Major National Dialogue

PM updates Cameroonians in Japan

Chief Joseph Dion Ngute landed in Japan on Sunday to attend the coronation of Emperor Naruhito.

He represented the Head of State at the ceremony on Tuesday. Paul Biya was among the dignitaries invited from 194 countries to attend the century’s-old ritual.
Besides this event, the Prime Minister, Head of Government met with Cameroonians living in Japan at the Embassy in Tokyo. The Major National Dialogue that Joseph Dion Ngute chaired two weeks ago at the Yaounde Conference Centre was topical during the meeting. He walked his audience through its conduct, on which seems to hang the hope of Cameroonians to finding a solution to the crisis in the two English-speaking regions. No topic, according to Joseph Dion Ngute was a taboo at the national dialogue and he forwarded all the recommendations of the five-day event to the Head of State.
Although propositions were largely on putting an end to the three-year situation in the Northwest and Southwest regions, participants factored in the grievances of Cameroonians abroad.
One of the eight committees “The Role of the Diaspora”, proposed generally accepted recommendations on dual nationality, opening-up legislative elections to the diaspora, setting up Cameroon high council among others.
Authorities want the country’s diaspora to contribute in the development of Cameroon. He also listened to their views on how to grow the economy of Cameroon and their possible inputs from the high tech-driven host country.
The success of the Major National Dialogue (MND) is killing detractors as it would appear that the event opens a window of hope for Cameroon to fix own problems. America and the European Union are asking for a retake of the dialogue with more participants of the separatist movement, although the insurgents pulled out of the dialogue and refused the invitation of the Head of State Paul Biya. Cynics launched a volley of attacks at the chairperson of the MND Joseph Dion Ngute. He has been accused of sidelining the Northwest region during the dialogue and shelving some recommendations. Cameroonians are shocked at the elite peddling the smear campaign instead of focusing on the content of the propositions hoped to restore peace in the two restive regions; they are wrapped up in the pursuit of personal political gains. Sources in the PM’s office said the reports from the eight committees and final report read by the general rapporteur of the MND were on the Head of State’s table when he returned from Lyon, France.