve the trades. In the centres now, the children are learning trades such as tailoring, carpentry, building construction and other trades. The multipurpose centres will enable them improve on what they have been doing so that they can become serious Cameroonians. Another achievement was that we continued with sensitisation in order to bring back the children.

As at now, how many ex-fighters are found in the various centres and how many have been reintegrated in to society?
We have a total of 1,493 ex-fighters in the centres. There are 258 in Buea, 234 in Bamenda and 1,001 in Mora.  This is as a result of the sensitisation which we have been doing. It is a major achievement for us in 2021 that will spill over to 2022. It is a continuous action. So long as any single child is still in the bush, we will continue to lure them to come out.

What are the major actions planned for 2022 to enable the DDR better fulfil its missions?
The major actions are two. The first one is that we will complete the construction of the Centre at Meme.  We are pleased to say that we have partners who are really professionals and I think they will hand over the centre to us as they did with the one in Tiko in the South West Region. Secondly, we are going to complete equipping the other centres that have already been constructed (Bamenda and Tiko).  I will like you to know that the COVID-19 pandemic affected a lot of transport activities all over the world. Our equipment is coming and is taking the time  it is taking but will finally come. Thirdly, we are going to continue to work with the technical ministries because they have activities that are going on...