State Orphans : Covered By Law

The notion of State orphans refers to children of ex-service men who lost their lives at the battle front while carrying out their duties of protection of the land. As such, the government of Cameroon through the Ministry of Defence takes care of the child(ren) of the deceased till they attain maturity. This legal care is contained in the provisions of Law No. 84/04 of July 4, 1984 laying down the conditions for the adoption and guardianship of orphans in Cameroon. In essence, the first article of the law on orphans adopted by Cameroon states that it has to be a child, "whose father or breadwinner has been killed, either by the enemy, or in one of the theaters of operations whose purpose is to safeguard the constitutional institutions of the Republic.” Simply put, the State shoulders the responsibility of the youngsters whose parent or breadwinner was killed in the line of operation in the fight against Boko Haram in the Far North Region or separatist fighters in the North West and South West Regions, and or in a peace keeping mission.
This adoption by the State is the culmination of a procedure defined by law. This procedure can be initiated by the father, mother or the legal representative of the child and once it is completed, the child becomes protected by the State.  More clearly, article 12 provides that; "Children adopted by the nation are entitled, until they reach majority, to the protection, material and moral support of the State for their education, under the conditions and limits provided by law.” In addition, the State intervenes in the event of insufficient family resources, and assumes the partial or total responsibility for the maintenance and education of these childr...